Hey Reader,

Welcome to The Journaling Guide, your five-minute personal retreat to help you succeed in your week.

Here we go!

We’re just coming off the Labor Day holiday here in the United States, and like many, I went with my family to have some fun. We ended up at Old Orchard Beach in Maine and spent a few days playing in the sand, enjoying the massive arcade and amusement park, and exploring the famous pier. I made some fantastic memories and took many photos (including a bunch of my daughter winning at the claw games; she’s a champ at that!). I drank lots of coffee to keep up and just had a great time.

In addition to my evening gratitude journaling routine every night, on the final night of our brief trip, I took some time to record a few thoughts in my Personal Reflection journal in Day One. This wasn’t a full entry, but I knew if I didn’t write something, I wouldn’t remember the moment the way I wanted.

A few days later, I returned to the entry and completed it. I wrote several paragraphs and added some photos as well. It was fun to go through the experience and capture what made it so special.

If you have a unique experience and want to journal about it but don’t have the time to give it right away, take a few moments to write a note to your future self.

It can be brief, but you should make it detailed. Focus on the magic of what your senses are experiencing, what someone said, something that triggered an emotional response within you.

These are the moments you’ll want to reflect on. In ten years, you won’t care about how much traffic there was or how difficult it was to find parking.

The goal of this type of journaling is as much, or perhaps more, about reflecting on the moments in life that are meaningful now as it is about writing down your own history for later. ​
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I’ve never been a fancy pen guy. I always used a Pilot G2 or a Uni-ball 207 for my writing, but lately, I’ve found them lacking.

I wanted a pen that felt more significant but had a similar gel ink output, so I began casually looking. When I got an email last month from Jeff Sheldon announcing The Ugmonk Pen, made in collaboration with Leuchtturm1917, it was an easy buy for me.

I also picked up the walnut pen tray, which is a thing of functional beauty and is where my Apple Pencil often lives as well.

The pen and tray combo arrived just in time for some heavy use, not for writing or journaling but for a bunch of lengthy insurance-related documents that, due to poor design, needed to be printed out and handwritten. It took hours to do it all, and it was made more pleasurable and easier with the Ugmonk Pen.

I’ve since used it for some print journaling, and it’s really delightful to write with.

I believe that the message matters most, and the tools we use, particularly in journaling, should serve that cause. This pen does that for me, and I’m pleased to have finally spent a little bit more money for something of much greater and lasting quality.

In the last newsletter, I asked you why you journal. The number one answer was to reflect on the day. That makes sense. Everyone I know is busier than they’d like to be. There are constant grabs for everyone’s attention, and most folks are just trying to do the right thing by their families, jobs, and themselves.

The transformative power of taking five minutes at the end of your day to reflect in your journal is that it can improve all areas of your life, giving you the power to shape your future.

If you aren’t doing any journaling right now, give yourself five days and see if it has an impact on you. Then, share your experience with me. Your story matters, and I’m curious to hear how it goes. I can't wait to hear from you.

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