Read time: 4 minutes.
Hey Reader,
I’ve been a little quiet here. The hiatus wasn’t planned, but it was necessary. Thanks for your patience. I’m glad to be back.
What's Your Soundtrack?
A few years ago, I read Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking by Jon Acuff. It's a good book, and you can read some of my thoughts about it on the blog.
Soundtracks, which explores how much fear can influence and poison our thinking, came out at a time when I really needed to hear this message:
We have more power over our internal soundtracks than we realize.
We had recently had our second child who, since birth, has been medically complex. I left a job that was meaningful to me so I could become a full-time dad and provide my family with the level of support they deserved. My wife worked extra hard to provide for us and be a fantastic mom and partner.
No one was getting enough sleep.
For months, I spent far too much time in my head.
My thoughts were complicated, raw, and often overwhelming.
I wasn’t my best self.
My soundtrack was broken.
But the tide was beginning to turn, and I was finding my way out.
To help light my path, I had recently doubled down on a regular journaling practice, something I hadn’t done consistently in years.
It started as a daily review with pen and paper, where I responded to prompts such as “Who did I help today?” and “What went wrong?” Over time, it evolved and became an even more straightforward process.
My evening journaling routine went from three or four questions to one.
One question.
What are you grateful for?
Consistently, that’s all I needed.
One question.
Five minutes.
I have other journals where I consider big ideas, conduct personal reviews, and write more deeply on meaningful subjects.
But on the daily, it’s a single gratitude post, typically at the end of the day, that fills my cup.
Gratitude is an anecdote to doubt.
It brings positive feelings and a sense of well-being that can profoundly impact our ability to feel healthy and safe.
Remember, if you spend enough time with the wrong voices, you’ll start to believe them.
Journaling can help you change your soundtrack, too. It's a way to turn the voices in your head and your life into something more tangible so you can make sense of them.
That’s why I’m happy to be finishing work on the free journaling guide I’ll send you soon. It will focus on the first principles of journaling through the lens of starting your own gratitude practice.
I’ll close with a question:
What can I do to help you improve your journaling habit right now? I respond to every email.
Thank you for your support and time!