One Powerful Technique to Achieve More in 2019 📓
I often talk about the importance of having a purpose in life. In this article, let’s talk about taking concrete steps to fulfill that purpose.
All this year, in most of my posts, my goal was to give you tips and tricks to improve your productivity. But I almost forgot to share one important habit with you that really helped me achieve all my goals this year and take me one step closer to realizing my purpose. It’s the habit of journaling.
I have talked about it’s importance in my article “Morning Routine Followed by Tim Ferriss Himself ”. Writing a morning journal will put your mind in the right mindset. It also helps you to put things in the right perspective, so you don’t start your day mindlessly. You have clear objectives to achieve with clear deadlines.
So let me help you develop this habit.
Prerequisites 📝
This is where you start, and the things you need are a pen and a notebook. But here is something crucial. Don’t think twice before investing some good amount of money here. The build of the notebook should be solid as it has to be with you the entire year. Also, try to buy a notebook with a premium feel like Moleskine. Use dotted or squared pages instead of ruled ones. Keep in mind that you have to see this notebook every morning, so it should not be like any other ordinary notebook that you use daily. Same goes for your pen. So head to your nearest book store and get a nice notebook and pen.
Where to start ? 🙇🏻♂️
So you bought the stuff, what next? You have to choose a journaling technique. I started journaling 4 years ago. It was a very popular journaling technique that I chose to use, the mighty Bullet Journal. It’s a great way to start, big props to Ryder Carroll. But if you want to take this to the next level, let me introduce you to a new technique, “The Purpose Book”.
🎉 The Purpose Book Technique 🎉
The reason I use this technique is because I strongly believe in the idea of leading a purposeful life. I have talked about this in my article “It’s Your Time to Start Living a Purposeful Life”. Think of Purpose Book as a way to keep track of your daily activities to make sure that are you moving towards your purpose with the right goals in mind.
Each page in your Purpose Book is associated with one day. You can add the date on the top. After that, it’s divided in 4 main sections. Let’s discuss them one by one.
Purpose:
This should be filled first. I feel like this is the best way to start your day. The first thing that you write on paper is your Purpose. It’s like writing your own destiny. If you do that every morning, it can be a reminder that you have to achieve something big. This will fill you up with positive energy.
Goals:
In this section, you have to write your weekly/monthly goals. You can have multiple goals in a week/month. But the reason to fill your goals after purpose is to remind you that your goals should always take you one step closer to your purpose, as discussed in the article also. That doesn’t mean you cannot have any other goals, but the idea is to have at least one goal that is associated with your purpose.
Top 3:
These should be the tasks that are most important and that need your immediate attention. You should complete these tasks in you Einstein Window, a time period in your day when you are most-focused. Also, try to make suret no other tasks try to steal your attention in your Einstein Window. The number of tasks can also be less than 3.
To-Dos/Notes:
Low priority task will go here. These task may or may not have nothing to do with your goals. You will be filling tasks here all day. For example, if you are in the office and suddenly remember that you are out of dog feed, add it in your to-dos. That’s why it has larger space dedicated to it than other sections. This is a dynamic section.
Mix Things Up (for Bullet Journal Users)
In the To-dos/Notes section, you have the freedom to go all-out. You can use good things from Bullet Journal here as well. Like using various bullets to differentiate tasks from notes, or use symbols to assign priority, or to write some notes that can help you in journaling.
Be comfortable, Be consistent
It doesn’t matter whether you follow Bullet Journal or The Purpose Book, remember that the goal is to start journaling. You will discover that once you start, you will start making changes for your own comfort after a while, and that’s perfectly fine. I’m sure most people who started out with bullet journal must be using their own versions of bullet journal now. Like I’m using the Purpose Book now.
So guys, try this technique out in 2019 for a change, and come back to let me know what changes you have made to create your own Journaling Technique. I wish you a Happy New Year and hope that 2019 will take you one step closer to you purpose in life.
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