Daily Journals are the Key to Your Success!

Success Blog

April 2, 2018

Daily Journals are the Key to Your Success!

Using Daily Journals to Improve Your Life

Daily journaling is something that everyone should do. It is an easy task that can be done any time of day and it can really make a difference in your life. It’s sad but with all of the technology we have at our disposal people forget that expressing yourself privately can positively affect your life.

The simple act of writing down your thoughts daily can help keep you on track. You may be wondering how to journal and keep it interesting. Before we jump into tips about keeping a journal let’s talk about what makes it so important.

Why Journaling is Important

When I sat down and thought of what made journaling so important, I was able to come up with three reasons that I thought were most beneficial. These may not be the only reasons that people think journaling is important but they are a good place to start.

Solidify Ideas

It’s easy to come up with ideas but most of the time you forget them. If you take the time to write out your ideas it solidifies them in your mind. Not only that but you have a written copy of what you were thinking. This gives you the chance to explore your ideas more easily. It also gives you a chance to share those ideas with others.

Written Proof for Yourself

Depending on how you write your journal you can use the entries as proof that you accomplished something. It is a great feeling when you have a list of things to do and you can check things off. If you use your journaling to set goals for yourself you can keep track of your progress in your journal.

Making a Plan

Journals are a great place to write out your hopes and dreams. They are also a great place to turn those hopes and dreams into a plan. A dream with action becomes a plan. If you journal everyday then you will be able to make small goals for yourself everyday that will eventually lead up to the dreams you originally had. Your journal is a place to see yourself grow as a person.

These three reasons to journal are far from a complete list. You may sit down and think of ten, twenty, or even one-hundred reasons why you should journal. Each reason you come up with is just more proof that you should start today. Now you may be wondering what kinds of daily journals you can create for yourself.

What Kinds of Daily Journals Exist?

This is a very broad question to ask. There are in reality an unlimited number of journal types that you could write. The best kind of journal is going to fit into your daily life, your goals for yourself, and the writing skills that you have. Here are six journal ideas to get you started on your journey to journal everyday.

Daily Planner

A daily planner is one of the simplest types of journaling you can do. In a daily planner you will write out the things you need to get done on a certain day. The most efficient way to do a day planner is to schedule out your days either the night before or pick one day a week to write out your plans.

Dreams Journal

Dream journals are actually about the dreams you had the night before. This is an important journal because your dreams are a window into your subconscious mind. If you keep track of your dreams you can find patterns. These patterns can range from being over stressed, lack of sleep, disappointed with your job, or you could be excited about a special occasion coming up. If you track your dreams you will find patterns and you will be able to take advantage of knowing what your subconscious is thinking when your conscious mind isn’t.

Checklist

Checklists are a great way to keep track of all the tasks that you need to do. You don’t need to complete all the tasks on a checklist everyday. That being said you can use a different version of a checklist known as a priority list. This list is ordered from most important to least important. You can only do tasks in order there’s no skipping. This is a good way to keep productive. Make sure you are always working on the most important task.

Affirmation Journal

Using a journal to write positive affirmations is a great way to start and end your day. If you write down your affirmations everyday you will feel the difference instantly. Your days will feel more satisfying and you will be more productive. If you don’t know what an affirmation is check out this post.

Success Journal

A success journal will combine many aspects of the journals mentioned before. To use a success journal you are going to want to make goals, plans, checklists, affirmations and then take action. The reason for using a success journal is to get your ideas out of your head and then follow through. You want to use a success journal to give you a reason to take action. Make sure every time you use a success journal you feel inspired to do more.

Goal Setting Journal

A goal setting journal is a place for you to write down your goals. Start with the biggest goals you can think of and then break them down. You want to make goals that are hard to achieve but not impossible. The best way to do that is starting big and then taking actionable steps. If you want to be a millionaire you probably can’t go out tomorrow and make a million dollars. What you can do is go out tomorrow a make ten, fifty, or even one-hundred dollars to put towards you goal. If you don’t think making small amounts will make a difference go out and read a book about starting a business in something you are skilled at or maybe even learn to invest. A goal journal is there to help you find the next actionable step.

Build a Habit Out of Journaling

Now that we’ve mentioned a next actionable step, let’s talk about building the habit. Journaling everyday is not something that most people will be happy to jump into and do everyday. To make it easier you should build a habit. Habits are those things that you do without thinking about. How great would it be if you could journal on autopilot and get the same effect?

Creating a habit can be difficult but it is not impossible. Every time you repeat something you are training yourself to have a new habit. It takes time but eventually you can do things without thinking about it. Here are a few tips to creating your new habit of journaling daily.

1) When Will I Write My Journal?

Ask yourself when you have time to write out a journal. If you can’t think of a time to do it within your current schedule you are going to have to make changes. The best times of the day to journal are usually right when you wake up and right before you go to bed. Those are the times when you have the most new ideas or are most rested.

2) Schedule Out Writing Time

Create a schedule for writing in your journal. By now you should know what time works best for you. Now mark it on your calendar or set a reminder on your phone telling you to journal. Make sure this is a repeating reminder. Until you can journal daily without a reminder this should always be active.

3) Accountability

Hold yourself accountable, you are the only person that can control your life. If you want to create this habit you are going to need to be consistent. If it comes down to it take away something you enjoy every time you mess up with your new habit. You are trying to benefit your life so keep yourself accountable.

4) Reward Yourself

You managed to keep going with your new habit and stay accountable. That means you get to reward yourself for a job well done. This reward is for you so have some fun with it. Maybe you go out for a nice dinner, go out to a movie, or buying something you’ve had your eye on. Whatever it is make sure you feel like it’s a good reward for creating a habit that will improve your life.

Continue to Journal Even When it’s Tough

Journaling can be a hard thing to get started. It can even seem like an impossible task if you don’t like to write. Once you get started though you will realize the benefits almost immediately. Don’t give up on writing once you get started. Later in life you will be able to look back at all the progress you’ve made. Not only that but if you decide to write an autobiography or something writes a biography about you they will have all the information needed. You might think this is outlandish but remember you are journaling to become more successful. If you reach your goals someone will want to write about you. Never sell yourself short, especially when it comes to improving your life.

Journaling can be a hard thing to get into. If you found this post useful for getting started on your daily journal, take some time to subscribe to our newsletter. We send out weekly updates to make sure our community is ready for the next step in creating their own success. If you think others would be helped by this post don’t forget to share it on your favorite social media. Thanks for taking the time to read about journaling!

5 Life Changing Books You Don’t Want to Miss

Books

Austin

April 9, 2018

5 Life Changing Books You Don’t Want to Miss

Life Changing Books Create More Success

Life changing books are hard to come by, you might not have even found one yet. One of the only ways to actually find one is to constantly be reading. We know that reading can be tough so we decided to pick 5 of our favorite books on success to share with you!

Our goal was to pick 5 books that we thought had a life changing message. Everyone wants to live a happier, more fulfilling, and successful life. The ideas in these books can create the foundation for your success. We took the big ideas from these books and brought them together in an easy to read format. We hope you are inspired to read these books!

This first book is the book that inspired many people to change their lives. Without a doubt this should be required reading for anyone that wants to achieve more in life. If it was possible every student should have to read this book at least once. It is not only inspirational but it helps open up your mind to new ideas.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! By Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor Dad is by far one of the best books on success and motivation. It’s a story about Robert Kiyosaki growing up with influence from his real dad (poor dad) and his best friends dad (rich dad). His poor dad focused on security and education while his rich dad focused on success and entrepreneurship.

Financial Freedom Creates Real Freedom

The main idea of this book is to become financially free. The only people that truly enjoy life are the ones that don’t have to worry about bills or where they will be fed. Robert Kiyosaki brings the idea of real estate investing to the average person. This is where many real estate investors first realize it is possible to do.

Mentors Make a Difference

Mentors and surrounding yourself with people that will help you improve your life is another key factor in making this one of the best success books of all time. The people you surround yourself with will either bring you up to their level or pull you down. Picking the most positively influential people is a must.

If you take anything from this book it should be, the average person can succeed, build good relationships, and find a way to invest in your future.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich is an amazing book created by Napoleon Hill. He was one of the first people to get involved with motivation speaking, personal development, and success coaching. This book brings what he learned from years of first hand experience in becoming successful. He spent years researching to be one of the best in his field. It shows because this book is still one of the top 10 best selling personal development books of all time.

Your Ability to Succeed is Directly Related to What You Believe You Can Achieve

The idea that you can achieve anything you believe you can do is what this book is about. It teaches you how to move passed small thinking and focus on viewing the big picture. One of the big parts of this is never stop learning. When you stop learning you lose a way to have new ideas brought to you. It’s also important to surround yourself with good people that want to achieve more (see a trend here?). Remember you are the only person that can make a difference in you life. Use your own abilities to create a wonderful life for yourself.

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

This business success book was originally written to help business leaders and entrepreneurs achieve more. That may be the original purpose but anyone can read this book and find inspiration. Simon Sinek took a spin on how people should view why they are doing something. Normally people look at things from the outside in but Simon wanted people to ask why and start from the inside out.

Why is Your Purpose

You may be wondering what “why is your purpose” means. To put it in the most simple form, why is your purpose because you need to know why you are doing something. Your why should be the thing that pushes you to your limits. For some their why will be their family for others it may be friends, relationships, money, or knowledge. Whatever your why is you need to be emotional about it.

Your why should be something that you are willing to share with anyone. You need to be confident in your why and if you are too scared to share it then it’s not the right why. Your why needs to be built into a how. In business this would be how the company does something. It is the same for you, you are using your why to create a how. Next you’ll be building our why and how into a what. A what is just what you are doing. You can’t have a why or a how without a what.

Use your why to expand yourself as a person. After you have your why make sure everything you do is for your why.

The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure by Grant Cardone

Grant Cardone has created one of the best motivational books of all time. He grew up as an average kid for the most part. His father passed away when he was young so he didn’t have a father figure growing up. His mother did the best he could for the family but by most standards it still wasn’t enough. When he grew up he became a drug addict and alcoholic. Being in sales and making average money caused him to re-evaluate his life eventually becoming one of the best salesman, motivational speakers, and success coaches in the world.

Big Goals and Big Action Create Big Success

The main purpose of this book is to motivate people to do more. If you dig deeper it focuses on how to make big goals and take big action. Grant Cardone doesn’t want people to be average and he believes that everyone can achieve more.

One way to achieve more is by taking responsibility for your actions. Everything that happens to you is because of a choice you made this includes the excuses that you make. You need to take control of your life and focus on the things that will let you achieve more. Success should be your moral obligation. If you aren’t achieve then you need to put more time and effort in because being average is failing. Be more than average and you’ll never fail.

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

George Clason followed the story of average men in Babylon. He shows the struggles that you live through if you only strive to be average. One man learns that it is what you do that makes you successful and begins to find mentors and learn how to become successful. Each day is a chance to become more than you were the day before.

Small Steps Will Eventually Lead to Success

The richest man in Babylon got there by creating wealth over time. This book teaches the basics of investing and saving money. A simple personal finance trick that is taught is saving 10% of your income. It sounds like a lot but it can go unnoticed if taken out automatically. This 10% of your income can be used to invest.

Invest Your Savings

As you save up your 10% each month you will eventually have enough to invest. Don’t invest in something that you don’t understand, it’s too easy to lose money. Always pick something that you understand and you can repeatedly invest in. Over time your profits should be reinvested to take advantage of compounding interest. With enough time compounding interest will make you rich beyond what you can imagine making on your own.

If you take anything away from this book it should be that persistence and faith are life changing. Never back away from something because you can’t picture how the future will be. Keep trying to reach your dreams.

Reading Your Way to Success

Reading is one of the most important things you can do to achieve success. This list of books will give you at least 5 different perspectives that you can use to achieve more success in your life. The 5 authors can be mentors to you. They may not be able to speak with you in person but they can teach you through writing. Each book they write is a new opportunity to teach you lessons but you have to be open to learning. Taking the time to read gives you an opportunity to look at the way another person thinks. This gives you a chance to learn a new perspective and expand your mind. The books that change your perspective on life are some of the best uses of your time.

It can be hard to find good books to read. If you know anyone that is struggling to get started or find the next thing to read let them know about this list. Sharing this post on social media may just be the kick start someone needs to turn their life around. If you want to join our community of success driven individuals please subscribe to our newsletter or like us on social media. Thanks for taking the time to read about reading!

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