Most of the time when people hear the word journal they think of a person writing in a diary of how the day went. The truth is, when you use a journal properly it can give you great benefits such as reaching your goal. If you had the secret tool to use to reach your goal would you utilize it? Of course you would. So in this blog we’re going to show you ways on how to journal so you can stay focused on the things that you need to do in order for you to accomplish your target.
We encourage you not to skip anything in this blog just to get to the strategies and tactics because there is something that you may miss that will change the direction of your life. Read this from start to finish to really gain the benefits.
Journaling is not just you writing down your thoughts or how your day went it is a form of tracking. The things we track and measure are the things we improve. Do you ever noticed whenever it comes to payday you’re happy because you have money in the bank but a week or a couple of weeks later you look at your bank account and you see most of that money is gone. You have no idea where it went or how you spent it. That is because you were not keeping track of your expenses. This is the same with our thoughts and goals, we need to track and organize our activities and put them on paper so we know exactly where we are going. We know exactly what we need to do or not do.
Personally we use a journal called the no matter what journal and this journal was created by Janet Miller here is a link to learn more about her, how powerful this journal is and how you can use it to organize different areas of your life. https://www.nomatterwhatjournal.com Before we started journaling we didn’t even know we had thoughts. I mean we knew they were there but we didn’t realize they were separate from us. We were going through life just copying what others are doing. Things like going to school, getting into a relationship, exercising then working up the corporate ladder. Things that happened in movies and the path of our parents is the direction we were going towards. However, it wasn’t the direction we wanted to take. It was a default. We know, you’re probably thinking “what does this have to do with my fitness goal?”, don’t worry this will all make sense to you as you keep reading. Our lives we’re being designed by default. Our goals were to get a high paying job, to be healthier, to get married and have kids
then grow old. Until we asked ourselves what it is we want out of this life, not what others want for us but what we want. So we bought notebooks and started organizing our thoughts, dreams, targets and goals. Most importantly the reasons “why?”. To be honest, finding the answers to these is the hardest part but once we knew what we wanted then the path created itself. We started meeting amazing people that lead to meeting more amazing people that gave us opportunities and provided us with resources to aid us with hitting our targets.
Writing all these down even lead us to meeting our mentors whom helped us tremendously in different areas of our lives. Help in business, relationships, health, finance and even spirituality.
By the way, did we mention our mentors are millionaires? Think about that for a second. All we started with was writing down our thoughts and ideas on a notebook and the rest of our lives have changed forever. Our point is if you don’t design your life then by default you are letting others design it for you and you may not like it in the end. The flip side to that coin is you have the ability to live a life the way you want and it all starts by being clear on what you want it to be then simply making it a reality on paper.
So how do we journal? How do we organize it on paper? I will share with the first 4 steps that we use to journal efficiently.
Step 1: COMMIT
A very common mistake people make is that they wait until the time is right or when they have more time. How do some people stick to what they need to do and then hit their goals like it was nothing. I know you’ve met people the changed their life and made it seem easy. The truth is that it wasn’t easy, the difference between you and that other person is that they committed. They said no matter what they will go for it. Even though they don’t have all the answer and the time. Here is the secret with this, when you commit, we mean really commit, then you will make the time and the answers and solutions to the problems you face will reveal themselves to you. Commit first then ask questions later.
Step 2: VISUALIZE Do you remember that saying “seeing is believing”? Well it’s true. In order for you to realize your goals you must be able to see them. Seeing them in your head is great but that is just the first part. You must bring them into reality and we don’t mean conjure it up from thin air like Dr. Strange in the Avengers. We mean describe them with words and find images of them from magazines or through the internet. Yes, we are talking about creating your dream board. This may sound silly but would you rather be silly and hit your goals or stay behaved and let the world consume you? Design your life the way you want it. Visualize your desires and put them on paper.
Step 3: DESIGN THE YEAR
A long term goal can be intimidating and often can feel out of reach. The solution, break it down. Set smaller goals and different targets. Break down your goal into tasks, habits that you need to adapt and even strategies. Another big mistake is focusing too much on the long term goal. We need to shift our focus to what is the next step that we need to take. The process should be a smooth gradient that is realistic and accomplishable.
Step 4: YOUR REASON WHY A strong “why” will overcome any “how”. Your reason for building an amazing life will push you forward when times get tough. Think about the experiences you want to have in the different areas of your life. Write down the experience for your health, relationships, career etc. Pick 3 that is most important to you and let those be the driving force and your strong why. Without a reason why then what is the point of working so hard? Journaling, tracking, planning or whatever you want to call it is critical to do to reaching the goals for your life. Writing it down is a way to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is also a way to reverse engineer how you are going to accomplish what you have sought out to do. Watch your life be different when you put your plan on paper into details. The different areas in your life will start to shift, you will meet new people and be in a different place because everything will start to work in your favour whether it feels like it or not. The things we track and measure are the things we improve.
Comment and let us know what method do you follow for your journalling?
Don't forget to check our the no matter what journal and Janet Miller on Instagram. Or head to the no matter what journal website HERE.
PS: If you need help setting up your fitness and nutrition goals, don't hesitate to send us an email to hello@noriathletics.com.