Keeping a journal is a great way to train your brain to ensure you stay on track with your life’s goals, both short term and long term.

As your journal grows it can become your personal guide to achieving all that you really want in life.

To help you develop a rich journal that will boost your clarity of mind, your vision and goals as well as helping you stay motivated, inspired and challenged to pursue your dreams, I have put together some sets of questions that will act as a guide for your daily or weekly journal entries.

I trust that these questions will both help you and act as a springboard to create your own questions that will inspire you to create your journal by masterminding for new goals, solutions to challenges and making important decisions.

The basic questions start with “What, Why, Where, When, Who and How?” In this article we will consider some “Whats”. Here are some suggestions:

1. What did I achieve today

(This could actually be a sub-heading that sets your train of thought).

2. What am I grateful for today?

There is an increasing awareness of the power of gratitude in our lives. Even if that is all you write in your journal every day, writing the answer to this “what” would be a great exercise, and I am sure you would discover some great things starting to happen in your life.

Challenge for 2009

(its never too late to start whatever day in 2009 you are reading this).
Write down at least 3 things you are grateful for every day. (Yes WRITE it down, this helps to make your brain more aware of these things.)

3. What challenges did I face today?

Here is where you can jot down the difficulties you faced today.

There are an infinite number of challenges that can await us on a regular basis ranging from technical, mechanic, to relationship frustrations and health challenges.

Many of the decisions we make in the face of life’s challenges can have lasting affects on our lives. Of course there are times of crisis and urgency when we must make decisions on the spur of the moment.

4. What solutions can I find to meet these challenges?

Many of these demands and difficulties can be best solved by taking some time aside in a quiet place and writing down all the possibilities that come to mind.

Where possible it is certainly better not to make decisions when emotions are high (most of the time, these are the decisions you live to regret).

When meeting solutions it is always essential to be in the best frame of mind. This is why we need to train our brain to stay in the positive realm at all times. Then our decisions even in a time of crisis will be clearer and will lead to more creative and constructive solutions.

5. What things could I have done differently?

When you stop to think about this question and actually write down the answers, you are training your brain to be more alert and sensitive to people around you as well as to the things you are doing.

There are always things we can do to make life, work and our environment better. Most of all this is a good question to apply to our mindset. Was I completely positive in all I did today? If not, how what thoughts would have changed my frame of mind?

6. What opportunities did I miss?

This is an exercise in becoming more aware of events, surroundings and people.

With the stress and pressures of life, most of us have at least moments when we are off somewhere in our own world, and not fully aware of what is happening around us. Great opportunities can be missed in these moments.

7. What new things did I learn today?

As you take a few moments to write down some of these new discoveries, you will find it will be easier to remember them.

You may have left school, but you can never leave the school of life (until you die). One thing you learned (hopefully) from school is the power of writing things down! (And using a pen is still better for the brain than a keyboard).

Here’s to a GREAT 2009 – full of new adventures and opportunities!

A journal can be written daily (the best) or perhaps simply when you need to. If you plan on making a daily entry it would be good to purchase a diary. If a daily entry is more than you think you can keep up with you could simply purchase a good notebook.

Whatever you decide to use for your journal it needs to be kept exclusively for that purpose. A multi-purpose notebook would simply end up as a very cluttered notebook.

It would certainly be good to at least make a point of entering a weekly summary on a chosen day of the week especially if you have decided that writing a journal on a daily basis would not fit your schedule.

If you have not been used to keeping a journal, here are some of the many advantages you will find once you get started. Writing things down helps to:

1. Clear and unclutter the mind. Sometimes we cannot think straight because our minds are too full of multitudes of things we are trying to deal with all at once.
   
   Writing things down, whether it be a to do list, goals, or problems to solve helps to give ourselves permission to deal with one thing at a time, while temporarily forgetting the rest.
   
   
2. Make decisions. Writing down the pros and cons of a situation and being able to actually see them in black and white can helping greatly in sorting things out to make the right decision.
   
   Once that decision is made, write it down!
   
   
3. Solidify your goals and decisions. There is nothing like having something written down in black and white to wipe away any indecision.
   
   
4. Make you think about your decisions. When you see something in black and white, it becomes more real and is a great time to rethink your decisions if needed before you start acting.
   
   
5. Keep yourself accountable. It is also good to make yourself accountable to a trusted friend, but in the end it is YOUR decision as to whether you plan on doing what is necessary to reach your goals or not.
   
   When you have written down your decisions it is harder to give yourself “permission” to ignore them or put off acting on them.
   
   
6. Gives you something to look back on when things get tough or you get discouraged. Your journal should also have all the triumphant experiences written down. These will serve to keep you encouraged when difficult circumstances cross your path.

This is the introduction to a series of articles that will bring you some tips to help you get the most out of your journal!

I will be exploring some things like:

• Questions you can ask yourself to help you get the most out of your day and achieve your goals quicker.
  
  
• Questions you can ask yourself that will help you correct anything that may be tripping you up or holding you back.
  
  
• Questions you can ask yourself that will help you stay alert to influences around you that affect your day and your decisions.
  
  
• Questions you can ask yourself to help you get the most out of your day and help you enjoy life more!
  
  

Come back and visit us often and always keep in mind ..