january in review

the stoic journal

after thanksgiving, i started a stoic journal.  i would write a few things to be more mindful.  over the next several weeks between thanksgiving and new years, i refined my approach to something i think works well for me.

in the morning, i start by spending a few minutes thinking about something for which i'm grateful and then jotting that down.  next, i spend time thinking ahead - about my day - what will i do, challenges i may face and how to approach them.  then i'll spend some time reading stoic quotes or articles or affirmations ... then i summarize what i've read and write my daily affirmation.  this daily affirmation focuses on the three disciplines of stoicism (assent, desire, action).  i focus on one discipline all week then rotate to the next discipline the following week, etc.

then at night, i review the day and jot a few thoughts about what went amazing that day as well as what i could have done better or differently.  recently, i've decided to also write about how i've helped someone that day.

i keep my daily journal on evernote.  at first, i wrote in a hard-bound journal book and then sync it with evernote, but now i just input everything directly into evernote via the iPhone app.

i am still making minor tweaks, but by and large, it's a habit and it's working well for me.

reviewing the past month is another part of the process.  at the end of the month, i'll read my entries and pull out any themes or learnings and synthesize them into a blog post.

january review

starting weight: 194.4

ending weight: 190.8

big events: camille sick, football games, skinned knee, broken iPhone, started helping erick with his own stoic journal to help with his anxiety, uit f&o, urc f&o, turnover w/ phil, target distribution, in-laws visit for 3 weeks, family reunion surprise, housley book, phone conversation w/ oliver

at the beginning of the month, i was a little stressed with my weight gain from the holidays and the f&o process and some other seemingly pressing issues at work.  camille was sick - jill had to take her to the er; erick got really anxious about going back to school and also when his grandparents left.

looking back - camille got better; the weight returned to normal; f&o went off successfully (KKS & Ulka sent appreciative kudos to me) and the "story" is done as of today.  urc f&o went great, turnover w/ phil went great; erick has managed his anxiety.

highlights of the month were the morning walks (LL) and reading meditations and other books in the cold winter sunlight.

improvements; need to eat better (am in the process of getting better at this now).  need to not give in to negative assents so quickly - pause, evaluate, be mindful.