Journaling for Retrospection: Not a "Feel-Good" Activity #

In the internet culture that I grew up in, journaling and keeping a dairy was generally seen as a girly activity that we boys, for the most part, made fun of.

After reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations I had to change my opinion. If they guy ruling over the Roman Empire at its peak era kept such a great journal, then for sure it had to be of more value and substance than merely recording one eating oatmeals on a given day.

All the information I could find on how to start journaling and what to journal was about the same surface level, feel good kind of things like "I felt inspired today". While it might make one feel good in the moment, it has no value for retrospection which is actually the whole purpose of the journal. Rather than such vague statements, a journal should be filled with details about specific activities one does in a given day as they happen. Treating it as a ritual, at the end of they day or whenever, gives it too much importance subjecting each new line to insane levels scrutiny or just forgetting small things that compound in time or leaving things out because you are running out of time.

Re-reading a journal should surface repeating patterns that might or might not require a behavior or reaction change in the author. Even though it might lead to the same conclusion that one might have felt energetic or uninspired on a given day or moment; having a detailed record provides the context necessary to take action to have more of the same or to make plan to improve unwanted situations or make the good ones great.

Such a habit was hard to develop in the past due to having to carry pen & paper at all times but nowadays one can just open the notes app in their phone and write a new sentence at the end of a one big note. Just write the thought as it comes, no editing, no second thoughts about its relevance. No need for rituals nor complicated categorization.

Only time can tell if an entry is relevant or not but until that time comes one must have written the entry first.