Are you looking for practical tools to help you reach your goals? I had the honor to interview entrepreneur and podcaster, John Lee Dumas, about how you can achieve success by having a journaling habit.
John’s 10-Day Sprint Strategy over 100 days can you reach success and value provide tremendous value to others. I’m sharing with you the eight steps I gleaned from the conversation in this post.
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About John Lee Dumas
John Lee Dumas is a podcasting hero and a business coach who helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses and live a life of freedom. He is the creator of four journals – The Freedom Journal, The Mastery Journal, The Podcast Journal, and The 100 Day Goal Journal – which have helped countless people stay on track with their goals, become more productive, disciplined, and focused, and build a legacy of success. His signature catchphrase, “Are you ready to ignite?” has become an inspiration to many. Through his inspiring stories and practical tools, John Lee Dumas has become an invaluable resource to those seeking to get out of their rut and live extraordinary lives.
Why is it important to journal in order to reach your goals?
Journaling allows you to clarify your goals and keep track of your progress. Journaling can also help to increase self-awareness, as it gives you a channel to identify your thoughts and feelings that could be preventing you from achieving your goals.
By writing down your thoughts, you gain a better understanding of why you are struggling to reach your goals and make changes accordingly. Additionally, journaling can help to reinforce positive behavior and habits that you need to reach your goals. By writing down your successes and failures, you can track how your behavior has impacted your goals and make adjustments as needed. Journaling can also provide you with a sense of purpose, which can be beneficial in helping them stay motivated and reach your goals. Ultimately, journaling is a practical tool that can help people to focus on your goals and understand how to best reach them.
Here are the steps you need to follow:
1. Identify a goal that is measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound (100 days), and critical.
2. Break the goal into 10-day sprints, giving yourself 10% closer to your goal every ten days.
3. Develop a daily morning routine that includes journaling.
4. Write down your thoughts, feelings, desires, fears, and anxieties in your journal.
5. Do a quarterly review to evaluate what worked, what didn’t work, and what changes need to be made.
6. Get a physical journal to remind yourself to journal.
7. Buy a copy of John Lee Dumas’ Freedom Journal, Mastery Journal, Podcast Journal, or 100-Day Goal Journal.
8. Read The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington.
1. Identify a goal that is measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, and critical.
In order to create a goal that fits all these criteria, you must first determine what you would like to achieve. This could be anything from starting a business to writing a book to learning a new language. Once you have a goal in mind, you must then determine how you are going to measure it. For example, if the goal is to write a book, you could measure it by the number of words written or chapters completed.
The next step is to make sure the goal is attainable. This means that you need to ensure that the goal is achievable within the given timeline and within your power. You can accomplish this by breaking the goal down into smaller, more manageable tasks. For example, if the goal is to write a book, you could break it down into daily word count goals. Additionally, you should make sure that the goal is relevant to your long-term goals and interests.
Finally, you must set a timeline for the goal that is realistic and achievable. Setting a timeline will help to keep you motivated and on track to achieving the goal. If we are talking about 10-day sprints over 100 days, your deadlines will need to fit within those timeframes.
Once you have identified a goal that is measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, and critical, the next step is to create a plan to achieve it. This plan should include milestones and deadlines, as well as any resources you need to complete the goal. Additionally, you should create a timeline that outlines when each task needs to be completed. This will help to ensure that you are staying on track and that you are not missing any important steps. Additionally, it can be helpful to create an accountability system to help keep you motivated and on track. This could be anything from having someone check in with you on your progress to setting up rewards for each milestone achieved. Finally, it is important to review your progress regularly. This will help to ensure that you are on track to achieving the goal and that you are making progress. Additionally, it can help to adjust your plan if needed. By frequently reviewing your progress, you can make sure you are staying motivated and on track toward success.
Check out this article where I share the four ingredients needed to make you more successful in achieving your goals.
2. Break the goal into 10-day sprints, giving yourself 10% closer to your goal every ten days.
Breaking a goal into 10-day sprints is a great way of making the goal less intimidating and more achievable. By breaking the goal down into 10-day sprints, you are able to focus on 10% of the goal at a time, providing yourself with a greater sense of progress and accomplishment. This method also allows you to review your progress every 25 days which can help you make adjustments and pivots to keep you on track.
To get started, begin by writing down your goal in a journal and breaking it into 10-day sprints. Once your 10-day sprints are established, make sure to track your progress and review your goal regularly. This will help you stay on track and motivated to reach your goal. Keeping a journal or a spreadsheet is a great way to track your progress and review your goals each 10-day sprint.
If you find yourself off track or feeling overwhelmed by your goal, don’t be afraid to pivot or adjust your goal. Achieving a goal is a journey, and it’s important to remember that it’s ok to make adjustments along the way. By breaking your goal into 10-day sprints, you will be able to stay organized, motivated, and on track to reach your goal.
3. Develop a daily morning routine that includes journaling.
Developing a daily morning routine that includes journaling is a great way to stay on track with your goals. According to John Lee Dumas, who has created four journals, journaling allows you to take all the thoughts and ideas swirling around in your head and put them down on paper in an organized way. It helps you make sense of them and hold yourself accountable for accomplishing something with them.
When creating a journaling habit, it is important to make time for it. For those who may not have time in the morning, even just five minutes of journaling can make a big difference. To make this habit easier to stick to, it is best to incorporate it into a morning routine. You can use this time to review the previous day and make a commitment to the current day.
4. Write down your thoughts, feelings, desires, fears, and anxieties in your journal.
When journaling, try to focus on your thoughts, feelings, desires, fears, and anxieties. Writing these down can help you make sense of your thoughts and provide clarity. It can also help you hold yourself accountable to your goals and ensure you are making progress.
One of the most important aspects of journaling is to remain honest and open with yourself. Don’t be afraid to write down your feelings, even if they are negative. It can help you identify which thoughts and feelings may be holding you back. You can then take this newfound awareness and use it to make progress. Furthermore, writing down your goals can help you develop a plan to tackle them. This can help you stick to your plan and motivate yourself to keep going.
Taking a few moments each day to journal can help you reduce stress and anxiety. It can be an effective way to process your emotions and allow yourself to take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Writing down your thoughts and feelings can also give you a sense of control over your life, and help you gain perspective on the bigger picture. So, if you’re looking for an effective way to stay on top of your goals and manage stress, give journaling a try.
5. Do a quarterly review to evaluate what worked, what didn’t work, and what changes need to be made.
Step 5 is a quarterly review (every 25 days during the 100 days) to evaluate what worked, what didn’t work, and what changes need to be made. This step is essential in order to keep track of your progress and to ensure that you are staying on track to accomplish your goal. Quarterly reviews are a great way to assess what strategies have been successful and what strategies need to be tweaked or changed in order to make progress toward your goal.
It is important to be honest with yourself and to be open to making changes in order to reach your goal. This review should also include a reflection on any obstacles or challenges that you faced and how you overcame them. By doing this, you can learn from your successes and failures and use them to inform your strategies moving forward. Additionally, it is important to be mindful of how you are feeling during the process and to adjust your strategies accordingly.
6. Get a physical journal to remind yourself to journal.
A physical journal serves as a tangible reminder of one’s goals and can help to keep one accountable.
When selecting a physical journal, it is important to find a journal that resonates with the individual’s personality and style. If a person enjoys writing in a notebook with a pen, then they should look for a notebook with a cover that speaks to them. If a person prefers to type, then a digital journal may be a better option. There are many options available, so it is important to explore and find the one that fits best.
Finally, when journaling, it is important to be mindful of the environment in which the journaling is taking place. The environment should be one that is inviting and calming, and one that encourages creativity and productivity. This could be in the form of a cozy corner of the house, a cafe, a park bench, etc. Ultimately, with the right journal and environment, journaling can become a valuable part of one’s day.
7. Buy a copy of John Lee Dumas’ Freedom Journal, Mastery Journal, Podcast Journal, or 100-Day Goal Journal.
If you are looking to get your hands on a journal that has some structure and prompts for you to achieve your goals, you can go to Amazon and search for John’s Freedom Journal, Mastery Journal, Podcast Journal, and 100-Day Goal Journal. These journals are great for those who are just starting out with journaling as they provide structure on what to write about. I have been using the Freedom Journal to help me stay on track with my goal to write and publish a book within 100 days.
You can purchase any of John’s journals on Amazon by searching for the title, or by visiting his website at EOFire.com and following the links to the journals.
Finally, remember to keep your journal in a place where you can easily access it. This can be on your desk, in your bag, or wherever makes the most sense for you. Keeping it close by will make it easier to write in it and keep track of your progress. With the right journal, you can make a plan and stay on track to achieving your goal.
8. Read The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington.
A year may seem too far out to be real or urgent for you. What if you could shorten the time to achieve what you want to achieve in a quarter of that time?
Moran and Lennington apply techniques that have worked with thousands of your clients and that have been used by world-class athletes since the 1970s. It’s great to have goals for clarity, sense of purpose, and focus. Ultimately, it is the execution that makes your goals become reality. This book will show you how to pull that off.
Reaching your goals is an attainable task, but it requires discipline and focus. Journaling is an effective tool that can help you to stay on track with your goals and measure your progress. It also allows you to identify your thoughts and feelings that could be preventing them from achieving your goals. Additionally, it can help to reinforce positive behavior and habits that are necessary for success.
By following these 8 steps inspired by my interview with John Lee Dumas, you can use journaling to help you focus on your goals and understand how to best reach them. So don’t wait, get out of your rut and start journaling so you can reach your goals and ignite your success!
I’d love to hear how you apply the concepts of having 10-day sprints, journaling, and doing quarterly reviews to get success & value. Leave me a comment on how it went for you or drop any questions you want me to answer!
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