The Journal

[bill718]

12 years ago, when I decided to start my own business doing insurance claim submission, credentialing, and bookkeeping for small clinics someone at a business startup seminar advocated the idea of journaling to keep one's good ideas from getting lost in the fog of one's day to day work. My first thought was B-O-R-I-N-G! Nevertheless, I gave it a try. The first few months it seemed like a waste of time, but gradually I began to see how writing ones plans, ideas, hopes, obstacles, fears, goals etc. on paper enabled one to see this information more objectively, as well as get over recent setbacks and move on. It also gave me the data to update my business plan as new information came to light. The biggest surprise however was in writing down my deepest fears and pent-up anger at people who injured me in the past... doing this started a healing process that never would have begun otherwise. I don't show my journal to anyone, but writing things down keeps one from going through the day with a head full of negative crap and enables one to concentrate better on the tasks at hand. You don't need to be an entrepreneur to reap the benefits from a journal. Just cheap notebook, a pen. and a few minutes a day.