How to Journal for Self Growth | Jim Kwik
Summary
TLDRIn this session, brain coach Jim Kwik shares a powerful tool for enhancing creativity, problem-solving, and achieving goals: journaling. He recounts a personal story about how writing down his goals helped transform his perspective and life direction. Jim emphasizes the importance of physically writing notes, rather than typing, to improve learning and critical thinking. He explains how geniuses like Da Vinci and Einstein used journals to capture their thoughts and challenges viewers to start or enhance their journaling habits. The key takeaway is that journaling fosters self-awareness and improves thinking.
Takeaways
- 💡 The power of perspective can help in achieving clearer thinking and creativity.
- 📚 Writing down thoughts and goals helps turn ideas into reality by making them tangible.
- 📝 Journaling and note-taking are essential habits for high-level thinkers and geniuses.
- 🎯 The 'capture and create' method improves understanding and critical thinking.
- ✍️ Handwriting notes forces you to prioritize important information and enhances retention.
- 🧠 Journaling builds self-awareness and metacognition, key to personal growth.
- 🔄 Regularly revisiting old journal entries provides valuable perspective.
- ⏰ Consistency in journaling and note-taking habits is key for long-term success.
- ❓ Asking the right questions, like 'How can I use this?' 'Why must I use this?' and 'When will I use this?' is crucial for learning.
- 📖 Journaling should be personalized, reflecting your own thoughts and experiences.
Q & A
What is the main purpose of the session led by Jim Quick?
-The purpose of the session is to introduce a powerful tool to help improve thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and achieving personal goals.
What personal story does Jim Quick share from his past?
-Jim Quick shares a story from when he was 18 and struggling in college, feeling overwhelmed and ready to quit. A conversation with a family friend helped him gain a new perspective and changed his approach to learning and achieving his goals.
What advice did the family friend give Jim when he was struggling?
-The family friend encouraged Jim to think about what he wanted to be, do, have, and share in life. He had Jim write these thoughts down in a journal to gain clarity and focus.
Why does Jim emphasize the importance of writing things down?
-Jim explains that writing things down transforms abstract ideas into reality. It helps organize thoughts and brings clarity by making invisible goals tangible and actionable.
What are the three important questions Jim suggests asking when taking notes?
-The three questions are: How can I use this? Why must I use this? When will I use this? These questions help focus the learning process and make the information more practical.
How does Jim Quick recommend setting up notes in a journal?
-Jim suggests dividing a notebook page into two columns. On the left, write down the lessons or important information. On the right, answer the three questions about how to use the information and any other creative thoughts.
Why does Jim recommend handwriting notes instead of typing them?
-Jim argues that handwriting notes forces the writer to filter and focus on important information, which improves retention and understanding, unlike typing, where one can transcribe without processing the content deeply.
What historical figures does Jim mention to emphasize the value of journaling?
-Jim mentions historical geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, and Einstein, who were known for keeping journals. He suggests that journaling helped them develop their thinking and creativity.
What benefits does journaling provide according to Jim Quick?
-Journaling helps build perspective, improves metacognition (thinking about one’s own thinking), and fosters self-awareness, which Jim describes as a 'superpower.'
What is Jim Quick’s assignment for viewers at the end of the session?
-Jim’s assignment is for viewers to get a dedicated notebook for the program, journal daily, even if it’s just one sentence, and reflect on their thoughts to enhance learning and personal growth.
Outlines
🧠 How a Shift in Perspective Transformed My Life
In this section, Jim Quick shares a personal story from his early life. He was struggling in college and on the verge of quitting due to his inability to focus and learn effectively. A friend suggested gaining new perspective, leading him to visit a wealthy family. During this visit, the father asked thought-provoking questions about Jim's goals and purpose, encouraging him to write down what he wanted to achieve in life. This act of journaling, Jim explains, was the beginning of his transformation, as it allowed him to clarify his vision and motivated him to pursue learning with a stronger purpose.
✍️ The Power of Writing Down Your Goals
Jim emphasizes the importance of writing things down to make abstract thoughts tangible. He explains that journaling and writing goals help transform ideas into reality, which is why many historical geniuses, like Leonardo da Vinci and Marie Curie, kept journals. He suggests that consistent journaling is a key factor in their genius, rather than the other way around. Jim introduces the idea that writing helps filter and organize thoughts, encouraging deeper thinking and learning. He promotes handwritten notes over digital ones for this reason, citing studies that show better retention and understanding with handwritten notes.
📒 How to Take Effective Notes by Hand
In this part, Jim provides specific advice on how to take notes effectively. He recommends dividing the page in half, using one side for lessons and the other side for creative questions such as 'How can I use this?' and 'Why must I use it?' This method helps capture important information and encourages critical thinking. Jim points out that taking notes by hand not only improves retention but also forces you to prioritize information, as you can't write as fast as people speak. This process helps you filter out the most valuable insights.
📚 The Importance of Journaling and Note-Taking
Jim stresses the value of keeping both a notebook for learning and a personal journal for reflecting on life. He describes how journaling provides perspective, allowing you to track progress, revisit thoughts, and reflect on your experiences over time. He encourages journaling about gratitude, dreams, and struggles, as these practices enhance self-awareness, which he calls a 'superpower.' By consistently journaling, individuals can develop metacognition, focusing on their own thinking processes, which ultimately boosts their personal growth and learning abilities.
⏱️ Building Consistent Journaling Habits
In this final part, Jim urges the audience to commit to consistent journaling habits. He advises setting aside a specific time each day, whether morning or night, to write even a single sentence if needed. Jim believes that the routine of journaling helps develop discipline, self-awareness, and better mental clarity. He encourages people to personalize the journaling process, making it enjoyable and meaningful. He also invites the audience to share their journaling practices and thoughts in the comments, making it an interactive session.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Perspective
💡Journaling
💡Capture and Create
💡Metacognition
💡Why
💡New Questions
💡Geniuses
💡Handwriting vs. Typing
💡Consistency
💡Critical Thinking
Highlights
The power of perspective: Changing your point of view allows for new approaches and problem-solving.
Writing things down makes abstract thoughts and goals tangible, which helps in transforming thinking into reality.
Journaling can help clarify your 'why' – why you want to achieve certain goals and how to pursue them.
Ask new questions to get new answers: this approach helps in achieving better outcomes.
Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, and Einstein all kept journals, showing the value of capturing thoughts.
It is more likely that their genius resulted from journaling rather than the other way around.
Handwriting notes enhances understanding by forcing you to filter and process information before writing it down.
Studies show that people who handwrite notes perform better on tests compared to those who type notes.
By dividing your note page, write lessons on the left and ask yourself three questions on the right: 'How can I use this?', 'Why must I use this?', and 'When will I use this?'
Create a dedicated notebook for note-taking and learning to capture and organize your thoughts.
Journaling can provide perspective over time, as it allows for reflection on past thoughts and progress.
Consistency in journaling is key: make it a daily habit, either in the morning or at night.
Even writing one sentence a day can build self-awareness and metacognition.
Journaling builds self-awareness, which is considered a superpower.
Find ways to make journaling more enjoyable and meaningful to maintain consistency.
Transcripts
I'm your brain coach Jim quick and in
this session I'm going to share with you
a power tool to help you to think
clearer and be more creative to be able
to solve problems and really reach your
goals now when I was 18 years old and I
was really struggling I was a freshman
in college I couldn't keep up I didn't
know how to learn I didn't know how to
focus I didn't know how to study I
didn't know how to to think so a friend
of mine said hey before you quit school
because that's the point I was at I was
ready to tell my family I was going to
quit college said why don't you get some
perspective and we talk about the power
of perspective with our thinking that
when you could change your point of view
you could look at something with a new
Fresh eyes and take a new approach and
not be stuck to a limited amount of
options so I go to visit the family and
the family is pretty pretty well off and
the father walks me around his property
before dinner and asked me a very
innocent question which is the worst
question you could ask me at that time
says Jim Howe school
right and I just break down in front of
this complete stranger and tell him my
whole story The Boy with a broken brain
learning challenges I'm ready to quit
school and he says stop
why are you in school what do you want
to be what do you want to do what do you
want to have what do you want to share
and notice that his process for
achievement is asking me new questions
because ask a new question get a new
answer changing perspective place people
allows me a new point of view so you see
these principles always showing up with
quality thinkers and when I go to answer
them what I want to do and be and have
and share with the world he says stop
and he pulls out of his pocket a journal
like a notebook and he tears out a
couple of sheets and makes me write it
down and this is the principle I want to
talk to you about in this lesson so if
you want to transform your thinking you
need to be able to transform your
ability to write things down and make
something physical because the act of
taking the invisible your imagination
your goals your vision and making it a
reality one of the best things you could
do is to write it down and make a
physical motion so you actually create
created something from your thought from
your thinking into reality so that's the
first step so I wrote down my my bucket
list of all the things I wanted to be do
have and share and this became my drive
this became my why why to learn why to
read why to do well in school and that's
why we always talk about those three
questions asking yourself how can I use
this why must I use this when will I use
this so you'll notice in history some of
the most incredible Geniuses men and
women throughout history kept journals
right the journals of Leonardo da Vinci
Marie Curie Einstein they're invaluable
there are they are Priceless and the
question I've always wondered is is it
because they're Geniuses that they're
journaling all the time and they're
making notes all the time or is it
because they're journaling all the time
that they become Geniuses I would argue
for the latter so in this session I'm
going to share with you exactly how I
capture and create notes and how I
Journal each day to capture my thoughts
if you want expert high level thinking
you need to be able to capture this in a
journal so the first thing you need to
do is you need to get a journal or get a
notebook and I'm very big into
physically writing your notes and
writing in your Journal as opposed to
typing it out now living in a digital
age I see the convenience of being able
to share and store information digitally
I'm going to ask you through this
process to actually hand write it and
there are certain advantages to
handwriting your notes and handwriting
your journals first of all as you're
taking notes as we're having this
conversation you can maybe type as fast
as somebody can speak but you certainly
can't write that fast so by writing it
down it forces you to think about what
you're listening to and you start to
filter and qualify the information
before you write it down because you you
can't possibly write as fast as someone
can speak so in studies that have tested
people from handwriting notes and typing
out notes the people that hand write
notes did better on test scores maybe
for this very reason that they're
capturing only the important parts
because the worst way of taking notes
actually was full transcripts or full
dictation now the question is how do you
handwrite notes what I would suggest is
this you have a piece of paper take your
pen and put a line right down the middle
of the page so on the left side you're
writing down the lessons on the right
side you can be creative and ask the
three questions how can I use this and
then write it down why must I use it and
then write it down when will I use it
and write it down these are wonderful
ways to not only take notes but also to
make notes and by making notes you
create a feedback loop and this is very
good for advanced thinkers to train your
thinking ability you're taking your
thoughts you're putting it on paper
you're organizing them and it allows you
to use critical thinking skills and some
of the skills you're going to learn in
this program right in front of you so
you have your notebook you're capturing
and you're creating and I would have a
dedicated notebook for this program and
on top of having a notebook a dedicated
notebook for your learning in this
process you could also have a journal
some people have a life journal some
people people have a dream journal in
this journal you could capture your your
day-to-days your Visions the things that
you're struggling with the things that
you're reflecting upon so one of the
benefits of having a journal is you go
back and re-read and review some of
those entries I have journals that date
back years and years and years and it's
wonderful to be able to revisit it gives
you this thing called perspective
perspective is a very powerful tool when
it comes to your learning when it comes
to your thinking so your assignment in
this lesson is have a dedicated notebook
and use the capture create method the
second thing is have a journal a
dedicated life journal where you're
journaling the things you're grateful
for where you're building out your
vision and you're taking your thoughts
and you're sharing it in an intimate way
with yourself to see your thoughts on
paper much like I was doing when I first
got started with my early Mentor you'll
find that Geniuses take journaling and
note-taking very seriously it allows
them to see their thoughts and be able
to lay out their problems see everything
in front of them so if you are not
journaling this is your call to action
to start journaling and taking notes if
you're already doing that think about
ways that you could enhance your process
how can you make this process more
enjoyable how can you make this process
more meaningful how can you make this
process more consistent because
consistency is key if you're going to do
it every morning you do it every morning
if you're going to do it at the night
time set the schedule or set your alarm
set these habits and these triggers of
when you're actually going to do those
activities and write it down in your own
words you don't have to use my words use
your own words so they become personal
and customize for you so what's your
assignment get a notebook dedicated
notebook for our journey together and
have a journal and write in it every
single day even if it's one sentence
just check check in with yourself
because it builds your metacognition it
focuses you on your own thinking it
builds that self-awareness and
self-awareness is a superpower and I'm
personally curious do you Journal each
day
what do you Journal about is it your
dreams do you have a gratitude Journal
are you taking notes right now I'm
personally curious put those answers in
the comments I'm your brain coach Jim
quick and I'll see you in our next
lesson
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