Such gems from W. Somerset Maugham’s A Writer’s Notebook! Notes from a genius. Written 121 years ago. Timeless (and in some cases, terrifying!).
1896: “From the standpoint of pure reason, there are no good grounds to support the claim that one should sacrifice one’s own happiness to that of others.”
1896: …”but the banker always wins.”
1896: “Can the perfect adaptation of man to society ever take place? It may be that the sheer struggle for existence will be put an end to, but will that effect the end desired?”
1896: “There are few minds in a century that can look upon a new idea without terror.”
1896: “A moral code is accepted by the weak-minded; the strong form their own.”
1896: “Everything in life is meaningless, the pain and the suffering are fruitless and futile. There is no object in life.”
I am always fascinated by notebooks and journals kept by authors. Oftentimes, they can be a pure glance into the state of the writer’s mind. There are parts equally dark and light, but artists are usually forthcoming about the extent of the darkness. There are no attempts made to sugarcoat things.
Loving this quote about writing from P.51 of “The Hawley Book of the Dead,” by Chrysler Szarlan.
“Writing is a kind of magic. One person sits in a room alone and makes marks on a page that represent the images in her mind. Another person looks at those marks, weeks or months or a hundred years later, and similar images appear in that person’s mind. Magic.”
Fill your pages! Travel. Write. Index. Repeat. Make magic. That’s all.
If I had to guess, I would say I started my first journal around the age of eleven or twelve. Even back then, I made lists, set goals, and perhaps dabbled in a bit of creative writing. But never, ever, have I been the type of dedicated person who free flowed journaled on a daily schedule. Sure, I keep a journal every day to jot/list/otherwise pontificate as the need arises, but I could never make the claim that I sat down and wrote daily for 20-30 minutes EVERY SINGLE MORNING until the last week of December 2016.
I had been reading Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss and the book was blowing my mind with all of the entries and tips about journaling. “Journaling?” I thought to myself. “I thought this was supposed to be a business book.” Oh, but it is, Grasshopper. It is.
Must-read sections about journaling/writing guaranteed to make your life better: P. 225 – 231; P. 247 – 249; P. 265; P. 569; P. 583 – 585; and P. 614. You’re welcome.
The biggest game changers for me were writing down my daily affirmations fifteen times, and writing three free flow pages of handwritten words every morning. When I started the daily free flow brain dump writing exercise, I thought it was just going to be a bunch of new-agey guru type of stuff and I went into it willing, but maybe with a little bit of an “I don’t have time for this crap right now” kind of attitude. Man, was I ever wrong about that. The third week in to the exercise, I had a major epiphany and started making some serious cuts and changes to my life that led to other (and better) things. You don’t find time. You make time.
Lots of post-its!
After about 60 days in to the practice of writing the dedicated morning journaling pages, I decided to try writing at night before bed to see if there would be any changes. I wanted the exercise to work better at night, but it just didn’t work for me. After a day of working on the computer, my wrist was too tired and battered to sustain the three handwritten pages. Also, too many times I found myself just too exhausted by my daily work load to write and think even more right before bed!
The morning journal pages aren’t pretty. Oftentimes, they are complete nonsense, and maybe I might spend an entire paragraph just writing down song lyrics. After a few months of doing the practice, the point of the exercise for me is to create some slack in my mind and ease the sense of pressure I tend to feel when I wake up to hurry and get things done. I still feel like everyday can turn into a contest of how many tasks I can complete if I’m not careful. I don’t want to rush into my day trying to win a race against time at work anymore.
The morning journaling pages coupled with my daily affirmations helps me fight monkey mind, dump negative thoughts, and try to get my mind in the zone and prep my subconscious to recognize opportunities with others that match my intentions. The exercise for me is probably the closest I will ever get to finding a way to meditate and to reach a higher vibration or pure soul level. I’m trying. I’m not floating off the bed yet, but I am getting better at life, I think. My life is better when I make the time after waking to write the morning journaling pages. The pages referenced above do a much better job than I have done at explaining why.
In my daily life, I index my journals for productivity, goal-setting, and organizational reasons. At the end of the year, I index my journals for reflection, planning, and personal fulfillment reasons.
I document and make lists. Therefore I am.
I get things done. Correction. I get a lot of things done!
Organizing/Indexing Your Life in Lists at the Beginning of Your Daily Journal
Pictured below is a sample page from Page 2 of my Rise executive journal. This would be an example of how I use my journal to stay organized and mindful while on the road. I made myself a cheat list sheet of my favorite hotel room workouts that I access on demand from my Physique57 program.
I also like to keep a list of my monthly workout logs to help keep myself motivated and stay on track. Pictured below:
Organizing/Indexing Your Life in the Contents of Your Daily Journal
For instance, Page 3 of my Rise executive journal may have contained a daily entry log referencing key points from a phone call I had with a client and also contain personal notes about a book I was reading. For the corresponding index page at the front of the journal, I would have simply summarized that day’s notes as “Jane Smith TC. Mr. Splitfoot notes for blog.” If the entry was particularly important, or contained a task or idea that I would need to follow-up on later, I would add a post-it tab to the page as well to remind myself to clear the page.
I came across this section from my notebook from Halloween weekend of October 2015, when Bob and I were staying at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado for our last chapter of “America’s Most Haunted Hotels.” My index log was summarized as “Stanley. Finish book. Stop with the ghosts.” Wise advice indeed.
Organizing/Indexing Your Life in the Back of Your Daily Journal
Lastly, I always close out a journal by quantifying the data at the end of the book. Some of the topics I always list and summarize include: master list of travels; list of blog posts made; and list of books read.
Pre-orders for the new Rise journal over on Stealth Journals. Stealth Journals are manufactured in the United States. Each indexed book journal features 200 ruled pages that are numbered for your ease of use. The numbered pages with an index will help keep you organized and make it easy to find your important entries.
Rise. The Notebook for People Who Are Going Places.
It was a trick question! There are two secret diary Stealth Journals. “Large Plans” and “Adventures of Chuckleberry Chinn.” For when your notes need to blend in to the background. Head on over to Stealth Journals and buy a few!
Jamie Davis Writes 