- Mar 10, 2010
- 42,695
- 107,111
I do and have for about 40 years.
I started doing it as I worked for a company that kept buying other companies and folding them into the one I ran.
Every evening I would end my day by writing in a notebook what I had to accomplish the next day, and put in that what I just could not accomplish despite starting my day at 6 AM and ending it at 7PM.
I had 6 or 7 of them when I left that company, as I kept them to refer back to ideas, processes and adjustments and still have them to this day. The notebooks tell a story of someone who worked well past their 35K salary, and also tell the story as to how to manage operations that were well above their skill set. The value working for that company, and that man, was not in the salary but in learning life skills.
My wife saw them once and said she had no idea that I did that, and nobody should know the details anyway. I just got up in the AM, dressed like I knew what I was doing, and went at it.
I still keep a journal; it's not as intense as it was back when I worked for that company those days, not as intense as when I owned my companies back in those days, and more personal than business.
I write at night, fortunately, I can do it on a computer because my handwriting is well past horrible ( I once got all A's on a report card with a D in writing and an F in art) and it's probably not going to get any better.
Memorizing your thoughts is a good way to keep your feet on the ground. It helps you see what areas you need adjustments in, areas where you did OK, and areas where you excelled. It doesn't have to be all business, and it doesn't have to be things that make an effect on your life.
It's self-reflection.
The misses goes to bed well before me, and when she does, I put on a headset, listen to music from a bygone era, and put my thoughts in my journal. There is nothing life-changing in the content, and would bore anyone, and I would probably get sued if someone read it as it is so uninteresting, but it helps keep me in the here and now.
You may want to give it a try for a month or two, it could possibly make a difference in your life.
I started doing it as I worked for a company that kept buying other companies and folding them into the one I ran.
Every evening I would end my day by writing in a notebook what I had to accomplish the next day, and put in that what I just could not accomplish despite starting my day at 6 AM and ending it at 7PM.
I had 6 or 7 of them when I left that company, as I kept them to refer back to ideas, processes and adjustments and still have them to this day. The notebooks tell a story of someone who worked well past their 35K salary, and also tell the story as to how to manage operations that were well above their skill set. The value working for that company, and that man, was not in the salary but in learning life skills.
My wife saw them once and said she had no idea that I did that, and nobody should know the details anyway. I just got up in the AM, dressed like I knew what I was doing, and went at it.
I still keep a journal; it's not as intense as it was back when I worked for that company those days, not as intense as when I owned my companies back in those days, and more personal than business.
I write at night, fortunately, I can do it on a computer because my handwriting is well past horrible ( I once got all A's on a report card with a D in writing and an F in art) and it's probably not going to get any better.
Memorizing your thoughts is a good way to keep your feet on the ground. It helps you see what areas you need adjustments in, areas where you did OK, and areas where you excelled. It doesn't have to be all business, and it doesn't have to be things that make an effect on your life.
It's self-reflection.
The misses goes to bed well before me, and when she does, I put on a headset, listen to music from a bygone era, and put my thoughts in my journal. There is nothing life-changing in the content, and would bore anyone, and I would probably get sued if someone read it as it is so uninteresting, but it helps keep me in the here and now.
You may want to give it a try for a month or two, it could possibly make a difference in your life.
I actually didn't really think about it but I do keep that paperwork where I write down my goals everyday, will be fun to look back on it.
