Keeping a journal is a great way to train your brain to ensure you stay on track with your life’s goals, both short term and long term.

As your journal grows it can become your personal guide to achieving all that you really want in life.

To help you develop a rich journal that will boost your clarity of mind, your vision and goals as well as helping you stay motivated, inspired and challenged to pursue your dreams, I have put together some sets of questions that will act as a guide for your daily or weekly journal entries.

I trust that these questions will both help you and act as a springboard to create your own questions that will inspire you to create your journal by masterminding for new goals, solutions to challenges and making important decisions.

The basic questions start with “What, Why, Where, When, Who and How?” In this article we will consider some “Whats”. Here are some suggestions:

1. What did I achieve today

(This could actually be a sub-heading that sets your train of thought).

2. What am I grateful for today?

There is an increasing awareness of the power of gratitude in our lives. Even if that is all you write in your journal every day, writing the answer to this “what” would be a great exercise, and I am sure you would discover some great things starting to happen in your life.

Challenge for 2009

(its never too late to start whatever day in 2009 you are reading this).
Write down at least 3 things you are grateful for every day. (Yes WRITE it down, this helps to make your brain more aware of these things.)

3. What challenges did I face today?

Here is where you can jot down the difficulties you faced today.

There are an infinite number of challenges that can await us on a regular basis ranging from technical, mechanic, to relationship frustrations and health challenges.

Many of the decisions we make in the face of life’s challenges can have lasting affects on our lives. Of course there are times of crisis and urgency when we must make decisions on the spur of the moment.

4. What solutions can I find to meet these challenges?

Many of these demands and difficulties can be best solved by taking some time aside in a quiet place and writing down all the possibilities that come to mind.

Where possible it is certainly better not to make decisions when emotions are high (most of the time, these are the decisions you live to regret).

When meeting solutions it is always essential to be in the best frame of mind. This is why we need to train our brain to stay in the positive realm at all times. Then our decisions even in a time of crisis will be clearer and will lead to more creative and constructive solutions.

5. What things could I have done differently?

When you stop to think about this question and actually write down the answers, you are training your brain to be more alert and sensitive to people around you as well as to the things you are doing.

There are always things we can do to make life, work and our environment better. Most of all this is a good question to apply to our mindset. Was I completely positive in all I did today? If not, how what thoughts would have changed my frame of mind?

6. What opportunities did I miss?

This is an exercise in becoming more aware of events, surroundings and people.

With the stress and pressures of life, most of us have at least moments when we are off somewhere in our own world, and not fully aware of what is happening around us. Great opportunities can be missed in these moments.

7. What new things did I learn today?

As you take a few moments to write down some of these new discoveries, you will find it will be easier to remember them.

You may have left school, but you can never leave the school of life (until you die). One thing you learned (hopefully) from school is the power of writing things down! (And using a pen is still better for the brain than a keyboard).

Here’s to a GREAT 2009 – full of new adventures and opportunities!

With this in mind, here are some tips to help you MAKE 2009 be your best year yet! These are things that I have done (and some I am still in the process of doing).

This is a great exercise to do on January 1st, and will help to set the course for a great year!

First print out this page, and the following two articles from this blog:

Your Passion in Life

Discovering Life’s Purpose

Now you need to find a quiet moment and a quiet place (away from the computer and Twitter!). This may be dificult at this time of the year if you have family and friends visiting, but I am sure you will be able to find at least 15-20 minutes at some time of the day. If not, don’t fret, this is not Cinderella here (i.e. if you have to wait til January 2nd to find the time, it will still work!).

Don’t forget to take a good old notepad and pen or pencil with you to your quiet place (yes pens and pencils do still exist in this digital world

Closing Chapter 2008!

Before thinking about new goals for 2009, take a moment to reflect on 2008. Perhaps it was a good year for you, perhaps not. But the key is:

• What did you achieve?

• Are you closer now to your life’s goals than you were at the end of 2007? (Not sure of your life’s goals? The two articles you printed out may help you to discover these).
• If you are not closer, why? If you discover that you have lost your vision or it has dimmed, this is a good time to refocus and get back on track.

  It is also a good time to tweak your life’s goals and vision. Was you vision too small? Too dim? Too vague before?

  Adjustments are ok, as long as you are following YOUR heart. (That’s why we are doing this away from all the noise and influence of our friends and family).

• Are there some things in 2008 you regret? This is a time to forgive the people involved, forgive yourself, close the chapter and be free to open chapter 2009!
• Are there some achievements you are glad about in 2008? Great, but don’t camp there! There is more to do, more to achieve. Your achievements of 2008 are building blocks for greater things.

Ok, ready to close chapter 2008?

Getting Started on Chapter 2009

Let’s get started on our goals for 2009.

There are 3 main things we are going to bear in mind while looking at your plan for 2009:

1. It has to line up with your life vision and passion.

2. It has to include a balance for all areas of your life. You, your mental, spiritual and physical health, your family, your business achievements, your leisure time and any other achievements you plan on doing are all equally important.
3. Life can always throw us some curves, so there needs to be some flexibility in our projects.

Here is an outline of some things you might want to write down for 2009. The following items are just ideas to help you get your inspiration flowing:

What do I want for myself?

• Excellent health, I take care of my health so I will be more careful with what I eat, avoid processed foods. I will also make sure I get adequate rest and exercise more.
• Be more alive spiritually, so I will take some time (or more time) every day to read the Bible and fellowship with God .
• Open up new areas of my mind, so I will read 1-3 books a month, learn a new language or start something new like working on brain teasers.
• Spend more time enjoying life, so I will make sure I get to take time to enjoy some bicycle riding, or sports, take up a new hobby and make new friends.

My goals for my family are:

• Spend more time with them doing active things together where there is more interaction (not watching just TV together)
• Involve them more in my business so they will feel a part of this area of my life too.
• Take time to explore new things together (such as learning a new language together, learning about other cultures and countries together, learning a new sport together)

My goals to reach out to others are:

• Join a voluntary organization to help support the community.
• Start supporting new organizations such as perhaps sponsoring a child, supporting St Judes Children’s Hospital, giving to organizations providing clean water where there is none available.
• Take an interest in a needy family and look for ways to help them.
• “Adopt” a teenager and be their mentor.

My business goals are:
I plan on having my business fully support me by ………. (set a challenging but realistic date here).

To do this I will: (This could include things like:)

• Write at least 3 posts a week for my blog (or it might be 1 a day – whatever is a challenge for you, yet attainable within your time schedule)
• Write at least 3-5 articles a week.
• Learn a new area of business (perhaps more about SEO, or traffic, or website building etc)
• Find some new partners to master mind with.
• Find a mentor to guide me.
• Have a daily plan and make sure I keep on track.

Well these are some things that will guide you to create your own plans for 2009, so that you can MAKE 2009 your best year yet!

This is a great book to work through for the New Year (yes it is not really one to simply sit down and read, it is one to study and make notes on). It will help you move up to the new heights you plan for 2009!

Success Principles:

How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.

Jack Cranfield Co-author of the Chicken Soup For The Soul series, went from being a school teacher to holding a Guinness world record for having seven books simultaneously on The New York Times® Best Sellers list.

This book contains 64 principles, each principle a chapter that challenges the reader to take practical and positive action to risk creating their lives exactly as they want them.

Some principles are better known (such as “Take 100% responsibility for your life”) while others are inventive (such as “Become an Inverse Paranoid”).

All are well worth studying, considering and acting on as they can only enrich your life and help you get to where you want to be.

Recommended reading: 10 Simple Tips for Making (New Year’s) Resolutions Stick