8 ways a simple notebook can change your life

GO BUY A NOTEBOOK Many people have written to me saying they love all the research on bettering themselves but need that first step on how to shoehorn it in to their day-to-day life.

INCORPORATING A LOT OF THE BLOG'S STRATEGIES CAN BE AS EASY AS BUYING A NOTEBOOK. SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from

multiple perspectives. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE SIGN UP FOR THE WEEK'S FREE NEWSLETTERS From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered

directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. (No, it doesn't need to have glitter

on it or say "MY SECRET DIARY" on the front.) Others might think: "_I don't need to write stuff down. Reading is enough._" Nope. A LOT OF RESEARCH SHOWS YOUR BRAIN

SEES WRITING DIFFERENTLY THAN THINKING OR TALKING. A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com WRITING FORCES YOU TO ORGANIZE AND

CLARIFY YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU LEARN BETTER WHEN YOU WRITE THINGS DOWN AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO FOLLOW THROUGH. So what should you be writing in this notebook? 1) WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU'RE

LOOKING FORWARD TO People who devote time to anticipating fun experiences are happier. So at least once a week, make plans, write them down, and when you need a boost, look at the great

things you have coming up. From Shawn Achor's _The Happiness Advantage_: 2) WRITE DOWN YOUR PROGRESS Want to know your strengths and weaknesses? Make predictions, write them down, and

compare against results. This is an excellent way to see where your natural abilities are and if you're improving. From management guru Pete Drucker: Making notes about your preferences

and experiences can help you turn your notebook into a personal handbook. You'll know yourself better and be able to make better decisions if you record your feelings and expectations

when things happen. 3) WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS You're more likely to follow through on things that you write down. Writing down obstacles and how you'll address them increases levels

of hope — and success. Writing about your goals can make you happier and even _healthier:_ Everybody knows they should write down goals and everyone has goals but no one does it. Why? They

take it too seriously and they're afraid. Don't sweat it. Just jot them down. Goals can change but in the meantime they will help guide decisions when you're stuck. 4) WRITE

DOWN YOUR IDEAS Many of the great geniuses all kept notebooks. Why? Their ideas rarely, if ever, exploded out as one big _EUREKA!_ They developed over time and that evolution needed to be

recorded and shaped. Got an idea? Good one? Mediocre one? Doesn't matter. Write it down. Many times those mediocre ones _become_ good ones with work. 5) WRITE DOWN YOUR ANXIETIES

Research shows writing about your worries can calm you and even increase performance: Projects at work bothering you long after you leave the office? Write down a plan for how to deal with

them before you leave. Research shows talking to someone after a traumatic event doesn't help. But writing about it does. Designating a time to worry can actually be a great strategy,

funny as it sounds. And write those worries down to put them to rest. 6) WRITE ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP Writing about relationships improves relationships: 7) WRITE DOWN THE GOOD THINGS THAT

HAPPEN TO YOU Long time readers have heard me beat the drum on this one a million times. (Which makes me wonder: Have you guys ever actually _tried_ it?) Professor Martin Seligman at the

University of Pennsylvania, who developed the technique, refers to it as three blessings. It's been shown again and again to help people improve their outlook. Seligman explains it in

his book _Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being_: NEXT TO EACH POSITIVE EVENT, ANSWER THE QUESTION "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?" Give it a shot. Only takes a

minute every night. 8) WRITE DOWN YOUR STORY Reinterpreting your life events into a story, from a new perspective, can not only change how you see your life, but change how you behave going

forward. Timothy Wilson, author of _Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change,_ talks about how the process of "story-editing" can help us improve our lives:

Time to get a notebook. _Join 100K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here._ MORE FROM _BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE_...