6/10 – Journaling and Uncluttering Your Mind

I’m starting the practice of journaling starting Monday. To be honest, I’ve already started as of Friday. But, just like starting a new diet, I figured I’d wait until Monday like a normal person.

The reason for the journaling you may ask. That would be a fair question. I started reading a book called ‘Will Power Doesn’t Work’ by Benjamin Hardy that was gifted to me at my local coffee shop randomly one afternoon in what some may say was a sign from the universe. I was out of my normal routine that day and stopped by my favorite coffee shop because I had some time to kill before heading to jiu jitsu practice. Normally, I’d be with a personal training client during the time I was at the coffee shop. My client had cancelled on me last minute. With two hours until practice I figured I’d grab some coffee, make some social media content and relax. When I was walking in I noticed a group of 3 people all with the same book in hand chatting at a table. I grabbed my coffee and sat down on the leather couch on the left side because that’s my spot when I go in there solo. It gives me the most optimal position to people watch because I can see the entire café. I noticed that the group of 3 were getting ready to leave and something told me to go talk to them and ask them about the book. I’ve been really trying to listen to that little intituive voice in your head. You know that little voice. It’s the one that tells you what to do in any decision making you have. It’s the one you either listen to or ignore. Since that voice was urging me to go speak with that group I decided to listen. We had a brief conversation and it turned out that one gentleman was the mentor of the other two. That mans name was Kevin Kennedy. He looked at me and said, “I’ll give you this book, under one circumstance. You have to read it.”. I looked him in his eye, told him “of course. 100%.” And then shook his hand. All 4 of us made small talk for a couple minutes and they left. I still had some time to kill so I decided to crack the book open and read the introduction. After about 15 minutes of reading. I knew the universe put me at the right place at the right time for a reason.

In this book, Benjamin Hardy talks about journaling and how it can unclutter your mind. For me, my mind is going a million miles an hour. All the time. Literally, all the time. I have tons of thoughts, ideas, feelings during the day. I’m sure that’s the same for everyone out there. Sometimes I’ll get an awesome idea and forget to write it down. Want to know what happens to that idea when you don’t write it down? It’s gone forever. Bye bye. On the flip side, there are times that certain tasks that need to get done that will be on your mind. Having an outlet, such as journaling is a way to get all of the clutter out of your head ad onto paper. Yes, I’m talking note pad, pen and paper. There’s something about being able to write something down that just hits different. You have to slow things down for a little bit, take your time to write legibly and put some time and effort into what It is you’re journaling. Typing something out just isn’t the same in my opinion. For myself, I need a way to get my thoughts out of my head and onto paper to make them physical. They then become real. There’s no going back, that idea is now alive and you have to take care of it. I’m a very visual person. If I see a list of tasks that need to get done, I’m more likely to achieve them and start checking them off as completed. If I don’t see them, they rarely ever get done.

Some of the things I jot down in my journal for example are ideas for the gym, my supplement business, blog posts, etc. That’s where my mind constantly lives. Once I wake up, and the brain gets going, that’s where it always gravitates too. Seeing a task physically written down and out there in the world is a strong motivator for me to set myself up for success to make it happen. I also want to start the journaling so that when the clutter is being cleared out, it frees my mind to actually be able to come up with new ideas. Your brain is a phenomenal thing. But it can even get clogged up at times and not run at a optimal capacity. I’m trying to clear out the ‘trash bin’ in my brain and clear memory and storage space for new and creative ideas. I know that if I write an idea down. I become highly motivated, I mean HIGHLY motivated to achieve it. Not accomplishing tasks gives me a bit of anxiety. Knowing that the task is out there will cause me to set myself up to be able to accomplish whatever task it is. I now have no choice but to come up with a course of action to get that beloved check mark behind that now completed task. Drawing that check mark is one of the most fulfilling feelings in the world.

I’ve come to a point in my life that I feel a big change is coming on the horizon. It’s time to level up. For that to happen I need to become a more optimal version of my current self. I’ve been working hard these last couple of months on learning ways to be the best version of myself as I possibly can be. I have more motivator factors now than I ever have. I’m married to the most beautiful person, inside and out, in the world. She is the person I was meant to be with in this lifetime. I was destined to do life with her. We have a BEAUTIFUL dog together, Molly. She is the LOVE OF OUR LIVES. We both are utterly obsessed with her. And, Lauren and I want to create a family together. Where I am currently in this world, I’m not sure I could handle that task to the best of my abilities. There are certain things I need to be better at before I feel I can do that.

I’m not saying journaling is the key to changing your life. I’m looking at journaling as a tool that will help me with my current processes of navigating life so I can keep a clear mind to be present in the key movements and help me always striving to reach my peak potential.

– Joey

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Workout of the Day

A. Back Squat + HEAVY Band Tension: 1RM

B. Sumo Deadlift @80%: 5 Sets -3-5 Reps

C. GHR’s: 3 Sets – 5-10 Reps

10 Minute EMOM

100′ Sandbag Carry AHAP

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