Improve Your Results Through Journaling

This is the sixth in my series of seven ways to improve your professional results in 2007. You can read yesterday's suggestion on mentoring here, which links you to all of the other four.

My sixth suggestion is a more personal one. It doesn't require interaction with or cooperation with anyone else. And you will find it to be one of the most powerful ways to increase your rate of learning. What is it, you ask?

Keep a journal.

A journal is an amazing learning tool! Your journal can take many forms:

• It can be electronic - in a Word document, as a series of PowerPoint slides or however else you think would work best for you.
• It could reside in your day planner,
• You could use a steno pad
• It could be in a dedicated book of your choice (I got a Moleskin notebook for Christmas and I'm using it for a special new Goals Journal)
• Or it could be anywhere else you choose.

Where you journal is less important than that you journal.

Use your journal to jot down key ideas to refresh your memory, new ideas you want to capture, lists of the books you want to read, a list of the books you have read, a list of your goals - you get the idea.

A journal is a tool for reflection and forward thinking that can become one of the most valuable development habits you'll ever create.

But only if you create it and write in it. There is no perfect way to journal, so rather than trying to figure that all out, just get started.

p.s. I wrote this advice for an article in Unleash Your Potential a couple of weeks ago, then on December 30th, my Dad showed me a small notebook he found in my Grandfather's drawer after he died earlier in the year. The pictures at the top of this post are of this very small notebook. Based on the age of the notebook and the fact that the words were written with a fountain pen, I'm guessing the notebook is older than I am. If the reasons I've just shared with you for keeping a journal or notebook aren't enough, how about leaving a legacy for your family?

Digg it |  del.icio.us |  Technorati |  StumbleUpon |