Journaling: Unlocking Purpose and Creativity
EPISODE 27
In this captivating episode of the Moonshot Master Series, hosts Mike and Mark delve deep into the transformative power of journaling. Discover how putting pen to paper can clear your mind, ignite creativity, and unveil your life's purpose. Join us as we explore the profound impact of journaling through engaging conversations and insightful clips from influential personalities.
Segment 1: INTRO
Duration: 4 minutes 11 seconds
The episode kicks off with an intriguing anecdote from Hollywood icon Matthew McConaughey. He shares his journey of self-discovery, explaining how learning to say ‘no’ to rom-coms led to his immense growth. Uncover the wisdom in his words: "Only red lights help you grow."
Segment 2: VISION
Duration: 2 minutes 39 seconds
Visionaries Lilou Mace and Sandy offer invaluable guidance on finding your way and purpose through a practice they call 'Journalution.' Explore the depths of self-reflection as they inspire you to "Find your vision" and embark on a transformative journey.
Segment 3: HABITS
Duration: 3 minutes 29 seconds
Dr. Julie Smith joins Ali Abdaal to reveal the secrets of hacking your habits by understanding your core beliefs. Through the lens of journaling, learn the art of self-discovery and personal growth. Discover "How To Hack Your Habits with Journaling" and unlock your full potential.
Segment 4: OUTRO
Duration: 2 minutes 55 seconds
Renowned author Julia Cameron shares her insights with Fearne Cotton on the value of writing to unlock your creativity. Delve into coaxing yourself forward, understanding that creativity knows no bounds. Explore Cameron's wisdom: "Coax yourself forward" and unleash your creative spirit.
Join us on this illuminating journey into journaling, where self-discovery meets creativity, and purpose intertwines with passion. Tune in to the Moonshot Master Series and unlock the doors to a more inspired and purposeful you.
Transcript
00:00:05:00 - 00:00:43:23
Unknown
Hello and welcome to the Moonshots Master Series. Episode 27. I'm Neal, co-host by Parsons. And as always, I'm joined by Mr. Mark is in Freeland. Good morning, Mark. Hey, good morning, Mike. Good morning, members and subscribers. Boy, boy. Man, man. Let's use some of the colloquialisms from some of our talent who will be talking to you today, Mike, Via the means of video, we are going to dive into the topic of journaling, possibly one of our areas and genres or themes that we've really started coming into over the last 18 months.
00:00:43:24 - 00:01:17:15
Unknown
Mike I would say something that we've always known about, but really it pivoted itself within the Moonshot show and then the Master series somewhat more recently in my lifetime, wouldn't you say? I think it's been lurking. Mark I think this idea of journaling has popped up once or twice. And then, as you've rightly pointed out, we have jumped on it and we are all about taking everything we've learned from this practice of journaling from superstars, sports stars, you name it.
00:01:17:17 - 00:01:46:06
Unknown
A lot of great success stories are underpinned by journaling, and that's what we're dedicating this master series to, right? Yeah, that's right. Today, members and subscribers will be leaning in to this topic of journaling, will be revisiting some individuals who keep us inspired and get us going with regards to practices, methods, habits, techniques. But also, Mike, I think we're really looking for a little bit of inspiration as well, and I think that's what this show today is going to help us understand.
00:01:46:08 - 00:02:02:21
Unknown
We want to make the case once again for journaling. I want to make the case as well as to why some of these superstars was out there in the big world are utilizing journaling to the best of their capabilities. And I think that you and I, as well as our members subscribers, can learn something along the way as well.
00:02:03:02 - 00:02:29:07
Unknown
But I think it's going to be a nice action packed show for us. Yeah. And I think what we hope to do in this master series is we always hope to give our members, you know, really the perfect starting point. If you say, I want to get into journaling, I'm interested in joining the idea of this show is really to be a comprehensive look at what it can be for you to take some of the best practices.
00:02:29:09 - 00:02:47:07
Unknown
And it should hopefully be the start of a great journey between you and journaling. So if you're thinking you want to clear your mind a little bit too, if you want to be a bit more creative and think a bit differently or three, you really want to get more in touch with why you're here. What's your purpose? What is that?
00:02:47:07 - 00:03:08:16
Unknown
Why that gets you out of bed every morning. And journaling is the best place to start. So Mark, I think we're ready to jump in. Yeah, I think getting ready to start is a perfect little Segway mike into our first clip. Now, this clip is an individual who we've covered and talked about a lot on the Moonshot show, and that's Matthew McConaughey, author of a great book called Greenlights.
00:03:08:18 - 00:03:30:05
Unknown
So let's kick off our brand new master series episode on journaling with the man himself, Mr. Matthew McConaughey, talking to us Why Red Lights Help You Grow RomCom Offers came in to my agent for about the next six months, but nothing but rom com offers. And I didn't even unless it was a major offer or a well, I just said no.
00:03:30:05 - 00:03:52:10
Unknown
And they just stopped at my agents desk, jumped up. No. And then one of them came through. That was like a gargantuan offer for it. And my agent said, it's a pretty damn good script too. And so I said, We'll send it out. Let me read it. I read it and I remember this. The offer was like for $8 million.
00:03:52:16 - 00:04:13:17
Unknown
And the script was pretty good, but it was still it could room. And I remember reading it and going, No, thank you. I remember feeling sort of emboldened and strengthened by saying, No, thank you, great sticking to my guns. No romcoms six months into this drought. No, not caving in now. Don't have to ask why. So they come back with a $10 million off?
00:04:13:19 - 00:04:50:05
Unknown
No, thank you. They come back with a $12.5 million offer. Now I go, No, dot, dot, dot ellipsis. No, no, thank you. Now they come back with a $15 million off wildcard. You know what? Let me have another reread of that script. And I reread that. Such as? You know what? At $15 million, the same script that I've been offered for eight may not the $50 million offer script which was the same exact words as the 8 million off script, the $50 million.
00:04:50:06 - 00:05:20:21
Unknown
It was better. It was funnier. It had possibilities, it had angles. I had ideas. I could make this work, you know? I mean, this could work now. I'm imagining at this point, Jim is like, man, this the no thing is really working out. He's in and he's over there teetering like, I know what we said, you know, but it did dollars and it's not like pretty good script I know it's rom com.
00:05:20:21 - 00:05:50:09
Unknown
It's pretty good script. But I said No, no thank. Well that got the signal across Hollywood that McConaughey was taking a serious sabbatical and so don't even send him a rom com. It got around. So that was kind of the crucible that I mean, that was like the crux moves in a sense, in a way that was that was a yeah, I called an audible six months in and that had him thinking I might cave, I might just be posturing and come on back.
00:05:50:09 - 00:06:18:09
Unknown
McConaughey, We love you. And I said no. And when they had pumped the money offer up so much and people knew in the industry what that offer was, it became very clear. shit. Okay, We can't. I don't know what he's doing, but you ain't doing this stuff. You're not any more romcoms. And it became clear. So for the next few 12, 14 months, nothing came in.
00:06:18:11 - 00:06:41:16
Unknown
Nada. Zilch. Not an offer for anything. I mean, I talk to my agent every couple of weeks. It'd just be like nothing came in. Nothing. So now we're 20 months into this desert, period. I do have my son to raise, which, you know, being a father has always been the most important thing to me. So that that's got my compass at least directed in a place that I go just trust in this to be.
00:06:41:16 - 00:07:07:15
Unknown
If it has something to do with raising your son and being here on the land with your family, then even if you start to wonder, just trust that that's always going to be in the asset section, you can't go wrong with that. So I stuck to that and I was now fine with not doing any work. I didn't know what I was going to be, you know, if I was going to change my career, if I was going to become a teacher coach or go back to being a lawyer, I didn't know.
00:07:07:15 - 00:07:31:17
Unknown
I didn't think so. But I was writing more. I was talking about forced winners. I had put a fourth winner on myself and I was very content. I wasn't, you know, waking up every morning going, Do not recommend something new come in. I was past that. And then all of a sudden, 20 months in 20, 21 months into this desert started to make offers that are interesting.
00:07:31:19 - 00:08:10:11
Unknown
Mark, I tell you what, this has to be one of the most important moonshots clips because talk about being steadfast and resilient. This is a whole nother take as courage and strength in a different way than, say, like a David Goggins, but equal in the resilience, equal in the determination that it demonstrates. And the key thing here is the underlying source of that unwavering will and spirit was journaling.
00:08:10:13 - 00:08:34:05
Unknown
He wrote the book Greenlights. He wrote the book. And describe to us how not only do you learn a ton about what works and what doesn't work, and he was able to stay the course, even when the offers got bigger and bigger and then the offers went away. But this was before some of his greatest work has actually happened.
00:08:34:07 - 00:09:05:01
Unknown
He needed to go through these valleys of darkness and the thing that gave him the strength to be a great actor, not just a good actor, but a great actor, was journaling. And I believe that this is something that if anyone is doubting the power of journaling this practice is what enabled Matthew McConaughey to go on to win all of the acting awards, to be more than what he started as, which was a cute, funny rom com guy right.
00:09:05:01 - 00:09:36:02
Unknown
You then had to think of as That's who he was. Right? I think you're totally right, Mike. And that's really, really important that we we drive this point home. The reason why McConaughey is at this point of his life during this fourth winter of 2021 months is because he's taken time to really analyze what makes him happy, what makes him unhappy, what keeps him up at night, and what are the things that he's trying to work towards with regards to his why his legacy?
00:09:36:02 - 00:10:05:11
Unknown
He mentioned he had a son at the time. He's obviously older now. He had a new family that he wanted to provide for, but at the same time, he knew that something wasn't right. He managed to get to that point through the power of journaling. But what's interesting, Mike, and the build on this is that what gave him strength, you know, he was getting these offers, enormous offers, life changing offers, and he was intentionally forcing himself into, to an extent, obscurity for that year and a half, two years.
00:10:05:13 - 00:10:37:14
Unknown
But I presume what really kept him going in that track made him be consistent, have the discipline to see it through. Again, he's journaling keeping himself honest ceremony self of his why? The reason why he decided to pick up the phone to his agent and say are no more rom-com movies for me for a while please that level of discipline like you say it is David Goggins, ESQ This is S.A.S. level of determination, isn't it?
00:10:37:19 - 00:11:01:02
Unknown
Yeah. And this, this moment that he referred to all happened before he won his Academy Award. So it took him that strength to find himself. And I think that's something that you see in a lot of our study of journaling experts, that it's not just clearing of the monkey mind, it's not just finding creativity, but it's finding your self.
00:11:01:04 - 00:11:28:03
Unknown
And I think it is so important we are all at war for our own attention, attention to understand who we are, how we want to be in this world, where we're going and as we go about that that battle to live the good life we face fear, doubt, uncertainty. And we don't certainly don't want to sound sometimes those things that search of being perfect stop us from being who we should be.
00:11:28:05 - 00:11:56:14
Unknown
Journaling is the antidote, isn't it? Yeah, I think you're totally right, Mike. And you know what's really interesting and I think it's probably a topic that will come along more in today's most the show is the fact that as McConaughey caught out, then he said, no, he learned how to say no. And I think that's a real common problem that a lot of us, probably even our members and subscribers have when it comes to life determining what it is that we want to prioritize and how we want to say no to something.
00:11:56:16 - 00:12:27:21
Unknown
If you're finding yourself struggling to say no to something, imagine being Matthew McConaughey with $16 million on a check. Yes, Yes. He said no. He still said no. So you did mention that wonderful cohort of people, our members, whether they are viewing or listening, we make this show especially for them. This show is all about them. And I think it is only appropriate that you bring out the the trombone, the trumpet.
00:12:27:21 - 00:12:55:19
Unknown
I'm not sure. Maybe it's the saxophone. I don't know. But you need to tip the hat to our members. Yes, it is. Whatever our members want it to be. It's up to them. They get to decide what type of instrument this is. But please, without further delay, please welcome Bob Margolin, Ken, Dietmar, Marjan, Conor, Rodrigo and Lisa, said Mr. Bond, Jerry, Paul and Bert Kalman, Joe, Christine, Samuel, Barbara, Andre, Eric and Chris.
00:12:55:21 - 00:13:30:18
Unknown
Debra Lafave. Steven Craig. Daniel Andrew. Ravi Evette. Karen Ralph. PJ, Nicoletta, Ola and Ingram. You've all become our annual member club. Thank you so much, guys. Your unending support and moonshots. Love. Thank you so much. But also we've got Doug, Emily, Harry, Karthik, Ben Cutter, Marco, Jet and Roger and a Roar named Len and Diana Kristoff, the niece Laura and Smitty, Cory Bertram, Daniella and Mike and Antonio, Vanessa Zachariah, Brian, Kathy, Austin and Fred.
00:13:30:20 - 00:13:58:22
Unknown
Guys, thank you so much again for keeping us going, keeping the moonshot lights on, so to speak. And thank you for your continued support on the moonshots and most series. Yep, thank you indeed. And in return we give to you one of the key benefits of journaling, and this is to better understand your purpose, the why, as Simon Sinek would say, to help you uncover what it is that is your mission in life.
00:13:58:22 - 00:14:17:19
Unknown
Why are you here? What do you what do you best place to be doing? It's all about purpose. It's all about uncovering the answer to Why am I here? And Mark, we have some thoughts on this. We certainly do. So why don't we hear again now from one of our other authors who hopefully break down the topic of journaling?
00:14:17:21 - 00:14:42:07
Unknown
They're going to do exactly that. They're going to help us understand their purpose in life. So let's hear from Sandy Grace, author of Generation is talking to Lulu about finding your mission, part of really being fulfilled old in life and being in the flow is also by creating those goals and writing it down. In a journal, for example, you already said you're already set a certain like tune and context.
00:14:42:07 - 00:15:09:15
Unknown
So when it comes in reality and when it manifest itself, then you can truly write it, appreciate it. It's exactly and really be in the moment. Exactly. And having a written vision for your life really keeps you on purpose because many times opportunities will come to you and they seem like great opportunities. But if it's not aligned with who you are, maybe you're doing it for the wrong reasons.
00:15:09:15 - 00:15:31:20
Unknown
And so having that, that big vision for your life helps you when you're in those moments of self-doubt or when you're faced with a tough decision. Having this grander picture of this is who I am and this is what my life is about, to guide you. And in everything you do every day and and the journal is just one place for you to get clear.
00:15:31:22 - 00:15:51:05
Unknown
You can write it on your computer or put it on your bathroom mirror. Put it in your car. I say, once you have a vision that makes you your belly on fire, makes you excited, then I think you should put it everywhere and read it every day. But then the question is, you know, how do you actually create your vision?
00:15:51:05 - 00:16:16:17
Unknown
How do you go about creating those dreams? Journaling can be a tool to actually find out what is what is what do I really want out of life? You know how, but what kind of questions should I should we ask ourselves once in front of the piece of paper on the computer, I hear that a lot of people say when I finally sit down to journal and I'm faced with the blank page, I don't know where to start.
00:16:16:18 - 00:16:41:00
Unknown
I don't know where to begin. I'm so the book my book has 47 journaling prompts and a prompt is anything just it could be something as simple as I remember, just something to get you going. But I also have very deep journaling prompts where you visualize someone who you feel is very wise and you have a conversation with them or a conversation with yourself when you're 99 years old.
00:16:41:05 - 00:17:08:22
Unknown
Or one of the differences simply my soul wants go, go for 10 minutes and just let yourself write anything and everything inside. Should it be good, bad, good, bad, beautiful, ugly. It's all there. Living and breathing on the pages of your journal. Everything that you can think of, every whisper, every fabulous vision that appears to you is possible.
00:17:09:06 - 00:17:39:18
Unknown
Mark, there's so many ways to. To cut, slice and dice that clip. Everything is like, without a doubt. Like, just get started. We talk about starting with one word often. Like, if that's all you got, start there. And that can be. I am feeling blank, right? You can do a build on that. Let's say you get that one word out and you're saying I am feeling tired or frustrated and then you can say, how does that feel?
00:17:39:20 - 00:18:03:17
Unknown
Okay. And you can answer that question. Well, I feel it in these weights. I notice these moods of physically or emotionally or lack of clear thought. And then why? And that would be a very simple build to say, what am I feeling right now? How am I feeling it? Why am I feeling That can be a great place to unlock what's deep inside of you, right?
00:18:03:19 - 00:18:27:08
Unknown
But you can also go far, far deeper and use prompts that really go to the heart of where you want to go in life. What visions do you have of yourself? How do you see yourself? What do you want your legacy to be? There are so many ways to get started with journaling. It can begin with like how you feel right now, but you can expand it right into the future vision of yourself.
00:18:27:08 - 00:18:48:00
Unknown
You can even go beyond the future and say, How do I want to be remembered? If you want to like reverse engineer things, that's a great place to start, isn't it? Yeah. For me, Mike, the way that I got started and, you know, it was it was inspired by, I think, a test or a prompts that you had provided previously.
00:18:48:02 - 00:19:12:18
Unknown
This is going back in. Maybe some of our members will remember actually, it'll be back in one of the archive episodes. This idea of starting with just one word. Yeah, the way that really helped me initially where I then went from that was actually describing what situation I was in. So if I wasn't yet ready to, you know, open up the floodgates, so to speak, and say, Yeah, this is what I'm feeling.
00:19:12:18 - 00:19:37:24
Unknown
And so instead it would be quite observational. I'm sitting on my couch, it's Wednesday and I've had quite a busy day. And naturally, through the description, the actual act of trying to compartmentalize what it was that I've done, it then started to reveal how I felt about stuff and often what I realized was some of that stuff I hadn't necessarily noticed.
00:19:38:01 - 00:20:12:12
Unknown
You know, for example, in the act of writing, this neighbor was super loud last night. I would read it back and think, yeah, why didn't I go and have a word? Actually, because that was 2 a.m. that would have kept me up all night. That would have been quite distracting. No wonder I was tired today. So just a very, very simple anecdotal, almost description of the day then would enable me to, admittedly in the short term, start to realize and notice maybe patterns or things that took place and then I could try and work on the next time to your build.
00:20:12:14 - 00:20:45:01
Unknown
That's exactly the next stage, isn't it? Once you start getting a little bit more regimented, it becomes bit more of a routine and habit starting to really take it to the next level is exactly that. It's pumping in that legacy idea. Where else can we take this? How do I want to be remembered? I mean, powerful stuff. And, you know, to go even further, what you start to learn when you start journaling is how much cognitive load is happening way back there in the subconscious of you processing things.
00:20:45:03 - 00:21:19:24
Unknown
And without journaling on them, it shows you how inefficient we can be. Like you can be spinning on a one topic for days and weeks. But what journaling does is help to articulate, get it out of the system so you don't need to keep replaying in different shapes and forms in your memory, in your mind. It's almost through journaling you so, so much so you can sort of almost put a bow tie on it and move on, write the pilot away and it's done.
00:21:20:05 - 00:21:48:11
Unknown
Like I think what I noticed in myself is that without journaling, my brain is just recalling this. It's the monkey mind is just running crazy and rampant. And recall going and dealing with stuff that is not resolved. Like journaling is is is a is a resolute act. You resolve the things that are all spinning in your mind and it gives you this this calmness, this it's resolved like I've dealt with it.
00:21:48:12 - 00:22:09:14
Unknown
I can move on. And this is where you see that your emotional state is much more even keeled when you're journaling a lot because you're not like temperamental because you're spinning on different things that are all running unresolved in your mind. I think that's one of the greatest gifts of journaling, is that it's like doing a remote, breathing class.
00:22:09:16 - 00:22:40:11
Unknown
Like I think I think it belongs in that echelon, you know, of of the daily habits that we've described, you know, maybe a cold shower for a few moments, breathing, you know, not reacting to things straight away. Journaling is the essential tool that I think complements all of this, because you're quite right, Mike. When I when we learned this with ATAC one day and the Checklist Manifesto didn't wake you, brain is quite a bad computer, perhaps unsurprising.
00:22:40:11 - 00:23:05:04
Unknown
Yes. So when we are dealing with so many different things, some of them will be productive. So checklists, literally things you have to do, but sometimes it can be a little bit grayer. For example, you have to make a challenging decision about a work situation. Maybe you need to have a crucial conversation. Maybe you need to really think frankly about what it is that you're doing over the next 12 months.
00:23:05:06 - 00:23:29:03
Unknown
These are fundamentally things and tasks that to do lists. You know, in a funny sort of way. So it only remains natural. It only makes sense to me to then committed to paper because then I can start to articulate it. It starts to have a real gravity towards it, doesn't it? I would almost say, like with some of those things that you mentioned, like before, you can have a crucial conversation.
00:23:29:05 - 00:24:06:05
Unknown
You need to work out how the hell you think about it and how you feel about exactly before you have the conversation. And sometimes like you kind of have a sense, but you don't know how to really fully shape it in your own mind, let alone you communicate it cleanly. Like I think it is his act of being still writing, thinking, reflecting, pausing, breathing, or packaging up your thoughts, structuring your thoughts, resolving your thoughts in order to move forward.
00:24:06:05 - 00:24:30:10
Unknown
I think I mean, it sounds like where in the journaling promotion club, you're damn right. We are certainly in that club. We like it this active generally. I think the thing is here, Mark, we knew about journaling a decade ago, but I think it's safe to say that neither is Journal, correct? Correct. Absolutely. It's been a more recent thing for sure.
00:24:30:12 - 00:24:53:04
Unknown
So we knew about it, but we didn't do it. So for all of the listeners who we have, a lot of listeners might be able to Mr. hundred thousand listeners, I'm guessing there's a good 50,000 that don't journal and I'm talking to those people and say, Ladies and gentlemen, please give this a go, give your attention, give a moment to journaling and it will do you so much good.
00:24:53:06 - 00:25:13:18
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. And as we heard from Sandy in that previous clip, you can do it digitally as you do my you can do it on paper like I do. You can do it on your phone or even voice notes. It's something that's really the barrier to entry nowadays is so low, but the potential return, I think is so high.
00:25:13:20 - 00:25:32:12
Unknown
That's right. It's worth it. And it can dovetail into a daily practice like it has for you and me. And I think we've got even thoughts on how you can do that. That's right. This next clip Mike we've got is from Dr. Julie Smith, who authored a fantastic book which actually will be coming onto the Moonshot show soon.
00:25:32:14 - 00:25:59:17
Unknown
Why has nobody told me this before? Who's now going to talk to Ali Abdul, who's a fantastic YouTuber, as well as author and doctor, who's now going to help us understand, Mike, how to hack our habits around journaling. I'm a person that gets things done. I'm a productive person. I'm a sort of whatever that means, that kind of anything underneath that, which is basically everything else in life becomes easier to do.
00:25:59:19 - 00:26:19:12
Unknown
Whereas I find with people who have told themselves that they are a procrastinator, I'm just so unproductive. I could never do that. It becomes so hard to then do all of the other things like health and wealth and caring about relationships like all all of the other stuff around. What makes a good life is harder to do if you have an identity of someone who does not have their shit together proverbially.
00:26:19:16 - 00:26:37:17
Unknown
I don't know if that's something that you thought at all. Yeah, absolutely. You can have sort of core beliefs about yourself from from that came from, you know, maybe early in childhood and they just persisted and then and they can really we don't think about them all the time so we're not always even aware of them. You know, in therapy we'll spend sometimes a fair amount of time.
00:26:37:20 - 00:27:00:01
Unknown
So trying to work out what those core beliefs of someone and I'm really sort of trying to get right down to it. And once we get there, there's so often this sort of light bulb moment with people what they think. Yes. And because you don't really think about your core beliefs all the time, sometimes never at all. But they're that template that was set up for you early in life is is your template for the world.
00:27:00:01 - 00:27:21:12
Unknown
So it's your idea of their often I am statements so it might be I don't know if it was something negative it might be I am unlovable or I am unlikable or something, or it might be what to expect from other people. So other people will abandon me or other people will, you know, hurt me or something or something about the world.
00:27:21:12 - 00:27:45:14
Unknown
So the world is a dangerous place or something like that. So those those core beliefs are things that kind of sit under the surface and influence the choices that we make, but we don't necessarily consciously think about why we're making those choices. We have an urge and we go with it because we always do it. So. So yeah, that's sort of all of that identity stuff is a big part of what happens in therapy, but we can do that kind of thing in a self-help approach.
00:27:45:14 - 00:28:06:21
Unknown
So with journaling and things like that, you know, you can really reflect on some of your own, you know, choices or the cycles that you seem to get stuck in and you're not really sure how to break it. Getting it down on paper, something we do in therapy a lot is getting a bird's eye view. We literally draw maps of behavior patterns and and then you look down and you go, that's how I can break it.
00:28:06:21 - 00:28:23:17
Unknown
That's the exit. Okay, now I know what I need to do, which can be really helpful. There's a lot of that in the book where there's a lot of things like journal prompts, such as questions for you to sit down and go, okay, let's answer these 10 minutes, and maybe you might have that moment when you go, okay.
00:28:23:19 - 00:28:39:17
Unknown
Yeah. I think journaling prompts are such an underrated like technique because like I, I've, I've come across a lot of Jennifer Aniston as I was reading through the book, I was like, these prompts are really good. And I didn't do anything with them. But I know if I just sat with any one of them for 10 minutes and I actually just answered it, I'd get so much clarity.
00:28:39:17 - 00:28:55:13
Unknown
I'm like stuff in my life. Yeah, I just feels like at any time I've done that in the past, I've always felt felt like, I'm really glad I did this. I really should do this more often. Yeah. And that's why doing this sort of, you know, the therapy thing, even though there's not a specific problem. Yeah. That you're really trying to fix.
00:28:55:13 - 00:29:14:22
Unknown
Sometimes it can be that sort of introspection and, and learning about yourself in the way that you might with journaling, where you just have someone to answer or ask those questions, but then also reflect back on what they're hearing and things like that. You know, a therapist can be a mirror, essentially where they reflect back to you what they're hearing from you, and sometimes that can be quite surprising.
00:29:14:22 - 00:29:32:12
Unknown
What the what you realize you're also giving out. my. We've heard about these prompts. I think I have to, like, slay you with some of my favorite prompts. Yeah, because this is the second clip in the row where we've heard about from. So I feel like our listeners and members are going to be like, Mark my cue, please.
00:29:32:12 - 00:29:58:03
Unknown
What do you mean by a prompt? Okay, I'll read you a couple that I've got saved in my notes. You know, these are just to get you started. And here we go. So So I'm going to say this, and then the idea is you get out your journal and then you answer this prompt or question. Okay, What's going on for me right now is dot, dot, dot.
00:29:58:05 - 00:30:24:24
Unknown
And then you just walk to that. What makes me happy is if I knew I could not fail, I would. The last time I felt this way, I what's not working for me right now is what I wish I could change. What I need to accept is the most important thing in my life is etc., etc.. What's bugging me right now.
00:30:25:01 - 00:30:55:24
Unknown
So these are prompts. If you don't have something on your mind that you're like dying to get out and you get in front of you, Joe, and you're like, What am I going to write about? Have some prompts handy through them, see which ones speaking to you and then get after it right? And Mike, can I assume that sometimes when you do get stuck and you utilize these prompts, you can reuse or re utilize these prompts more than once, right?
00:30:56:02 - 00:31:20:08
Unknown
You know, for some for some of us, we might be feeling one way one day and then to revisit the same prompt perhaps the next day, it might be a completely different emotion or feeling that we're in. Right. So these are quite reusable. If that's the right terminology. Yeah. Yeah. So there's even like a set of prompts that I have for being present, right?
00:31:20:10 - 00:31:41:04
Unknown
Which is particularly good. I want you to imagine you've just traveled the say, you know, you live in Sydney, Mark, you travel back to London, see family and friends. The first thing I would do in that first morning as I entered these prompts, where am I? What is it around me? What noises do I hear? What can I physically feel around me?
00:31:41:06 - 00:32:11:23
Unknown
What do I smell? Who is around? How am I feeling? And what are my grateful for right now? And this is very powerful because it you know, you're all awash. You've just traveled a long way. And you're right to those prompts, which is all about putting you in the present so you fully arrive at your destination. To me, this is like that first morning you woke up, you're a bit jetlagged and you're like, Right, let's center myself from where I am.
00:32:11:23 - 00:32:40:02
Unknown
This is a great, great, great practice. I have a feeling that's an interesting build that we haven't actually heard yet. So I think you're right. We've what we've probably learned throughout all our episodes and our deep dive into journaling is indeed how to almost steady the ship, how to give you foundation and confidence. Understand your why. What I really like about what you've just found here is connected a little bit more from a from a physical perspective.
00:32:40:04 - 00:33:03:08
Unknown
Maybe there's even a concentration or flow angle that can come with journaling. So instead of feeling anxious, instead using that power that you've sort of formulated with journaling to bring yourself into the moment can be used probably not only day to day, but even in times of extreme stress, you know, maybe before a big picture or big meteor shower.
00:33:03:10 - 00:33:24:00
Unknown
And I think that's a really interesting build actually, we haven't heard before. You know, you can you know, I subconsciously do a few things like my Monday journal prompt is generally what would I like to achieve this week? Yeah. Again, very similar. Like you're trying to frame how you're thinking. Another one is like how I want to rest and recover over the weekend.
00:33:24:02 - 00:33:50:19
Unknown
You know how I want to connect with my family Like these are really great prompts to kind of set you up for what's to come. And this is why it's such a superpower. That's why you have Matthew McConaughey writing a whole book called Greenlights about this very thing. I mean, I really I really feel like we've found something that you're in total control of, and it's way cheaper than going to a psychiatrist.
00:33:50:21 - 00:34:11:22
Unknown
Well, yeah. And I think is Dr. Julie Smith was telling us that there's a little bit of a similar job going on. You're just doing it a lot more private. Yeah. You know, the questions and the reflection that you're probably going to achieve with a counselor or psychiatrist or whatever is going to be a similar pattern to what you are doing when you're writing it down.
00:34:11:24 - 00:34:28:12
Unknown
The only difference there is you're doing it perhaps solo. And I think that's where these journal problems can really come in handy when you are doing it. Maybe for the first time, maybe you you've done it for so long, in fact, like you might, that sometimes these problems are probably due to because then you don't run out of juice.
00:34:28:14 - 00:34:51:20
Unknown
Yeah. And you know, that's why I like to quick scan them and see which one I react to and go, ooh, there's something there that I need to, you know, if I feel like it avoiding a prompt, that means I need to get after it. Yeah. You know, the thing is, what all of this helps you do is become more confident to go after.
00:34:52:00 - 00:35:24:03
Unknown
You know, something I talk about a lot, which are the little whispers, the whispers of something not being quite right. Or you get the hint of what you should be doing with your time and your effort and your attention. You know how you get those at a subconscious like intuition moments, right? Yeah. If you practice journaling a lot, you can start to dig into those because when you start channeling, you're you're quite you avoid tough prompts.
00:35:24:05 - 00:35:58:02
Unknown
You're like, I hope to achieve today, right? Rather than am I living my purpose? Yeah, by getting after the big ones. But the new ones here is that I think that if you notice something, you're a bit out of sync. You can start with the prompt. I feel out of sync because and see what comes. And you can pursue avenues that are tough, emotionally uncomfortable because you train yourself to write and to think and to explore.
00:35:58:03 - 00:36:24:23
Unknown
So you can start with the basics, but then you can get into some really compelling challenges that may be, you know, laying deep down or things that you're avoiding deliberately. You can force yourself to prize open. Sometimes they're shackled in deep inside you. You can really get off to them. You can't do that at the start because you need to develop, you know, the skill and the practice.
00:36:25:00 - 00:36:55:15
Unknown
But once you get comfortable in this exploration, you can go to far dark places and go fix some serious stuff. I mean, if that's not a a call to arms, I don't know what is mine because you're right. What a great release. I think that that could be for a lot of us. You know, this ability to take a look at ourselves, understand maybe the things that we do typically when it's that fight or flight situation.
00:36:55:22 - 00:37:28:06
Unknown
There's certainly been moments for me through the act of jamming that now I'm a little bit more aware of maybe certain patterns that I'll put into practice. Maybe I haven't quite got to the level of really analyzing the DNA. But even so, on that journey across the day, I am statements, as we were hearing that previously, these assumptions of our core beliefs we have since, you know, growing up you were able to look at more objectively and instead of instantly thinking, Nana, that's what I'm like.
00:37:28:11 - 00:37:51:22
Unknown
There's nothing to change here. Exactly as we know with David Goggins, change is good. yeah, growth is good. you're not growing your static. And I feel as though this is once again one of those tools in the armory that helps you stay sharp. It helps you stay focused, productive, but also helps you kind of grow. Because at no point is this going to be a waste of time.
00:37:52:02 - 00:38:15:14
Unknown
Absolutely. You know, it's you know, and I would just say, if you're shooting for the moon, which is the whole premise of the show that we do together, you're going to encounter, you know, peaks and valleys, ups and downs and bright spots, dark spots. And so you need a place where you can recalibrate, resolve and get that stuff sorted.
00:38:15:16 - 00:38:43:19
Unknown
And that's where journaling shows up in enables you to filter, sift, process, decode, encode. And then as a result of that, it really becomes the place where you learn to say no to romcom offers or even simple things like One of the big things I talk about a lot is good quality sleep. So I know that I don't want to eat my my dinner at 8:30 p.m. because it's too late.
00:38:43:19 - 00:39:09:02
Unknown
My body's going to be all fired up from that. And I know I actually want to be in the bid way before ten. But worst case scenario, my golden rule is in the bed by ten, right? These are things that have become resolute commitments. They're like things that are non-negotiables for me because when I do them, when I have dinner earlier, when I'm in bed early, guess what?
00:39:09:02 - 00:39:31:05
Unknown
I wake up naturally at 6:00 and feel a million bucks and it's just good. And that's how I like it. Yeah, that's great. And likewise for me when I do even just spend 5 minutes like a tiny little amount of just writing something down, whether it's like I say, what situation am I in right now? Maybe it's the build that you did.
00:39:31:05 - 00:39:56:03
Unknown
How am I feeling? What's around me? Where am I? But also, if you want to go that level deeper, it's me. That's something that instantly helps. Yes. And because it's because it's not just like you're getting the direct benefits of journaling. I think indirectly you are respecting yourself by making time for yourself. You're not answering emails, you're not looking at text messages, you are working on yourself.
00:39:56:03 - 00:40:23:06
Unknown
And that feels good. I think that's it. You're working on yourself, so that feels good. Well, Mike, I mean, not to really try and bring a tail end to this pretty illustrious and energetic show, but we do only have one more clip. Now. Obviously, we've spoken a lot about the values of journaling to an individual with regards to, I'd say, balance, motivation, discipline.
00:40:23:08 - 00:40:53:21
Unknown
There's also a number of areas that we've uncovered through journaling and through the analysis of authors who have really told us about their tried and tested methods and habits of journaling, and that's actually to help unlock creativity. So we've got one more clip, this time from Julia Cameron, who's been talking to Sun columnist Time, who's going to help us close the show by not only helping us unlock our creativity, but also helping us coax ourselves forward just a little bit.
00:40:53:23 - 00:41:24:13
Unknown
Why does it help people unlock their creativity? Well, I think that when we move our hand across the page, we end up with a handmade light. There's a direct connection between our hand and our heart. And I think that when we start to write, we are gently led. I think that it's powerful and it's hopeful, and people find themselves encouraged.
00:41:24:15 - 00:41:51:10
Unknown
And again, I want to say the word coaxed, gently coaxed forward. Yeah, I certainly feel that. And I really appreciate as I'm, you know, well, just before I'm about to start making my kids breakfast, I really like giving myself that time just for me to see what comes out of the pen, to see what happens. It's a really it's a really lovely feeling.
00:41:51:12 - 00:42:23:17
Unknown
And the other part of the artist way famously is the artist states, As I said a moment ago, I haven't been as disciplined with the parts of it and it's kind of my personality, I guess, to some free time that doesn't have this, you know, end result because I can be a bit of a workaholic. And I think also perhaps within the structure of British culture, we go, I haven't got time for fun or whatever it might be.
00:42:23:17 - 00:42:51:16
Unknown
We always think we've got to be working or achieving or doing something. Why are the arts estate so important? Well, I think first of all, we should explain what they are. Yes, it's a once a week solo expedition to do something that enchants her interests you. In other words, it's a assigned play. And I think it's very important.
00:42:51:18 - 00:43:27:10
Unknown
Creativity, experts will tell you that concentrate and then release is what's necessary. And so with morning pages, we're concentrating and with our two states, we're releasing it as if we have switched the dial over from send to receive Eve and we receive hunches, intuition, guidance, and you're cheating yourself if you're doing morning pages and you're not doing notice states.
00:43:27:12 - 00:44:00:12
Unknown
So I want to encourage you to please try them. What I find happens is that people have a sense of a benevolent something. They feel a contact, and they will say to me, Julia, I think I felt God. Well, I mean, that's a big promise. I mean, I thought journaling was just about getting a few things clear in the hand, but actually camera bringing it home.
00:44:00:14 - 00:44:28:04
Unknown
But I would say this, Mark, I've been doing the morning pages since we did the show, Transformative. I usually, prior to doing that show some three or four weeks ago, was probably doing like a ten line maybe on a good day, 15 line journal entry. my gosh, I am unleashing these days. So I'm allocating more time. So 20 minutes of just getting it out.
00:44:28:04 - 00:45:01:08
Unknown
No grammar check, no spell check, just blah and that extra time and just that unfiltered exporting of the data. It's working wonders. Mark, I am so old. And what sort of difference are you noticing with regards to output? Not necessarily quantity wise, but are you finding that your over time, your insights or your analysis or your reflections are becoming a little bit more focused?
00:45:01:10 - 00:45:19:13
Unknown
Are you not seeing anything yet or is it still a bit too soon? I think you you do the classic the what? I'm thinking about how it's working out and why it matters to me. So you follow the full thought. It's not just like and it's just like I just feel this to go and say, how am I feeling or why am I feeling it?
00:45:19:13 - 00:45:51:11
Unknown
What is it? What role does this play in my life? I think also it's more complete as a start, middle and end to your thoughts, right? Yeah, because you're you've got you've allotted the time to to kind of explore completely. And more than anything, the single greatest benefit to morning pages, which is sitting there writing three pages uninterrupted for 20 minutes or thereabouts, is you just feeling so calm and relaxed and like it's it's like a craze.
00:45:51:15 - 00:46:16:16
Unknown
It's like making your bed. It gives you this strange sense of accomplishment in your life. It's like 820 in the morning. And I've just done my morning pages and I feel great and I feel very complete and full and I can hang up the boots and jump down to That's it. Yeah. Well, and I think that that is probably something that does put off a lot of people with journaling because it's just another to do.
00:46:16:18 - 00:46:37:05
Unknown
It's another item on the list. Yeah. Similar to what we heard with Robin Sharma with five M Club. If you get those items out of the way early, much like what he makes McCraven make your bed, you know that it's done. You know that you can crack on with the rest of them because you've already started it. It's such a strong foundation.
00:46:37:10 - 00:47:03:17
Unknown
Yes. Yeah. It's really, really invaluable whether you're writing one word or you're doing a full morning pages, it doesn't really matter. Both of them are equally powerful. If you're new to journaling and it is just like a go to ingredients of my day. But we've covered four big clips from four very, very talented people today. Where is your attention?
00:47:03:17 - 00:47:31:16
Unknown
Like, where do you feel what's next in your journaling study? Look, it might seem a little bit boring, Mike, but I found it really inspirational to listen to that McConaughey clip again. And I think just the sheer discipline with saying no. Yeah, being that resolute in the clarity that you have as an individual around what it is that you do and don't want to do, you know, going to matter to your family.
00:47:31:16 - 00:48:06:21
Unknown
You've got complete let's call it clarity. You can see with 2020 vision, I think that that's a pretty interesting and an accomplishment that McConaughey can say he's done. I'm curious about that. Do you think it's the being in control that you achieve through that that really appeals to you? I think being in control of your decision making capabilities so that, you know, steadfast when you're talking to your agents or otherwise?
00:48:06:23 - 00:48:26:10
Unknown
No, no, this is good. I am. I know. Because you've made up your mind already. How that's a bit as well. That's a very appealing feeling like it was through journaling that he's like, no, this is this is where I'm going. I'm going to be steadfast. I'm not going to waver. I think we'd all like to live like that.
00:48:26:12 - 00:48:43:03
Unknown
I think I think we probably would. And I think the hacks and the tips and tricks that we've learned from all of our other clips would help me accomplish that. So I'm going to I'm going to cheat a little bit today. Mike, I'm kind of taking one clip, then sort of bundling the rest. What about what about you?
00:48:43:07 - 00:49:04:11
Unknown
My kitchen. It's a master series. You can bundle as much as you like or have you have permission. Listen, I get I've got to get after this artists date thing. Like I love morning pages and hearing Julius say game. Well you're kind of cheating if you only doing one and not both. So that's going to be my homework assignment.
00:49:04:13 - 00:49:29:22
Unknown
That's a good one. Well, Mark, I just want to say thank you to you for joining me and all of our members for our 27th Master series on journaling. And it started with a discussion of green lights and red lights and taking inspiration from the great Matthew McConaughey. Then we use journaling to find our vision, and we even learn how we can hack our habits through journaling and understanding ourselves.
00:49:29:24 - 00:49:54:21
Unknown
And we brought it home with this idea of not only making a date with the artist inside of ourselves, but every single morning writing our pages to have greater clarity on our thoughts, to find our creativity, to find our purpose, and to be the very best version of ourselves. And that is certainly what we're about here. In this episode of the Moonshot Smart series.
00:49:54:23 - 00:49:59:11
Unknown
That's a wrap.