A Guide to Effective Journaling

Two years ago, I was skeptical of the benefits of journaling to say the least. But when you hit rock-bottom in certain areas of your life, you are willing to attempt different avenues in the pursuit of rebuilding a better version of yourself.

When it comes to journaling, like many others starting out for the first time, I found myself wondering two things:

1. What are the outcomes I am looking to achieve when journaling? 
2. What am I supposed to write about? 

Without clear definition in both these areas, it’s like setting sail without a compass. If you don’t know where you’re going or why, you tend to get frustrated and lose desire to continue the journey pretty quickly.

There are many resources and articles out there on the benefits of writing and journaling. I support and champion those benefits, as I have experienced many first-hand since implementing journaling as a part of my daily routine.

After reading up on journaling, you can easily be convinced to give it a try. However, aside from the “why” to journal, I feel there is extraordinarily less content on what to write about and the purpose of each input. 


The goal of this article is to:

  1. Provide a roadmap of how you can structure your journaling efforts.
  2. Give insight as to why each piece is incorporated and important.
  3. Articulate how this exercise has helped me stretch and evolve over the last two years.

Below is the structure that I have incorporated for the last two years. This format provides me consistent areas to focus on as I reflect on the day and my mindset:

Letter to Future Self:

I’m a big believer that every decision we make is a deposit towards our future circumstances. I’ll say that again…every single decision. That could be decisions around how we spend our money, time invested into relationships, what we choose to eat, the music we listen to and so on. Our decisions, actions, or lack-there-of are building towards future outcomes. This is no different when it comes to our overall learning and self-development.

To leadoff the journal, I write about the decisions and actions I took today to build a better version of myself and address it to the future me. It’s important from an accountability perspective that I am taking action towards self-development each and every day. How am I becoming a better human? A stronger leader? A better husband? Healthier? Growing in my faith? Every day I want to move the needle in some capacity and let the future version of myself know how I am contributing towards building that person every single day.

What’s Working: There are many personal and professional goals that we look to achieve. Those goals are high-level. The tactics and strategy we set to get there are more apparent in our everyday lives. When writing in this section, I identify what those keystone habits and tactics are that I am trying to implement – and note how they are impacting my growth. What am I seeing out of myself that I need to continue to repeat and replicate every day to accomplish short- and long-term objectives?

This is important because it helps me develop my EQ and overall awareness. Not only am I trying to deepen the habits that are working, I am also trying to recognize what I’m implementing that really isn’t working or having the effect I thought it would initially. If I can become aware of the daily deposits and habits I am instituting, and recognizing the value they are creating, I can better cement and make them a regular part of my every day.

Areas of Opportunity: We aren’t flawless. This forum is a phenomenal opportunity to be honest with ourselves and be a bit vulnerable. After all, this is a private journal and for our eyes only. If we can’t be honest here, we may have bigger concerns to address.

In this section, identify decisions we made and actions we took that we probably would adjust in hindsight. Not only can we memorialize one-time mistakes for future reflection, but we if we are really open and honest with ourselves we can also start to identify bad habits or patterns over time and make the appropriate adjustments. 

An example of this was I was noticing as a leader I felt I jumped to conclusions way too fast. I wasn’t allowing my team the ability to think through issues and come to decisions on their own; which is much more impactful in their development. I was doing too much “telling” and not asking them enough questions as it related to their thought process. After writing about this several times, I noticed the pattern and was able to take a different approach moving forward.

What do we want to change about ourselves, our decisions or our actions? The earlier we can identify them and get them from our head to paper, the earlier we can start to move towards action to eliminate these shortfalls.

Gratitude List (3): I have found that by listing three things I am thankful for each day, I am constantly recognizing blessings that at times I take for granted. I also feel it has a profound effect on reshaping our attitudes and mindset when we run into challenging times as well.

If I was frustrated with a certain individuals or situations on a consistent or regular basis – I was probably feeding myself negative thoughts or sub-conscious comments rather frequently about that person or situation. As time progressed and days went by where I keep feeding myself these same stories, my outlook, attitude and demeanor towards that person or situation was probably pretty poor. These are people I genuinely care about and love.

However, if we intentionally list out those people or situations as something we are thankful for, it can force us to focus, reflect and re-affirm WHY we are grateful for them. This is an intentional pause where we put uplifting and positive thoughts behind what we are indeed grateful for. It’s not about writing the word down on paper, it’s much deeper. When we focus on feeding ourselves positive perspectives, it can shape shift our thought loops and make us recognize the blessing it is to have those things in our lives. Doing this can completely change our attitude and posture as we go about the rest of the week.

It’s also easy to fall in a pattern of seeing the glass half-empty. Especially as we age. We see opportunities missed and think about where we should be in life. In reality, we all have blessings in one way or another – and much that we should be thankful for. When we focus on the things we can and should be thankful for, it helps anchor our mind in the right place to continue build up moving forward.

List out three things you are thankful for each and every day. Don’t be afraid to go off the track a bit here. Try to avoid listing the same three things daily. Go wide here. The wider we cast the net the more easily we can recognize we actually have a lot going on in our favor.

Today’s High: What was my favorite moment of the day? Why was it my favorite moment, how did it make me feel and why was it important? By noting my favorite highlight from the day, it allows me to end the day in a positive space and reflect on the wins. I have found over time one of the main things that sustains and gives me energy is seeing progress. By taking note of a high point or moment and tracking progress in my endeavors, it subconsciously fuels me for a period of time.

Kind Words: Similar to “Today’s High”, by archiving “kind words” that other’s share – it allows me to pause and reflect on how others are seeing me show up. I am my toughest critic, by far. If I feel I haven’t seen too many wins during a given period of time, I can tend to get down. By memorializing positive words that others have shared with me, I can spend time reflecting on positive affirmation instead of going down a different rabbit hole.

Showing Up Scale: On a 1 to 10 scale, how would I evaluate how I “showed up” for those around me. Again, the goal here is to find patterns so we can adjust moving forward. This gives me an opportunity to be honest with myself on how well I was able to navigate the day and reflect on my relationships with others. Did I invest in others and help people grow? How did I engage with my children? Did I react in a meeting? Was I a mentor or a boss? By watching the tape in my mind and really auditing my performance and behavior, I am able to again identify how to adjust moving forward. Don’t just give yourself a numeric score, articulate the logic behind it. This is the part of the exercise where growth occurs.

Key Learnings: When I reflect on the day, what did I learn? If I don’t write it down, odds are it will be forgotten about within a couple weeks. However, if I habitually document key takeaways, it makes it easier to pause and reflect on lessons I have picked up on over time. If I intentionally try to have a takeaway each day, it makes me focus more on being where my feet are. Key learnings can come from leaders, mentors, books, podcasts or what I learn as a father. The options are really endless.

It’s important to note that everyone should journal based on their own circumstances and what they feel is best to achieve results in their own personal growth. Hopefully for those who have never started and are looking for a foundation, this outline can provide just that.

Over two years, even my own structure has shape shifted slightly. As time progresses, analyze and understand what works best for you and what doesn’t. For the areas that aren’t effective, scratch them and search for new ideas and concepts to add in.

Journaling has paid a number of dividends for my personal evolution. Below are the top biproducts of being consistent with this exercise every night:

  1. Calming and Clearing of the Mind: If nothing else, writing down my thoughts and emotions has been an outlet that I’ve never had before. It has allowed me to let it rip and open up without a bit of hesitation. As therapeutic as it felt, it also allowed me to really take a look at my emotions from a balcony view.
  2. Reducing Stress & Anxiety: Getting your thoughts down on paper helps you identify stress-inducing thoughts and beliefs that are distortions of reality. You begin to notice when you’re in a bad mood or when you overgeneralize with words like “always” or “never” to describe your experiences.
  3. Development of Self-Awareness: After you write and reflect on your days, you start to mentally become more aware of blind spots that surface frequently. Once some of these areas expose themselves, it’s easier to put plans in place to solve these issues.
  4. Expressing my Thoughts: Writing honestly is a form of self-acceptance. The more you write honestly, the more you accept yourself. You then become more confident about expressing yourself.
  5. Boost in Self-Esteem: After going back and reviewing how much I have learned and developed as the months went by, it was clear to see I was moving the ball down the field in a very significant way. Also, by reviewing “Kind Words” it has served as an archive to re-surface all the kind things that others have said over time.

As you make your new year’s resolutions, I would highly recommend sliding journaling into the mix. Stay consistent with the exercise and you too can see dramatic results in just a short period of time!

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