I tried to write some tips about business growth for you this week. I really did. But I found myself drawn to this, instead. – RHW 

“Most of one’s life… is one prolonged effort to prevent oneself thinking.”

– Aldous Huxley, 1894-1963

“Our minds are lazier than our bodies.”

– Francois, Duc de La Rochefouchauld, 1613-1680

You probably have a limiting factor in your life that’s holding you back.

A limiting factor may be a habit, a preferred chemical or an attitude that hinders your advancement, your happiness, your future.

Can you think of a creative way to remove the limiting factor from your life?

“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular virtue in doing things the way they always have been done.” 

– Dr. Rudolph Flesch, 

writing consultant and author of Why Johnny Can’t Read

You are your own best teacher. You know where you’re coming from and what you’re all about. You know where the bodies are buried and the names of the skeletons in your closet.

You also know the answer to your problem. But you don’t yet know what you know.

How can we get you to realize what you already know? How can we brighten your future?

ANSWER: Interactive journaling.

“I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.” 

– William Faulkner, winner of the Nobel Prize

Faulkner was like you and me. We learn our minds when we write our thoughts.

The problem with our century is that we are constantly distracted; “Too much to do, too little time.” Writing dictates a frame of mind we rarely experience today.

Writing moves us from the emotional confusion of right brain, abstract thought*, to the logic and clarity of left brain, analytical thought. This is why we think writing is difficult.

Interactive Journaling focuses your thoughts and quiets your mind so you can hear yourself say what you know to be true.

I’m traveling to Carson City, Nevada, to spend a couple of days with Don Kuhl, the grand poobah of Interactive Journaling. I hope to convince Don to craft the Interactive Journaling portion of Dr. Lori Barr’s new class at Wizard Academy, Optimism for Beginners.

Don is CEO of The Change Companies, the publisher of the behavior modification curriculums used by the better rehab programs across America.

Interactive Journaling has turned countless addicts into model citizens. I believe it might also be able to turn pessimists into optimists.

At its heart, Interactive Journaling is a series of written questions that students may answer however they choose. But these answers must be written down.

In this private, inner world of the mind, there’s no one with whom you can argue. There is no authority figure trying to impose his or her will. The only teacher is your own experience. The only voice you hear is yours.

Interactive Journaling facilitates behavior change quietly and affordably. Are there behaviors you would like to see changed in: your employees? your students? your kids? yourself?

Each of us already knows the right answers. I’m going to Carson City to learn the right questions.

Fingers crossed.

Roy H. Williams