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| Photo by Andrei Dumitrescu on Unsplash |
Perhaps your journal can help out…
I can just hear your eyebrows shoot up as you think that I am losing my mind. Journal writing is not about chasing goals, I hear you say. And you would be correct. But what if you have something that you want to do, but you are having difficulty trying to figure out what that something is? That would be a goal, wouldn’t it? Instead of just letting your mind meander where it wants to, why not set yourself a target of say 10 or 20 minutes once a week, to ‘think’ about this elusive goal. Maybe it is not that elusive, but you are still unsure about some aspects of it, or you need to figure what you need to learn to get closer to that goal.
Because keeping a journal is a personal experience, you can dig deep into your psyche to find all the fears and excuses that are holding you back. It doesn’t have to be big obstacles they can be small too, but unless you unpack them one at a time, they will always be ‘the problem’. Even mountain climbers don’t just suit up and go. They study the geography of the mountain. They try to find out what others have done right or wrong to learn from their experiences. They even study the weather, because dying in a blizzard is not something you want to happen because you were not prepared.
Your goal could lie before you as your Mount Everest. And until the first person scaled its height, it was an insurmountable obstacle. Despite it being conquered, it will never be mastered by man because of the challenges each person has to face on their own ascent.
Your goal might seem unsurmountable too, but what can you learn from past experiences that you had in achieving a goal? What do you need to learn to conquer the next step?
Your journal is the ideal companion for that journey towards the achievement of that goal. Use the quiet time with your journal to good effect. Find out what is truly standing in your way. Reflect on the lessons of your past that can help you. What good things can you use? What are the not so good things that can you learn from? Open your mind, and you will see the route before you.
Of course not every road is paved with success, but with an open mind the perceived obstacles become a learning experience documented in your journal for the next bigger, and perhaps bolder challenge. A challenge that will see you better prepared than you could have imagined if you hadn’t recorded your journey towards achieving that success in the first place.
And in this case, it is not you that Take your Journal to the Next Level, but the other way around. And that can indeed be the next step in the evolutionary path of personal development.
A side note: I have drawn up a project plan for my next book, Take your Journal to the Next Level, and if all goes according to that plan the book will be ready for release in early 2019. At the time of this post, my progress stands at 31% complete.
Until next time, be healthy and happy!
Lizette
