High Performance Daily Intention #1

Journaling

I am excited to share the first of my “12 Daily High-Performance Intentions.” These are the 12 habits that I try to incorporate into each day of my life. This is the very template that I often share with others including clients, to help them find maximal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

The first of these 12 habits/rituals is “Journaling.” The reason that I begin with journaling is the single best way to get things started in personal and professional growth. Journaling can also assist you in finding a true baseline, “where are you today?” It is difficult to move forward without having a starting point in your life. Journaling not only helps you find a baseline but can also help you identify priorities, create goals, and even assist you to reflect on your current behaviors. I also find that journaling is “in sort,” a written agreement with oneself. This is a great way to help you stay on track wit

h those things that are most important to you in your life.

The first part of my daily journal begins with a reflection on gratitude. I typically identify something that I feel grateful for and add a couple of sentences or a paragraph to begin my daily entry. I find starting with gratitude serves me well and is a pretty easy task and gets things in motion. I also am not opposed to adding something negative occurring in my life that I am dealing with. Many of those negative experiences are the very things that help me grow as an individual and in turn, I will offer gratitude for those things as well.

The next segment of my journal is often reserved for things that are heavy on my mind at that moment. It could be something in my personal life or professional life, but regardless it is something that I would like to express either on paper or in my paperless journal. If it is a major concern, it often lessens the burden by simply noting it. Additionally, I am not trying to problem-solve, but merely addressing the issue at that moment in my journal.

The last segment of my journal is devoted to goals and things that I want to accomplish throughout the day. This helps me keep the “first things first” in my life. I don’t get too concerned about trying to create a balance between personal and professional goals, I only keep in mind that they are both important. On any given day, I might lean heavily into my personal goals and on another day, I might lean heavily into my professional goals.

Lastly, I would say it is not nearly as important what you write in your journal as it is that you write “something” in your journal. For those individuals that say that they don’t have time to keep a journal, I would suggest that these are the very people who most need to begin keeping a journal. You may even start to identify tendencies in your daily routines. By doing a little review after months of journaling, you may very possibly find things that are major contributors or distractors to your health and fitness. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I struggled when I first started journaling. However, a few years ago I downloaded an app on my phone that made it easier for me to stay consistent with journaling. I find that it is much easier than keeping all my entries on my phone is much easier than using a separate paper journal. You may want to experiment with both before you find the one way that works best for you.

Happy Journaling!