A simple journal can be as little as 3 or 4 sentences per day. There is no rule other than to get out of your discomfort with the idea. Let me help you get comfortable with an easy process. Tell your story. Whether you know it or not, you whole life thus far has been one long narrative. The narrative tends to repeat itself so perhaps it’s time to take control of it. Get some of it on paper so it can be observed.
“There is no rule other than to get out of your discomfort with the idea.”
Every aspect of the world as you have created it is a product and result of the narrative that plays on and on internally. If someone were to write your biography it would be filled with the subtleties and nuanced insights into the variables of your internal process and your beliefs.
In order for others to understand the approach to life that you have undertaken it would be essential for the biographer to glean from you the idiosyncratic thought processes that produced and maintain the “you” that the world at large is experiencing. We create who we are it’s not forced upon us.
Why do people journal? One reason is to organize their thoughts and make sense of the world. The process of writing grounds us and requires us to access our belief systems. This is important to developing a better understanding of how we are motivated to create the world around us. Yes, as adults, we are responsible for the world as we know it and equally responsible for what it will look like in the future. That’s a powerful idea! And it’s actually a fact!
Embrace change by discovering your personal narrative or story line and in doing so you can also discover you have power over it. The main obstacle my clients experience when I suggest this as a method of self-improvement is one basic question. “What do I write about?” Here’s where I make it easy for you.
A daily journal basically, answers a question or observes and records an experience. It helps us know ourselves better. It often reflects on the events, or an event that transpired during the day. It does not have to deal with everything that went on. So here is a list of questions you can copy and use to give your new exercise a good start.
These questions can be used one per week or one per day as you see fit. Use them in any order, but use them all! In time you will have questions of your own to work with.
Write one at the top of your page and begin. This provides continuity, focus and structure. You are writing about the most important person you know, so be thoughtful and thorough.
1. What happened today that was positive and why does it matter?
2. What personal challenges did I face today and how did I respond?
3. Did I feel confident in myself throughout the day, what does it feel like either way?
4. Describe something that troubled you and how you felt at the time. (OK, not a question)
5. Did a single emotion dominate the day and if so, why?
6. How did I respond to what I perceived as indifference to my needs and was it appropriate?
7. Was there a point during the day when I felt helpless and was the feeling justified?
8. Did I procrastinate over anything today and if so what feelings and thoughts were wrapped around it?
9. What did I learn about myself today that caused me to pause and reflect and why?
Dream, write, reflect…repeat. Disperse the clouds.
Dream, write, reflect…repeat. Disperse the clouds.
Dream, write, reflect…repeat. Disperse the clouds.
Another part of the equation is reading. If you refuse to learn you refuse to grow. This is usually apathy, or ambivalence towards yourself or the value of the written word. This is the domain of doubt and uncertainty. “What good will it do? Why bother?”
If you aren’t spending time reading and developing your knowledge of history, science, philosophy, and how the world really works, then you might as well realize that you may be living in a vegetative state “Alive but comatose and without apparent brain activity or responsiveness.” – Oxford Dictionary 🙂
It can also make you quite vulnerable to opinions pretending to be facts. If reading and exploring is already a part of your lifestyle that’s excellent! Either way, here are a few suggestions that will help build an even stronger you.
By the way, there are no works of fiction listed here as I’m promoting empowerment and healing. Knowledge promotes personal power while idleness of mind does not!
This is an important book for anyone who wants to understand the underlying nature of our culture, how things work and the big picture of how empires have risen and declined over thousands of years of history.
There are patterns that empires have consistently duplicated and America is no exception. History does repeat itself. The book provides a view that’s above the shabbiness of ideology and politics. This book is heavy on historical facts and shines light on how we are repeating the same mistakes as our predecessors and the looming consequences of that course.
Not a self-help book, but it is self-enlightening! This book is a record of the “long term study of 3 generations of individuals” that according to the author (Firestone) revealed “that most people are involved in personal relationships characterized by emotional hunger, desperation and an intense need for fusion…”
The insights in this book have brought me back to it many times over the years. It reveals a lot about the average person. I guess that’s all of us. Good read!
This is a fascinating read. The brain can suffer catastrophic damage and still find a way to recover and compensate. This book makes neuroscience accessible to us regular folks. It also shines light on how our healthy brains are just waiting to be challenged. Our thoughts define us and shape the world around us. Don’t pass this book up!
Bly reflects on the shadow-self drawing on Jung’s theory of the Shadow. He has some interesting insights on how we carry and project repressed parts of our psyche and the personal and social consequences that are experienced. The book is a short read.
This is a heavy read for those who like to be challenged. McGilchrist correlates the evolution and development of cultures to the evolution of both the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
Honestly, I scanned through some chapters which I often do with complex material and focused on material in chapters that were of specific interest to me. This book might tighten your grip on who you are as a social animal. Informative!
Dr. Peterson elaborates on concepts that he has been teaching and refining all of his professional life. This book is a resource that provides practical and proven ideas that can produce positive results in your life if you implement them. Want to improve the state of things in your life? This book is an excellent resource. Jump in and grow!
In the prologue Dr. Lipton starts out by asking “If you could be anybody…who would you be?” He was asking this of himself at one point in his life. It has long been known that as you believe, so you become.
We can literally think our way into disease states, underachieving behaviors and all of the possibilities that doubt and uncertainty can lead to. Of course there are opposing potentials also. Our thoughts shape us. This idea has biopsychosocial implications and this book can help you discover and understand them in your own life. Read this book!
Here’s one on the lighter side. How different cultures structure and measure, or observe time is fascinating. In his preface Livine quotes Jeremy Rifkin author of, Time Wars, saying “Every culture has its own unique set of temporal fingerprints. To know a people is to know the time values they live by.”
Instant gratification and the hurried pace of western culture is brought into question here. Modern humans (in western culture) tend to operate at a dizzying and unnatural pace. I would be surprised if you did not find this book interesting. “Those who rush arrive first at the grave. Spanish Proverb”
Biographies can teach us about adversity. They can also have an impact how we understand what it is like to triumph over what at times seem to be impossible circumstances. Find inspiration! Pick an historical figure that you find interesting and go for it.
Stop the “yeah, yeah maybe someday” nonsense and get busy. Your life is like a river that rushes by and cannot be retrieved. Stop for a moment and look around you. Everything is in motion even when you are not. It’s time to TAKE ACTION!
Remember, what keeps us from expanding our understanding of ourselves and the world around us is often a part of the same internal process that holds us back in every aspect of life. Doubt and uncertainty are destroyers. They do not support a thirst for knowledge and self-reliance. Being disinterested in learning is often a sign of ambivalence which, as an internal state, can prevent us from achieving just about any dream we’ve ever had.
Making a habit like reading and exploring a part of your personal ritual has profound implications. It can become an empowering, self-soothing behavior. Healthy self-soothing activities are revitalizing and constructive compared to sitting in front of a TV, computer or smart phone screen. The latter have been proven to be, in significant ways, dehumanizing.
Below are some links that offer an additional means of establishing a mentor relationship. They do not and cannot replace the impact of having a direct relationship in real time, but they can help with building and expanding character and knowhow. How? Glad you asked!
If you watch a video once and think that you have absorbed all of its ideas and concepts, you are wrong. I once had a client in a group complain that the video I was about to show the group had been viewed before. I asked him to tell me what the video was about. He could not. Point made. We watched again and gleaned new insights together.
How did we, as children, all learn the alphabet? We started with A and added new letters, but always began with A again. A, AB, ABC and so on. Repetition gets results and builds character. If we want to become wise we have to immerse ourselves in the wisdom of the ages. The best way to learn and perfect a new language is immersion and repetition.
Whomever it is you wish to become, you will have to revisit that ideal over and over in all of its aspects. Anything we have achieved in life took time and effort to accomplish, even the negative traits required effort to develop. They also take effort to maintain. We can work on the new version of you together if you would like, meanwhile you can begin to explore with these:
Quit social media | Dr. Cal Newport | TEDxTysons
YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK | Jordan Peterson
GO INTO THE UNKNOWN | Jordan Peterson
How language generates your world and mine: Chalmers Brothers
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell – Animation
This is How to Overcome Your Fear of Failure
How fear affects the brain
How stress affects your brain – Madhumita Murgia
The brain-changing benefits of exercise | Dr. Wendy Suzuki
How to keep your brain healthy through exercise – Harvard Health
Create a folder on your desktop or in favorites and save 4-5 videos (of these or others) that have inspired you. Review them often. It takes time, and determination to “become a new version of you.” Review, reflect, repeat!
Be careful not to get stuck in the idea that this is all you need to do. Success will require more than one new habit or behavior. Press on! Immerse yourself and expose yourself to the world of ideas. Begin now!
Humanities quest for meaning in relationships is an ageless endeavor. It consumes us as human beings. Take a few seconds and answer just one question. Add your voice and help establish a consensus.
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