The Daily Journal is a quick way to check in with yourself. It helps us evaluate whether our day was a success and well lived, or whether we need to pivot for the upcoming day.
Daily Journal Sections
Reflect on notable events and how it made you feel.
This is different than your typical journal/diary. We’re not just writing about the events of our day. We’re highlighting things that stood out to us, and taking it a step further by introspecting about how that event impacted our thoughts and emotions.
Things that bring you joy or make you feel proud.
Gratitude is an important practice. It’s important to reflect on the good things in our life. There have been days where I have felt like it was a terrible day, and then I get to this section and start writing all the good things. By the end, what I initially would have given the day was a 4 but then I realized it was actually a 9.
What I learned.
Going through life complacently will never lead to you accomplishing goals. We need to be reflecting on our day, considering what we learned, and consciously deciding to change based on our learnings.
Who will you share this with.
Once you’ve reflected on something you’ve learned, it’s important to share that with someone. Write their name down and commit to sharing it with them that day.
Sharing does a few things.
1) It solidifies your learning by having to articulate these thoughts to someone else.
2) It invites accountability because now someone else knows what you’ve learned and how you want to change.
3) It gives an opportunity for the other person to build on your learning by sharing their experiences or thoughts related to what you learned that you may not have thought about.
4) Sharing your learning is a great way to go deeper in your relationships. Honesty and transparency breed more of the same from others, and create closer connectivity.
How did the day go on a scale of 1-10?
This is pretty straight forward. Rate your day. We’re looking for an 8 or above. If it’s less than 8, let’s spend some extra time in the next section thinking about what we could have done to change that outcome.
One thing you could have done better?
Regardless of your score above, there’s always room for improvement. What’s the number one thing you could have done better that would have made the greatest impact on your life or the life of others?
Top priority for today.
Similar to the above section, we’re now looking forward and thinking about single most important thing that’s going to move us forward to achieving our quarterly, annual and 10 year goals.
Ritual & Routines Checklist
Here I like to have my list of rituals and routines. I then place a checkmark next to each item I did the day before.
Then at your weekly journal, you can look over the past week and see how consistent you were at following through on your routines.