STAYING STARTED IN JOURNALING
By
By Bud Katter
“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” – Ben Stein
The major source of a decay of personal energy in journal writing is caused by a lack of commitment to what we want. Most of the time we neglect writing down our SMART goal for our journaling effort and commiting to achieve that goal.
A SMART goal is one that is:
• Specific,
• Measurable,
• Attainable,
• Relevant and
• Time-bound.
Writing down your SMART goal is required to formalize those five elements. One way to do that is with the form I have provided below; you can just check-off most of your choices.
MY JOURNALING CONTRACT
Starting ___/___/___, I commit to journal every day for the next __30 days __60 days___More (specify)
I am going to journal each day (minimum) __ 5 mins __ 10 mins __ 30 mins ___ More (specify)
I am going to journal __ Within 30 mins of getting up __ Within 1 hour of getting up __ Within 1 hour before going to bed ___At a set time (specify)
I am going to journal __At home __At work __________At another place (specify) __Various (while waiting)
I am going to use this method to journal __Daily record of events __Reactions to events __Dialogues __Prayer __Interpret Bible verses _______________________Other (specify)
The tool I am going to use for my journaling is __Journaling software on computer __Wordprocessor on computer __Notebook __3X5 File Card _______ Other (specify)
The top three goals I want to achieve from my journaling are:
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
I am going to be accountable to _________________________ every _______________ for this contract.
My Printed Name ________________________________________
My Signature____________________________________________
Date _____________________
© Copyrighted. All Rights Reserved.
wow! thanks for the tips in writing journals.. it would help people who have the passion in writing but don’t have the idea how to start..
Thanks for the comment; I hope the tips are helping lots of people.
Just want to say what a great blog you got here!
I’ve been around for quite a lot of time, but finally decided to show my appreciation of your work!
Thumbs up, and keep it going!
Cheers
Christian, iwspo.net
Christian, thanks for the comment and keep up the journaling. Sorry I am tardy; my new hip acts up sometimes.
Any things I should add?
I’ve just come across your site while browsing in my lunch hour and thought you’d like to know that I’ve added you to my rss reader so I can keep up to date with your posts.
I’ve written journals since 1989 and I’ve accepted that it is on and off; I know it is always there when I’m ready to write (even if it has been 6 months). I do like your suggestion of listing 3 goals to achieve through journalling; as I started when I was 11 I have to admit that there is a certain amount of habit in my writing with no defined purpose.
I’m going to edit a recent post, I’ve written with a list ideas of what to include on the first page of a journal, to add a link to this post because it is a great example for “Write a greeting to the book, possibly including an agreement about when, where and how you’ll use it”
[...] Write a greeting to the book, possibly including an agreement about when, where and how you’ll use it [...]
Thank you. Awesome blog you have here. Have some more links to direct to with more info?
touch me, look at the “Inspiring Links” button at the top for some more links. Thanks.
Kate Davis, thanks for the comments; the first page of a journal sets the stage for the content. A great idea.