5 THINGS I LEARNT FROM 1 WEEK USING THE BEST SELF JOURNAL

This week I started using the Best Self Journal, a journaling system focussed on helping you achieve your ‘big hairy audacious goals’ through structured goal setting, targets and tracking over a 13 week period. The journal also prompts you to practice gratitude and reflect on your wins and lessons learnt each day.

The ‘lessons learned’ section has been particularly useful reflection on how I spend my time and energy and my progress. After a week of journaling and reflections, here’s five things I’ve learnt about the process and about myself.

LESSON #1. I DON’T MAKE THE BEST USE OF MY TIME

I had a sneaking suspicion that this was the case and I am correct. The planner sets out a daily timeline from 6am — 9pm to plan your day. On average I get home from work at 6pm and go to bed at 9.30pm giving me 3.5 hours of potential productive time. Take out cooking/eating and that’s probably more like 2.5 hours. Even at 2 hours a day that’s 10 hours a (working) week. TEN HOURS! I have no idea where this time goes!

GET BETTER — Make sure my ‘to do’ list is better aligned to my overall goals. Which leads me to…

LESSON #2. I NEED TO BREAK MY GOALS DOWN

I have my big hairy audacious goals (tick) but I need to think more about how to attack them piece by piece. The weekly reflection part of the journal made me realise that I currently procrastinate by taking small actions which make me feel like I’m doing something with my 2.5 hours a night but I know to make real progress I need to break down the elephant into bite sized chunks.

As a result of using the journal this week alone I took three big steps towards my goals (including releasing my Presentation Skills ebook). Partly because I now have a 13 week ‘deadline’ to work to.

GET BETTER — Action planning; what will tangibly move me forward?

LESSON #3. GRATITUDE IS HARD, AND FUN

You may have heard of the current trend of gratitude; at the start and/or end of the day thinking about and writing down three things that you’re grateful for. Lovely. It’s not something I’ve practiced myself but have been interested by the research on its reported benefits to relationships, empathy, physical and emotional health.

On day 2 I woke up with a stinking tension headache in the night. The next morning my gratitude log reads ‘ibuprofen’ in scrawly green text. Not sure that’s quite the intended purpose. Anyway, after a few days I found myself coming back to the same things each time. Not necessarily ‘incorrect’ but this triggered me to think deeper and look for some of the little things that are easy to take for granted.

GET BETTER — Think small.

LESSON #4. I CAN BE BRAVER

After setting out my BHAG I had time to reflect on my journey so far and the times and events that have shaped me the most. Unsurprisingly they’re all ones that have involved a leap of faith and some courage; from shifting careers, ending relationships or changing countries. Funnily enough I also listened to Tim Ferriss interviewing Richard Branson, a huge inspiration of mine, who quoted ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ as a favourite motto of his. This was a very apt reminder to challenge myself more in my life and professional goals.

GET BETTER — Be more Branson!

LESSON #5. I’M STILL [A BIT OF] A PERFECTIONIST

The idea of planning my day’s activities IN PEN and then HAVING TO CHANGE SOMETHING makes me feel a bit sweaty.

GET BETTER — Take a deep breath and get over it :)

Of course, you don’t need a schmancy new piece of stationery to practice these habits but if you like structure and plans (hello) then I recommend giving it a go — you can download the PDF journal template from their website to try before you commit to the hard copy journal. And don’t worry, you are very much encouraged to schedule some downtime as well!

I’m looking forward to the next 12 weeks of better actions and bigger lessons. If you see me posting photos from my private island in January you’ll know it worked…

Note; This is not a sponsored post; all views are my own from my experience of using a product that I purchased.

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