Logging in General
The purpose of a log is to bring more consciousness, awareness and discipline into the areas of your life that need it. There are many kinds of logs that you can keep. You can keep an exercise log, where every day you write down the date, how much you exercised, and how you felt about your effort that day.
Another type of log is a meditation log, where you write the date, how long you meditated, and any feelings or insights you gained. Doing this is important because it is easy to forget what you received in this altered state of consciousness, which can be similar to dreaming. You know how easy it is to forget what you dreamed last night.
Another example would be a food log where you write down everything you eat during the day. Having to write it down makes you more aware, which is the reason you are keeping the log. Knowing you are going to have to write it down is good motivation to eat appropriately.
A log can be created for any area of your life in which you are trying to achieve greater mastery and self control. Diagrams “1,” “2,” “3,” “4,” and “5″ are examples of psychological logs I often give to my clients and have used myself.
On the left hand side of these diagrams is the list of days one to twenty one. On the top heading for each column is a particular psychological attribute that you are trying to log. Below that are the designations “Morning and Evening” or on the last three logs the designation “M/A/N” (Morning, Afternoon, Night).
You score yourself on a percentage basis in terms of how you are doing in manifesting that particular attitude or quality. You can score yourself twice a day or three times a day. I have listed twenty one days because this is how long it takes to cement a new habit into the subconscious mind.
These types of logs keep you very focused and motivated. When trying to do it only in your mind it is too easy to lose concentration, motivation and discipline. To grow spiritually can be compared with keeping track of one’s finances. If you tried to keep all your finances, tax records, and banking business in your mind it would be impossible to keep it organized.
The same holds true for our spiritual life. Trying to keep it together without some form of spiritual bookkeeping is impossible and overwhelming. Having a spiritual bookkeeping system for your life is imperative, and logging is one fantastic tool for mastering any given area of your life that needs attention.
Keeping a Journal
I cannot recommend more highly the importance of keeping two journals. The first is a journal for writing in when you get unclear or when you just feel like it. The purpose for writing in your journal is multifaceted. One reason is to empower yourself. Another is to do attitudinal healing in the process of writing.
Since our thoughts create our reality, as we change the way we look at things our feelings change. Attitudinal healing is the process of moving from egotistical thinking to spiritual thinking. Journal writing is also for reprogramming the conscious and subconscious minds. It is for gaining attunement to your Higher Self, for gaining insight and understanding, as well as catharsis.
What you don’t want to do is write in your journal and just reinforce the same patterns on paper without movement or change. You must go into your journal writing with the proper attitude of wanting to move toward self mastery, personal power and perfect spiritual attitude and attunement.
The second journal is used to store in one large notebook the various tools, logs, and psychological practices on which you are working. The purpose of this journal is to keep all this material together in an organized fashion. Following are some other very valuable sections you might keep in your journal:
Major Lessons of the Day
The “Major Lesson of the Day” section of your journal is for use before bed each night or in the morning when you get up. Review your day and write down the main golden nuggets of wisdom you have learned that day. The golden nugget of wisdom might be something you did well or a lesson you Iearned from a negative experience.
Getting into the regular practice of doing this in your journal or in your mind is very important. It will be much more effective, though, if you do it in your journal. The act of writing things down has a much greater impact on the conscious and subconscious minds.
So many people live their lives without learning from their mistakes, so spiritual progress is slowed and the school of hard knocks is perpetuated. You should learn continually from what you have done well and what you did poorly, and then build upon this each day.
No matter how good yesterday was, you want to make the next day better. Enjoy your victories but never be satisfied until your ultimate divine goal is met.
