OOGABOOGA
Check the weather & it’s gettin real sussy outside
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In this thread I’ll give a brief breakdown of a journal format I used years ago that worked wonders for improving my mental state and overall outlook, both when I used it consistently, and residually ever since.
TLDR: this journaling method trains your brain to be grateful, live with purpose, and focus on the good in life. It made me a happier person and will probably do the same for you if you give it a chance!
Back in high school I had very bad social anxiety, was very insecure, had almost no social life, until I began journaling going into my senior year. I’ll admit it’s not the only factor. I was off the adhd drugs that had hampered me socially for years, puberty had made me a bit taller and better looking, and I was on a long nofap streak. However, I have no doubts that journaling helped me make the progress I made mentally and socially that year.
During my senior year I went from a nobody nerd who was decent at sports to partying, weed dealing, and an active social circle. Overall a much more fulfilling social life.
Here’s what I did:
I had a small journal, and each day would fill up one page.
Section 1:
I would take three lines, first thing in the morning, to say “today I am grateful for ____”
This is huge. The idea is to come up with something new that you can be grateful for that you haven’t previously used in your journaling. There’s always something, and no matter how minuscule it is, learning to think of things in this context makes you much more appreciative of the good things in life, and thus happier.
Did you wake up in a cozy bed? That’s awesome. Is the sun shining? Great. Or maybe you like rain and it’s raining. Oh you’re 5’8? Better than 5’6. Oh you’re balding? At least you’re aware of the problem and have access to things like fin and channels like mpmd. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for, you just need to learn how to find it.
Section 2: To-Do List
This isn’t as important. But I’d list 5 things I wanted to get done that day. It gives your day purpose and direction, as well as giving you things to look forward to at the start of the day, and look back on with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Take control of your day, don’t just let life happen to you.
Section 3: Good Day
The last section is to be done at night. Generally I’d do this right before bed after plugging my phone in for the night. Finish the journal, turn off the lights, sleep.
In this last section, the goal is to fill the rest of the page by listing reasons the day was a good day. I’d write a header of “today was a good day because...” and then fill the page with bullet points.
It’s simple, but at first it might not be easy. When you’re in a bad mental state, you fixate on all the bad things that happen over the good. This creates a feedback loop where your brain trains itself to focus more and more on the negative. Then you’re depressed and mentally continue to dig yourself into a deeper and deeper hole.
When you first start you might sit down and think “today was shit, the fuck am I supposed to write here.” That’s how it started for me. It would take a while to think of enough highlights to convince myself that the day was good.
But fast forward a few months and I was able to rattle off good moments nonstop til the page was full. Some days I’d be in such a positive mental state that I wouldn’t stop and I’d end up taking up a chunk of the next page too!
Were my days really that much better? Had that much changed? No, not really. But the way my brain interpreted my day to day experiences had improved drastically, and that of course is the goal. You’ll end up happier, and that’ll bleed into your day to day life. The way you approach life and interact with people will change, and over time your life really will get better as a result.
Okay! I said brief and I meant it but clearly that wasn’t gonna happen. If you read I hope you enjoyed and see the value in the methods I highlighted. Give it a try guys. What do you have to lose? Some ink, paper, and 10-15 minutes a day? More than worth it. I did it for about 8 months and still feel the benefits it gave me more than three years later.
you only get one brain, take care of it
TLDR: this journaling method trains your brain to be grateful, live with purpose, and focus on the good in life. It made me a happier person and will probably do the same for you if you give it a chance!
Back in high school I had very bad social anxiety, was very insecure, had almost no social life, until I began journaling going into my senior year. I’ll admit it’s not the only factor. I was off the adhd drugs that had hampered me socially for years, puberty had made me a bit taller and better looking, and I was on a long nofap streak. However, I have no doubts that journaling helped me make the progress I made mentally and socially that year.
During my senior year I went from a nobody nerd who was decent at sports to partying, weed dealing, and an active social circle. Overall a much more fulfilling social life.
Here’s what I did:
I had a small journal, and each day would fill up one page.
Section 1:
I would take three lines, first thing in the morning, to say “today I am grateful for ____”
This is huge. The idea is to come up with something new that you can be grateful for that you haven’t previously used in your journaling. There’s always something, and no matter how minuscule it is, learning to think of things in this context makes you much more appreciative of the good things in life, and thus happier.
Did you wake up in a cozy bed? That’s awesome. Is the sun shining? Great. Or maybe you like rain and it’s raining. Oh you’re 5’8? Better than 5’6. Oh you’re balding? At least you’re aware of the problem and have access to things like fin and channels like mpmd. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for, you just need to learn how to find it.
Section 2: To-Do List
This isn’t as important. But I’d list 5 things I wanted to get done that day. It gives your day purpose and direction, as well as giving you things to look forward to at the start of the day, and look back on with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Take control of your day, don’t just let life happen to you.
Section 3: Good Day
The last section is to be done at night. Generally I’d do this right before bed after plugging my phone in for the night. Finish the journal, turn off the lights, sleep.
In this last section, the goal is to fill the rest of the page by listing reasons the day was a good day. I’d write a header of “today was a good day because...” and then fill the page with bullet points.
It’s simple, but at first it might not be easy. When you’re in a bad mental state, you fixate on all the bad things that happen over the good. This creates a feedback loop where your brain trains itself to focus more and more on the negative. Then you’re depressed and mentally continue to dig yourself into a deeper and deeper hole.
When you first start you might sit down and think “today was shit, the fuck am I supposed to write here.” That’s how it started for me. It would take a while to think of enough highlights to convince myself that the day was good.
But fast forward a few months and I was able to rattle off good moments nonstop til the page was full. Some days I’d be in such a positive mental state that I wouldn’t stop and I’d end up taking up a chunk of the next page too!
Were my days really that much better? Had that much changed? No, not really. But the way my brain interpreted my day to day experiences had improved drastically, and that of course is the goal. You’ll end up happier, and that’ll bleed into your day to day life. The way you approach life and interact with people will change, and over time your life really will get better as a result.
Okay! I said brief and I meant it but clearly that wasn’t gonna happen. If you read I hope you enjoyed and see the value in the methods I highlighted. Give it a try guys. What do you have to lose? Some ink, paper, and 10-15 minutes a day? More than worth it. I did it for about 8 months and still feel the benefits it gave me more than three years later.
you only get one brain, take care of it
