This is the first monthly Men Matters column by Mason Lanier which will provide a man’s experience with Journaling For The Health Of It®️
How I got into journaling
In 2016, I read a book called “Three Feet From Gold” and it was the first book I ever decided to go out and purchase on my own. Whilst reading, I found myself taking note after note after note, all written down on the nearest index cards that I could find. After purchasing another stack of index cards to keep up with all the notes I was writing, it finally occurred to me that there was a better way to keep track of this stuff…
I bought my first journal.
What I write/How I Journal
The way I have journaled has changed with every journal I’ve bought, I intentionally do this to mix it up and search for more effective ways to do what I’m doing. My first one consisted of a lot of successful people and their beliefs on the world. I would capture their words and how they felt in an attempt to gather similarities that I could use for myself and essentially speed up my process!
Fast forward a year down the road and I find a general idea that has been working for me, which is…
- Write down your goals the night prior
- Hit those goals throughout the day
- Record what interesting things happened
- “Free Space” where I either draw or freewrite, etc.
In all honesty, I do whatever I feel like doing with the journal! The freedom of doing whatever I feel like doing with it motivates me to do more of what matters… which is just journaling in the first place. Get creative with it!
How I’ve Benefited from Journaling
I have a long list of accomplishments that I can attribute to journaling and/or personal development. Here are a few main ones within the past couple of years:
- Quit Smoking
- Quit Drinking
- Quit Gambling
- Quit Soda
- Changed Careers
- Got Married
These are a few of very many successes, and I can honestly say that journaling was the reason all of this was accomplished. Because had I not started, I would have never known where I was truly at in my journey.
Journaling is one thing that I proudly announce to others that I do on a daily basis, in fact, I journaled every day for a year without missing a beat.
Your head is no place to keep your ideas and important things, because everyone knows, you’re liable to forget if you leave it up to memory alone.
Closing
I often find that when I begin talking about journaling, or someone see’s me in the act, there’s a lot of men who want to poke fun at the idea. This use to get to me, but I began noticing something… The more I wrote and the stronger the habit I formed of writing.. The bigger the progression and growth I would notice in myself. I started knocking off goal after goal after goal and soon enough, I was looking back at a months work that would have previously taken me over a year easily.
There’s nothing to lose and absolutely everything to gain, and it’s such a simple act. Do yourself this one favor, and pick up a journal today. If you don’t get results immediately feel free to get ahold of me and call me a liar, I have yet to receive a message like that.
About the author: Mason Lanier is a happy and successful father of 3 who has studied personal development for nearly a decade. He works towards helping others become happy and motivated for growth through learned studies and personal experiences.
Leave Comment