Bullet Journal Mistakes, Mess-ups, & Instagram (un)Worthy Layouts

Hi everyone, my name is Matt, and welcome to another bullet journal productivity video. In this episode, I want to show you some of the mistakes that I've made and, like, just the ways that I screw my bullet journal up on a regular basis. Because on the December Plan With Me video that I just released, one of the things that you commented on the most, the part of the journal where I talked about like, oh, I made a mistake here, but whatever. You have to kind of live with your mistakes, and that is a much broader conversation. But I want to take you through some of my bullet journals and just show you again, like, the real raw nature of how you're doing this and how it's not about the appearance of the journal that you're putting together, especially when the bullet journal that you're creating is for you. It's not for anyone else. I I mean, there are people that are professional bullet journals. Journalers. I guess I'm sorta a little bit like that. A very small-time bullet journalist. I think it's important to show because I know a lot of you get stuck on seeing the beautiful bullet journals that are on YouTube and Instagram, and it can feel kind of overwhelming and intimidating. So what I want to show you today is all the different ways in a bunch of different journals over the years that I have made ugly mistakes things that you wouldn't put on Instagram, things that I may not even put on YouTube. Well, I would, but most people wouldn't, and how that is totally okay. Alright, let's get started. So let's go ahead and take a look at all the ways that I've screwed up bullet journals in the past. This is the past 3 years of bullet journaling. So '17, '18, '19. This is Sawtooth, Banff, Teton, and Tijuana, I believe. I'm just gonna go through these and just check out a few different places where you can see that I've probably made mistakes and made things look bad and weird. So you can see that there are, there are chunks in all of these where maybe I don't have everything filled out. Some would say that's a mistake. I also have made several different layouts where I just like don't catch all the way up, or I just kind of miss things, or like 10 ideas to show every day. There are none there. See, I messed up a little wording here and here. These were days that I like messed up. These are all different ways as I look through this, I think about really like, you know, mistakes that I've made, or like reminders of things that I haven't done. Like, these are vlog ideas from this time last year. Never did anything about meal planning. Meal planning. Simple ways to live better. Still might do that. Look, timeboxing strategies in April. I didn't get around to doing that until like September. So that's one. Let's take a look at the 2018 Bullet Journal. Thank you. And I just keep getting a little bit better, a little, a little, a little better at it every time. But for some of these, like, I might set these up and then you can see there's just nothing there. And, you know, you may look at this— you know, screwed up that title— you may look at this and think like, man, I've been following Matt, and if you're watching this for the first time, watch and be like, why am I gonna follow this guy? Why am I gonna subscribe to this guy? He doesn't have his life together. And sometimes it does feel that way. You know, this is like just a bunch of stuff that looks pretty good, but is maybe half finished. It's not entirely what I might have wanted it to be. But I think what is really important is that you continue moving forward, even if what you've done in the past, long-term past or recent past history, isn't something that you're particularly proud of or isn't the person that you want to be. The new day is an opportunity to do those things. Now this, I gotta say, this was my 4-year-old. So that's not me. That's his own. I tell him, like, you know, "Cannon, it doesn't have to be fancy." And he's like, "Whatever, I want to fancy it up. I'm gonna make that index look good." They're good. I'm, you know, I'm staying with it. I'm sticking with it. I'm proud of that little Chem-X illustration right there. And hey, stickers, by the way. There are plenty of these. There are plenty of times that I look through this and I think, "Why didn't I write anything down?" 'on these days' or 'this should look a little bit different,' 'this should look a little bit better.' Here's another good example from back in July where I was doing my one-line journal except for this section and I just wrote 'work and stuff.' And this is my, my current kind of companion bullet journal to close out this one for 2019. Just at the December layout right here. This whole mess down at the bottom. And just a reminder, if you didn't see that video, if this is the first one you're watching, that it's okay to still have— it's okay to still have a layout where not everything is perfect, where maybe you wouldn't want to post on Instagram, but you don't have to do your bullet journal to think about how you would be posting on Instagram or what people would think about it if they saw it. Your journal is for you and you alone. And if you want to share it around, if you want to show your imperfections, if you want to show the things that you're doing and you're working on, your trackers, wherever you do that with your layouts and spreads, that's totally great too. But don't let that keep you from making a bullet journal, from making all kinds of notes and interactions. Because as I look through this and I see the different things that I've done over the years through these journals and several, several months and years more that I have, it just reminds me of like successes that I've had, mistakes that I've made, things that I wanted to do and didn't, things that I didn't think I'd be able to do and did. Like, I'm just seeing this, like 10,000 YouTube subscribers. That was last May 2018, and we're coming up on, we're coming up on 40,000. So the reason to bullet journal, the reason to journal in my opinion, is to give yourself a record and a reminder of the way that you have been, what you've been doing as a person, how you've been growing and developing, and yeah, just kind of like what life is like. So that's what I recommend doing. That's why I like to say, you know, progress over perfection, because that's what we need to focus on when it comes to your Bullet Journal. I hope you enjoyed this short video. I just wanted to show you some of the mistakes and remind you that it's okay to make mistakes in your Bullet Journal. It doesn't have to look fancy.. It doesn't have to look beautiful, it just has to work for you. I have to have this washi tape, I think that's how you pronounce it, washi tape, and like all these different markers and highlighters and Triplus and whatever else. Black pen, highlighter if you want to. I mean, it's totally fine if you want to use some colors, that's cool. Just get into it, start practicing, try and be consistent with it, and you will find that it will make a big difference in your day, in your week, and in your life. Thank you so much for watching, and let me know what you think about the video quality of this one. I'm shooting this on my new Canon M50. Check this out. I know I've had some focus problems in the past, but check it out how you can come here as like the focus is still here on me. Setting it down so smooth. I had a challenge for myself, not just going buy a camera. I've been saving money just in general, and so I could have bought this camera a few months ago. I wanted like the channel and things that I made for you and that you supported me with, like ACE 2020 or 25 Hour Days, to be the reason that I was able to buy a camera. So thanks so much for your support through views and likes and comments. You know, there's some ad revenue for that. And for those of you that have directly like purchased ACE 2020 or 25 Hour Days from me, to do this and be more serious about it and continue making videos for you is something that I really enjoy. So whether it's your first time watching this video or your hundredth video of mine, whatever that you've watched, it means so much to me. And just thank you so much for being here. Subscribe if you're brand new, you're gonna dig these videos. If you're watching through all this, you're gonna like it. But can't wait to share this next video with you and the Bullet Journal Basics series that's coming out over the next couple months. It's gonna be great. Happy holidays, and I'll see you in the next video. Thanks, bye.