Self Journal: A Proven System to Achieve Your Goals [Bullet Journal Alternative]

The Self Journal is excellent for goal tracking, and that is the number one thing that I want you to take away from this. Hello again everyone, and welcome to another Bullet Journal productivity video. My name is Matt, and in this episode I'm going to be showing you a Bullet Journal alternative that I'm really liking called the Self Journal. Now, Self Journal was put together after tons of research and interviews and research by my friend Catherine and her business partner, Alan. And so I have just really liked this thing, and I've been— I've used it in the past. I've kind of go back and forth between Self Journal and Bullet Journal. Now, what you're gonna see about the Self Journal is that it is a lot more structured. You can see how it's really good for kind of laying out your day and keeping you from, like, overthinking things. Now, there are some drawbacks to this that I'll go over, which is one of the reasons I kind of go back to the Bullet Journal sometimes. But then I go through like seasons where I only use the Self Journal. Don't tell, don't tell anyone watching this that it's just totally like Bullet Journal-centric. They will unsubscribe. Don't unsubscribe. I mean, if you need to. But this is what it looks like. I'm going to show it to you because the presentation of this thing, a lot of things that Alan and Katherine— but this is what it looks like. I'm going to be showing it to you in a lot more detail. But what Katherine and Alan and their team have done in terms of presentation and layout, and again, just the research of it, is fantastic. I love this thing, and I think you're gonna really like it too, especially if you want more structure. And because the Self Journal is very, very goal-focused. So we're gonna go ahead and get into it. You've been seeing some of the previews of it as I've been talking, but I really like this thing, and I can't wait to show it off to you. Catherine, Alan, and their team have made an amazing product, and I'm gonna— let's, let's get to it. The first thing that I want to draw your attention to is what the journal comes in. It's so well presented. Like, this is a pretty beefy box. I mean, you can put your journal title here. It would sit very nicely on a bookshelf. When I open it up, it's just got a very, very nice feel to it. You can see this is a hard edge right here. So it really— I mean, there's literally like a magnet at the bottom. That's nice. So when I open it up, there's a few things, and I really like this. It just shows how smart they are. But there's a community, there's extra video content, there are PDF downloads that you can use to really unlock the potential of the Self Journal. And so I just love how they do this to make it very interactive. They really combine the digital and the analog well. There's a card in here for your evening for your morning and evening ritual. A pamphlet, if you will, of how to use the self journal and just kind of the philosophies and principles behind it. So I really like that they do this. Seven journal principles. There's a wall calendar. There's a wall calendar. Nice. There's a wall calendar. Zoom out all that I can. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. There's a wall calendar. That's cool. Thank you, Katherine. So that goes right there. And we'll get to this, we'll get to the actual journal in just a second. But yeah, how it works, evening routine, reach the peak of your goal. There's good quotes in here. And they just do, like I said, there is more structure for this, but it's also really, really well done. And I love how they kind of put everything together. Like they create an entire system for you. So really all you have to do is do the work.. And I really like that. So let's take a look in the actual journal here. I don't— I will say I don't know what this is. I think maybe it's supposed to hold my pen, but then like, does it just do that? It feels like, yeah, that would happen. So maybe this holds my pen. Best self, if you see this— I'm guessing Catherine will see it— and maybe that's what it's supposed to be, but then like it— I don't know. And then I got this little like flappy thing on the pen. I'm either gonna use that. I'm either gonna use it and lose it. Wait, that sounds bad. So all this. Make sure, friends, I had to change my cell phone because I wrote my phone number here in the very first massive Bullet Journal video. So don't be like Matt. Put it there, but maybe don't show it on a video. Let's just do a quick size comparison. So we've got our Self Journal. We've got the Bullet Journal. The Leuchtturm— I'm getting so much better at pronouncing it— the Leuchtturm 1711, 711, 19— 1917. That's what it is right there. And then the, of course, our trusty Baron Fig Confidant. So you can see the These are pretty much the same. I think it's the same rough size of— let's see our overall. So yeah, the paper size is actually the same. So about that A5, I think. They also have— it does have this very nice, very vibrant yellow. I just, it's a very aesthetically pleasing journal. It's a, I'm a big fan of this color scheme, a nice navy and yellow. It does have some extra marker dangle, dangles right there like this, like the Bullet Journal one does. It actually has 3. I, my son cut one of them off. And then the one, but this is the size breakdown between the 2, between the 3. And you can see how much thicker The Self Journal is thicker, and this is like brand new too. And so this one's going to be thicker. The bullet— the main Bullet Journal one is really like, it's a little thicker because it's had use. Same thing here, like pages tend to like kind of fatten up as you write in them, at least has been my experience. So the Self Journal is the thickest one. I do, I do like that it gives you those questions. I just Sometimes I feel bad when I don't fill everything out, but you can see there's some subtle differences between the two. But this is, I do like the structure of it. I just had, I have to or need to get over my feeling of like, I didn't fill, I didn't fill everything out. So how, how do we kind of put our structure in? This is for 13 weeks. Ideally, if you were going through the Self Journal step by step, then you would have basically 4 of these 4 of these for a year, which gets a little chunky, a little chunky on the bookshelf. But I guarantee you, if you go through this for a year, then you're gonna hit some pretty big goals. Like, if you actually do this, and this is what, again, what I love about the Self Journal and what Catherine, Allen, and the team put together. So, you have your 13-week roadmap. Let's just go through this real quick. And basically, it's like, okay, what are my goals? You want to focus on that first goal to start. So what is the result? How am I showing that I make progress on it? Then what are the actions and tasks? So we have our big goal right here, and then the way you break it down. Then there's goal 2 and 3. And then I really love how they do this. Like, they have a commitment page. So I, Matt Ragland, commit to completing these goals by, you know, whatever the date is. And it has just a motivational quote. From Pablo Picasso. When I achieve this goal, my life will improve in the following ways. And so you're really visualizing what your life is going to be like, and that's really powerful. And if I complete this goal by my target date, I'll reward myself with— and again, just visualizing and knowing that there's a light at the end of the tunnel and what your reward is going to be. All these— that this is part of— this is the research that they went through. This all is really powerful, has been proven out in research. And then I'll do the following 3 things to ensure that I will use my Self Journal to take action on these goals every day. So this is all, like, all this has been really well-researched, and it's stating your commitment, visualizing how your life is gonna change, the reward that you're going to gain that you control because you give yourself this, and then defining the actions and then signing it. Like, this page right here might be the most important page in the entire journal. If I was you, I would rip this out. There's probably something that I could have actually put in here. I would rip this out and put this, put this someplace that I could see it every day. All right, so now that I— I'll probably end up doing that, especially since I've ripped it out. And then we have our month, so, you know, month tasks, whatever. Let's get out of here. And then it has this week by week, and so I would do this like on Sunday, what is the weekly milestones glance at the week right down here. And then my habits. What is the happiest event that happened? What were your 3 big wins? So again, it's giving you a structure. And I really like how they do this. Review your goals and assess your progress. How did you spend your time? What will improve? And then what was the biggest lesson you learned? And then it goes through this for all 13 weeks. Again, if you do this every week, it is going to pay dividends for you. I guarantee you, you're going to be a lot closer to your goal. And you've probably, you've probably nailed it. I would probably, if you're going through this for the first time, sorry about this page, I'm going to fill that out. If you're going through this for the first time, I would make your first goal something that you feel like is pretty actually kind of reasonable that you can, that you can get and then you can win. And then kind of build up from there. So like, okay, this one is, you feel like a very achievable goal, fill it out. This one may be a little bit harder, fill it out. This one, oh boy, you'd be super happy if goal 3 happened. So just kind of scale up. Alright, so let's look. Here are, again, here are the weekly milestones, takes you through those 13 weeks. Don't forget that there's also this lovely pamphlet that shows you everything, journal principles, The wall calendar. Didn't even know about that. Then you're just gonna do this. You're gonna do this every day. Here are all our notes. Mercy, there's a lot of these. I'm guessing the most important one is for this. So we go all the way through, and then at the end, congratulations, you did it! A pat on the back, you completed your first self journal. I would do more than grab a coffee. Whatever this reward was, hopefully you nailed it anyway. Oh, it's on that thing that I ripped out. I would do this. I would do this. A little note for Catherine and the team. Maybe right here. If you have some time, grab a coffee, make a note, give us a little heads up or a little reminder of what was your reward back on page 7. If you didn't rip it out, like Matt said. These are just dot grid pages at the end here, just unstructured pages. The last few of them are perforated. The first few aren't. I'm not really sure why the first few aren't. Maybe, see, I mean, if I really wanted to, I could just do this. I would make all these perforated and maybe a little A nice little pocket back here. Just a little thing to put my knickknacks, maybe my little— is this like the dongle? Is this the dongle for journals right here? I don't think it's gonna work. Maybe if there was a light— ooh, wait. Is there a light adhesive? If there is a light adhesive— wait for it. Dun dun dun dun dun. Oh, there is a light adhesive. Yeah! Yes! Okay, nice. Okay, I see where you're going. It is still, I still think it's like the dongle for, ah! Very nice, okay. Win for you, Katherine and team. I bet when I did that at the beginning, you were just rolling your eyes. See, he's not coming out now. Will it come up nicely? Ooh. Oh, dang it. Probably should— no. Okay, so note to self: don't put it back. Put it in the— put it in— yeah, yeah. FYI, not a light adhesive. It's a pretty heavy adhesive. Maybe put it back here. Gosh, what an idiot. Okay, yeah, I would do this. I would do this right here. If you are starting a journal because you have a specific set of goals in mind, the Self Journal is going to help you get there, I think, even better than a Bullet Journal will because of the research, the care, the time that Catherine, Allan, and the rest of the BestSelf team have put into crafting this journal. Don't forget that this thing is not a light adhesive. It is a very heavy adhesive, and you don't want to, like, just have a bad page now. But this is, this is an excellent journal. It has, like I said, a great supporting system. It has an online community. It has videos that are specific to it and just a bunch of worksheets. I mean, it's just, it's really well done, and I hope you'll take advantage of it. Like I said, especially if you are, if you're in a season of your life where you're being very goal-driven, or you want to start a new goal, a new habit, a new practice, and you're not really quite sure what kind of structure to put it in. The Self Journal is going to help you get there. Like I said, probably even better than just a completely unstructured Bullet Journal will. Now, if you've been following along in my channel, you have a lot of structures based on the different videos that I've done, so check those out. But also check out the Self Journal. There's going to be a link below where you can pick yours up, and you're going to really enjoy it, I think. So, thanks so much for watching this video. Like I said, if you want to subscribe to the email list, we're doing some really cool things with email. And it's the best way to get in touch with me and also get like some insider stuff that I send every single week. Okay, every couple of weeks to people who are just on the email list. There's been a 5 and now 30-day time tracking transformation challenge. And every time I get, I get emails every single day like, hey, this has helped me find gaps in my day that I didn't realize existed, or this has helped me see that I spend a lot of time on this thing that I didn't really think that took up too much time. And now I can take like 30 minutes and redirect it to something that really matters to me and make progress on habits and goals, or even just time with family, friends, or just, just you time. That's, that's fantastic as well. Self-care is, is incredibly important, and this can help you get to that place and feel really good about it. I really appreciate all of you. Please leave a comment, let me know what you think about this video. If you've used the Self Journal yourself, I know other people Would love to get your feedback and just see how it's been working for you. Make sure you like this and subscribe. This channel is growing really strong, and I think it's just a testament to how all of you are engaging and learning and sharing it with others. So thank you so much for that, and I'll see you in the next video. Bye.