Keeping record(s) is/are such a powerful tool to achieve optimum levels of success in life. I am a firm believer of this life principle, as it has proven to work for so many including myself.
For this reason, I highly recommend it to just about everyone who has an ability to write and has the slightest ambition of ever getting something done. Whether it is your grocery shopping; tasks; meetings for the week or deadlines, recording them makes life a lot more manageable, organised and stress free.
A few year ago, I was invited to address a group of young women who were in their final year in High school. I asked how many of them had a journal, a diary or notebook in which they use to keep records of things or events in their life and the response was low.
Which then prompted me to stress the point of recording things/events in writing, I went on to encourage them to get into the habit of doing so.
“Start writing!” I said. “You’ve not committed to it until you’ve written it down,” I continued. I seriously feel strongly about this statement because until it’s been in writing or recorded somewhere it just does not exist. You see, writing forces us to think things through or process them which also enables planning. Ordinarily, not a lot of people set aside time for planning and so when you write, planning then becomes a by-product. You are then able to utilise the time to purposefully consider and re-consider what it is that needs to be done. Once you’ve written it down, you now have something to commit to, which then gives you a sense of accountability and so you are propelled to act. I also advise you to re-visit your writing especially the lists. Making some changes as you go along and ticking the things you have done is a rewarding feeling and serves as encouragement for you to see to it that the rest gets done. This system is also a sure way of keeping one’s life organised, but most importantly, when you write, you commit it to your memory.
Growing up, I had a diary particularly in my teenage years (this excludes my school homework diary by the way). I recorded events about my life daily; it was more of a personal journal and had every significant detail both sad and good. Along the years I have learned that one can record just about anything, your dreams; prayer; goals; achievements; recipes; etc.…It is really up to an individual. However, my focus for you right now is to get you to record your goals in order to live a fulfilling life. It will be ideal to start with a general outline for your life and then break it down to a year planner and then into a monthly planner for a long term idea. However, for your short term goal you could have a weekly planner which can then be broken down to a day to day to-do list. Once you get into this habit, it really makes the difference.
With today’s technology we even have applications on our mobile phones that enable us to make notes; schedules and appointments. So, if the idea of ink and paper is what was discouraging you before now, then you have run out of excuses. There is no longer an excuse for being late for that meeting, missing a deadline or forgetting your mother in law’s birthday. Just save yourself the trouble and record it already.
