I began with random journal entries, worked into daily entries, but soon felt I rambled and was describing my day instead of thinking about it.
For this reason and a few others, I created templates so I was answering the same questions day after day. This put me in the right frame of mind in the morning and allowed me to record incidents as they happened and reflect on them at the end of the day.
I found I forgot a lot of the small good things that happened if I didn’t note them right away and I wanted to be sure I captured all the good things and things I accomplished, big and small. We often overlook the good and dwell on the bad. This really helps you see how much good there is on any given day.
What do I ask?
Each morning I ask myself what three good things happened yesterday. What I’m grateful for today. And how I am going to spread kindness.
This is all positive. How I spread kindness is the same everyday. By writing it down and essentially saying it to myself before I leave the house, I find I am more apt to act in it.
I will spread kindness by: smiling, saying hi, being polite, and being positive.
It works. I make more eye contact and smiling and saying hi is contagious.
My other journals include goals for the day. I pick up to three things I want to accomplish. These are in the three areas of my focus for personal well being. They don’t have to be big, but I want to get them done. This could be my step count, writing a post, or working on something.
In this way I know that everyday I am contributing to improving myself in an intentional way.
The final journal includes what I did and how I’m feeling.
Together, I have qualitative and quantitative data to use for my own development and I put myself in a good frame of mind to start each day.
Ross Raymond Nunamaker 