One of the greatest arts I have ever learned is the art of journaling. It is an art I have been perfecting since high school. The great news is, it’s an art you can master too.

I treasure the writings I have from my past, as they show how I have grown and matured over the years. When you start journaling, you can treasure these memories too.

It is hilarious to get out a journal from my high school days and see the things I thought were important back then. Many of the “huge problems” I had at the time I cannot even remember now.

I have journals from high school, military days, college, medical school, residency, raising children, traveling and adventures. I treasure them all because it is amazing how much we forget if we have no record of it.

A good friend of mine asked me recently what types of things I journal. He was feeling stuck because he was writing down everything he did daily and figured I might have some journaling tips.

Tip 1: Start Today

The first tip I have for you is start journaling today. I believe it is one of the most powerful tools you can cultivate.

Tip 2: Summarize & Evaluate

A common misconception with journaling is that you should write down everything that happened in a day. A journal is not meant to be an hour-by-hour ledger of your day but rather your reflection on the day.

Summarize your day by 1) what you did right, 2) what you did wrong, and 3) what you could learn from that. Think about what your children or grandchildren would want to read about your day. What did you learn? What relationships did you cultivate? How are you doing?

Tip 3: Think Deeply

Another thing to include in your journal is deeper thoughts like trials you are going through, personal ideas, relationships and the excitement and problems they may be causing.

One thing I have learned through my journaling is it is easy to make your life on paper sound like everything is great. But when they read my journals years from now, I think my kids and grandkids might be more interested in knowing I was human, with problems just like them. Maybe my journals will help them see how I solved problems, and in some small way, help them with their problems.

Tip 4: Think Freely

A journal is a great place to think. It’s a great place to get all the thoughts that circle around in your head out on paper and an even greater place to analyze them.

A journal is also a great place to chart your course, your plans and your dreams. Where are you going in each area of your life, and are you happy about that? If you are not happy, what are you doing about it? This is the place to make plans, admit where you have messed up and create plans to fix your life.

Tip 5: Collect Away

Finally, your journal is a great place for you to pocket away special treasures you find like pictures, poems and stories.

Summary

Journals are a great way to review your life, be it the year you just had or the ten years before that. Remember a life worth living is a life worth recording. Journaling is a wonderful way for you to look back on your life, and perhaps more importantly, it may be the greatest thing you can leave your posterity.

[Ed. Note: Don't have a journal? Get your own Living Every Minute journal on our website. Share your thoughts on this article on our blog. ]

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Tim Reynolds is the managing parter for HealthCare Express. He is also the president and CEO of Dr. Tim, International, a company he founded in 2009 to allow him to share his passion for Living Every Minute with others. He dedicates countless hours each week to helping other people change their lives through mentoring, life building, giving inspirational talks and writing for his motivational newsletter, Adventures with Dr. Tim.

Dr. Tim was the first member of his family to graduate high school. He joined the military shortly after graduation. Dr Tim was a graduate of the Special Forces Q-course in July of 1982. He served as a Green Beret medic on an A-Team, as the Battalion medic and eventually as a Special Forces Battalion Surgeon for the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne). He served both enlisted and as an officer for 17 years.

After getting out of the military, Dr. Tim was the first in his family to graduate college with honors. His passion for helping people inspired him to become a medical doctor, and in 1993 he graduated Summa Cum Laude with an MD degree from the University of Utah. He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Texas A&M Scott and White in 1996 and is board certified in emergency medicine. Dr. Tim is the managing partner for HealthCARE Express, a group of urgent care clinics rapidly expanding across the United States.

Prior to starting HealthCARE Express in 2006, Dr. Tim held numerous positions across the medical field, including: medical director of the Wadley Regional Medical Center Emergency Department and level II trauma center; director, Texas College of Emergency Physicians Board of Directors; president of E-Med Services, LLP and of E-Med Billing Solutions, LLP; associate clinical professor for the Area Health Education Center at the University of Arkansas; founding member of the Greater People’s Clinic of Texarkana Board of Directors.

Dr. Tim speaks fluent Spanish, having lived in Guatemala and traveled throughout Central America.

In addition to his medical experience, Dr. Tim is also an entrepreneur and successful businessman. He is currently the chief executive officer of TL Reynolds Properties, LLP, a real estate investment company; and he is a managing partner of JJET Developments Ltd., a real estate development company.

Dr. Tim has served on numerous other committees and boards throughout both the medical and business communities and is published in various journals and publications. He is sought after as a presenter at many national conferences.

In his leisure time, Dr. Tim enjoys spending time on his Ranch in Atlanta, Texas, where he lives with his beautiful wife, Pam, and their five amazing children. He holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, is a SCUBA rescue diver, and a pilot. He also enjoys body building, golf, and hiking.

Dr. Tim is a world traveler, having visited six of the seven continents. He is a firm believer in living every minute of life and teaching others to do the same. His online website www.livingeveryminute.com allows him to reach thousands of people around the world as they subscribe to his weekly self-help and life improvement adventure newsletters.