The Decade Journal

Remember to do the 3R’s sometime today. Usually, I write mine after dinner, but before heading off to bed for the night.  Simply write a brief paragraph of two to four sentences on page 79 of your Decade Journal, which will be used each year for March 19th. Review  Think through the things that you have done this very normal day. What was different today? What happened that involved choices or meetings with people? Select the details you are going to write. Record  Briefly record the two or three things that are noteworthy. These are things that may reflect YOUR personal values and goals. I might record that my sunflowers first opened a blossom, but you may record that your dog got their stitches out. You may have had a chance meeting with an old colleague, or cleaned out the shed. Record the things that don’t happen every day, but are different than the usual routine. These are usually the things that are the “marker” events in our minds and memories....

About Me and How the Decade Journal Started: Diamonds and colored gems are beautiful, but I never really desired to own them. In fact, my jewelry has never been much more than the most basic items like a wedding ring, and a few pieces of department store costume jewelry. For me, journals and notebooks, pens and pencils, have always been the “sparkly things” that made me look with longing.  The empty notebooks are obviously waiting for their purpose to be unveiled, full of potential. And filled notebooks, whether filled with ideas or data, are ideas captured on paper, no longer floating in a vaporous thought, dissolving into the air like the cloud of steam escaping a boiling tea kettle. I have always been “in search” of the perfect notebook.  Like Goldilocks. I wanted one that is not too big, but not too small. It must be “just right.”  And with dozens of various sized notebooks and hundreds of pens and pencils, I admit with a chuckle, that I have done some “in-dept...

Resources - Starting your Decade Journal, Links and Sample sheet A pre-numbered, 500 page hard covered record book with a sewn binding makes this project easy to start! I  wanted to keep a long-term journal for many years, but the little "kiddie" 5-year diaries that I had seen, simply didn't have any appeal to me. The easy availability and reasonable price of this on Amazon made my decision for me!  At the bottom of this post, there is an affiliate link that shows you the exact Record Book I am using. I can write in a reasonably clear cursive script as long as I'm not in a hurry; but because I tend to get in a hurry I end up with a scribble and scrawl.  So I write in the Decade Journal with pencil, and  when I start getting sloppy, I simply erase and re-write. I recognize that many people print with wonderful and artful precision. Others prefer to write in ink. I only share the fact that I write in pencil, because I think it might be helpful to others as they ...

What is a Decade Journal, and Why Make One? What is a Decade Journal? The Decade Journal is a multiple-year journal briefly capturing each day's events.  On a single page, there will be an accumulation of the past years' memories on each  day, each holiday, each birthday, etc. This process provides many benefits, and I will share some of them over the next few months. Why Make One? Our brain is a powerful tool, and as we make multiple "hits" to a particular memory event, it "cements" it in our memory "file."  We are actually "remembering" the day's events four times as we do the journal entry.  The process is a mental one, and actual writing being usually only a brief two to four sentences. REVIEW: Mentally review the the days' events, and  SORT: Mentally weigh importance and sort  the events into an order for writing them down, then  RECORD: Compose and write the event down, and finally REFLECT: Thinking about your o...

The Decade Journal – Page 60 Notating Your Life In One Paragraph a Day     This is the exact hard-cover journal that I use and recommend for use as your Decade Journal.  This is an Amazon Affiliate link, and if you order through this link, I may receive a small percentage.  It does not affect your purchase price. Page 60 - February 29, 2020 This is my 15 th  Leap Year Day.  And, I don’t remember any of them as “being special.”  No photos, no events, no special meals. Nope. Do we need a new tradition for Leap Year Day?  I think it is time! So,   I am going to make this Leap Year Day memorable and establish a NEW personal tradition! The action or purchase I was going to do for myself (i.e. the treat, the meal at the restaurant, the coffee at the coffee shop, etc.)…. I am going to have that action, purchase, or small luxury item - LEAP to another person !   So, join me in creating a   NEW Leaping ...