Prepare and Reflect

Do you journal? If so, how often?

I’ve made a small change to my process that is helping me immensely…

First, the inspiration:

“We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.” - Seneca

At first glance Seneca is referring to reflecting on more than just your day, but there’s more to it.

He’s also talking about the plans for the future, and the relationship between these things. How can we incorporate both of these to make our journaling more useful?

Incorporating both — preparation for the future and review of the past — helps us to aim before we fire, then reload for the next day:

#1 Prepare: What will I do today that will be better than yesterday? Aim, fire.

#2 Reflect: Did I do as I said? How do I grow from here? Did we hit it? Reload.

‘Prepare’ alone doesn’t help us refine our aim because we don’t assess where the shots land. And ‘Reflect’ alone doesn’t help refine our aim either because our shots weren’t aimed with the focus and conviction the day deserved.

So if you use journaling to help manage your growth (you should try it if you don’t!) then I recommend both Prepare and Reflect.