Journaling Questions

One of the most helpful practices for navigating the complexities of existence has proven to be journaling.

In The Power of Today, we laid out a section called 4.4 A New Daily Practice for those who have not developed a powerful and transformative Daily Practice.

The Practice contains a powerful subset of journaling questions and prompts.

Here are the basics. Remember, these are meant to be part of an integrated Way of Being and Daily Practice as outline in The Power of Today, and integrated via the Lionsberg System and Approach.

These questions should be kept integrated and mutually updated with 4.4 A New Daily Practice.

Morning Journaling

  1. Reflection and Revelation: When you wake up, before doing anything else, write down or record a quick voice note with any reflections, inspirations, questions, or answers that emerged during the night. Write down any dreams that felt significant. These observations are often fleeting, and can be quickly lost if not immediately captured.
  2. Clear the Fog: Articulate and drive out any fears, anxieties, etc. Write down the things that are bothering You so that You can clear Your Mind for Prayer and Meditation.
  3. The Highest Voice: What is God, or the Highest Voice you can relate to, speaking to you? What feels as if it is inbreaking, or being impressed upon you from Beyond?
  4. Conscience: What, if anything, is the Voice of Conscience, speaking to You? Where is the still small Voice warning that you might be deviating from the Path? How might the warning need to be attended to and satisfactorily resolved?
  5. Calling: What is Alive? What is on Your Mind? What is Your Attention being drawn to? What is Inspiring You?
  6. Avoidance: What, if anything, is your Spirit, Mind, Emotion, or Body alerting you to, that are you trying to avoid? Bring it into the Light and write it down. Remember that what we most need to find is often discovered where we least want to look.
  7. Gratitude: What 2 or 3 things are You feeling particularly grateful for?
  8. Your Story: Regenerate Your Story in Your Mind, and jot down anything that is especially alive:
    1. Identity: Who Are You?
    2. Transformation: Who Are You Becoming?
    3. Analysis: Where Are You?
    4. History: How Did You Get There?
    5. Aim: Where Are You Going?
    6. Tribe: With Who?
    7. Purpose: Why?
  9. Retrospective:
    1. How was Your day yesterday, and what Stories are You telling Your Self about what happened?
    2. What victories or accomplishments were attained yesterday that advanced You towards the Goal of Your Quest?
    3. What went well, that you would like to do or be more of?
    4. What would you like to do A Little Better today?
    5. What Value did Your efforts over the last 24 hours co-create?
  10. Review Your Navigation Dashboard:
    1. Alignment: Review the Way your Quarterly Quest is advancing You towards the Milestones that mark the Way towards The Goal.
    2. Milestone: Based on Your Current Best Understanding, what is the next significant Milestone that marks the Critical Path towards the Goal?
    3. Work Breakdown: Ensure that the Steps towards the Goals and Objectives of your Quarterly Quest are broken down into Action Steps that require no more than one week to complete, and are logically and sequentially organized with a visible Critical Path.
    4. Next Steps: What do You Perceive as Your most important next steps? How do they align with the Plan for This Quarter for your Quarterly Quest?
    5. Obstacles: What do You Perceive as Your most significant obstacles? Are they reflected on your Issue Tracker?
    6. Greatness: What Would Make Today Great?
    7. Remembering Death: If This Was Your Last Week On Earth, What Would You Do Today? If you were to die this week, would you be satisfied with Your Story and the Quarterly Quest and Meta Goal you died in pursuit of?
    8. Commitments: Review Your Commitment Tracker - Are You on track to keep all Commitments that You have made? Are Others on track to keep the Commitments that You have secured?
    9. Top Three: What Are Your Top Three for Today?
    10. Top One: What is Your Top One for Today?
    11. Plan For Today: What is Your Plan for Today to ensure that You accomplish Your Top One, and advance to Your Top Three if possible? What is the most Efficient Path through the set of activities?
    12. Parallel Processing: Are there one or two short (less than 15 minute) actions that You could take that would get other Critical Path activities running in parallel as You execute Your Plan?
    13. Team of Teams: Is Your Plan for Today aligned with Your Team(s), and is Your Team(s) Plan aligned with the Team of Teams, and is everything aligned with and advancing Us All towards the Meta Goal?
    14. Performance Management: How will You Manage Your Performance Today, and make adjustments if You get off track?
  11. Random Reading: Open a sacred book randomly, and read whatever is present wherever You land. Allow the Spirit to speak to You and Your Time, Place, and Situation through the words. If You do not have a starting point, the oldest, most widely translated, and widely used book in this regard is the Bible. Whatever You read, read it not in the context of Religion, but as if the Spirit alive in You was in active dialogue with the Spirit behind the words. Find the sacred and eternal that is beyond the words. What does it speak into Your Life? How does it alter Your Current Best Understanding?

Transition Journaling

Before You return home or reengage with Your Loved Ones, make sure You take the time to Transition Well.

Take 15 or 30 minutes to engage in Your Transition Practice.

Write down any loose ends or open items so You don't forget, and so that You don't have to hold them in Mind.

Jot down any victories or accomplishments that were particularly meaningful.

Jot down any thoughts or hypothesis on what Your next steps might be.

Preparing For Sleep

Before You go to sleep, take 15 minutes to prepare.

Sleep is a critical time, and it is critical that it is put to its proper use.

Clear the Fog - jot down any lingering thoughts, worries, or concerns that are weighing on Your Mind.

Giving Your Mind An Assignment - write down a question that You would like Your Mind to work on processing during the night.

Take at least 5 minutes for a Centering and Aligning Prayer and short Meditation.

Then sleep in such a Way that Your Mind and Spirit continue to commune with God.

Waking Up

As you wake up, reengage your Morning Journaling and repeat the cycle.