What Can I Write In a Journal?

Suggestion 1:

On the top of each page, draw a stick figure representation of a challenge of some kind.

Such as:

Mt. Everest

A cross

A giant

A weed

Below your drawing, explain what that stick figure represents in your life:

What cross you are carrying

What giant you are currently facing

What Mt. Everest you are working on conquering

What problems are as persistent as garden weeds, and your thoughts about dealing with them

In this way, your journal will be a record of challenges faced and dealt with, and interesting things to look back on.

P.S. I adapted this from another Quora answer of mine:

Minoo Jha

 · 23h

How would you draw a symbol of your idea of a meaningful life and explain it to the class?

I would draw an obstacle, such as: Mt. Everest A cross A giant A weed And explain how that is connected with a meaningful life: Carrying your cross Facing up to the giant Conquering your Mt. Everests Being as persistent as a garden weed

Suggestion 2:

Design your journal to answer a question on each page. Write a question at the top of each page. Answer it below.

If you need some ideas for questions, this previous Quora answer of mine, which I also published earlier as a blog post, has some:

Minoo Jha

 · Sep 15

What strategies help you understand what truly motivates someone?

People’s choices are the clues to their motivations. If you know what people’s choices are, you can figure out their motivations. To learn about a person’s choices, I suggest you ask them if it is okay to interview them for an article you are writing, for a research project, to understand their needs better, or just because you admire them, and would like to learn from them. During the interview, you can ask them questions like… * What did you like about school? * What was your favorite subject? * Who was your favorite teacher and why? * Who was your closest friend and why? * What had you planned to do after school? * Did things work out the way you planned? * How satisfied are you on the money front? * Why do you x (blog, run,whatever)? * What made you choose where to live? * What made you leave home initially? And so on. If an answer requires clarification, you can ask them to clarify their answer. Using this strategy, you can learn enough about a person to figure out their motivations. For example, you can find out how much money matters to them. Or you can find out how much freedom matters to them. You can find out whether they are risk-takers. Or whether they like to make safe choices, because security is upper most for them. You can find out whether ambition drives them. Or something else - like a mission. Whether you are a therapist, a sales person, romantically interested in someone, or just an admirer of someone, the interview technique is a good strategy. It will give you the information you need, to understand a person’s motivations. Many famous books have been written using interviews as the starting point:

Just change the format of the questions to be in the first person, and in the present tense.

“What do I like about school?” etc.

I look forward to seeing how it goes, so if it's not too private, do post page 1 of your journal, in the comments.