Happy Sunday Everyone:
I do my best to write/type a daily journal. On average I’d say I do so 5 days a week and typically after exercising in the morning. I started doing it a few years ago, it’s been good for me. I have yet to find a person who does this exercise and doesn’t find it beneficial. Below is one of my entries, I’ll explain why I’m sending this after.
“Hard sleeping right now. struggling with the stress of the market shifting. Where is the balance between being concerned and proactive about a market shift and realizing “most” of the time things work out. I’ve noticed a fear of everything going away and it’s related to the material. What causes this? I need to continue to have gratitude for the people in my life vs. the things in my life, but I also need to help my family understand this “stuff” can come to an end quickly and being financially intelligent is good. I’m grateful for my time with Jack last night. Let it be a reminder that when I’m calm, my family is calm, when I’m helpful with my children they respond. No alcohol also helps at night. Happy is a choice. Hard work is not a sacrifice, it makes me feel better, understand this. help my family understand this. Things that are hard are better. putting in the work, creates the results, and the results feel good. No one ever felt that good winning the lottery.”
So why am I sending this? My hope is some of you would find it interesting that I wrote it 2 years ago (October 23, 2016), and it probably sounds like something that could have been written this morning. For me it’s really interesting to know where my head was two years. It’s also really good for me to identify the true reality of the situation vs. what my own head is creating for a situation (turns out the last 2 years weren’t exactly horrible for business). Where it goes beyond interesting, and turns into gratifying, is knowing that progress is being made. Although my head can still drift into a fear mindset, it’s less so today than any time in the past. Doesn’t mean we/me don’t have to deal with the reality of any current situation, but I’m more confident today in my ability to do just that, deal with it, all the way to the extent that I look forward to the challenge.
When we put our thoughts down on paper/type, we memorialize that thought. It’s no longer a fleeting thought that will come and go but instead stay with me. I could easily forget “gratitude for the people in my life vs. the things in my life”, but a solid version of myself recognized that 2 years ago, and now I get to go back and learn from that guy. Spending time with Jack/Thomas….you could say “duh”, but when I read it, it means more. It pushes continued action instead of a fleeting thought.
It literally takes 5 minutes a day to do this exercise. For me personally, I use an ongoing single page on my computer, I type the day, date, time, location, and my weight and just start typing the stuff in my head. There are certain things you wish for all people because of the benefits you’ve received from it, this would be one of them.
Enjoy your Sunday.