Sam Miller spent 30 days journaling for 10-15 minutes each night, inspired by Marcus Aurelius. The practice surfaced forgotten moments, revealed recurring mental patterns, and forced honesty with himself. After five months, he'd made concrete changes to his habits and business.
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So for anyone that doesn't know, Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher. But more importantly, he was the Emperor of Rome. During his reign as Emperor, Rome was one of the most powerful forces on Earth. And unlike a lot of the Emperors that preceded Marcus Aurelius, who were money-hungry, drunk on power, and did everything possible to live a life of decadence, Marcus, on the other hand, was very thoughtful, practical, and down-to-earth. There was one time the Roman government was in such bad debt that Marcus actually sold all his prized possessions to pay it off. Unlike the previous emperors who would pretty much demand for the public to empty their pockets. Basically, Marcus was just a very cool dude. I just realized, why have I got these headphones on? Oh, my ears can breathe now. Marcus also journaled every single day. It was a way for him to reflect, learn about himself, and become more self-aware. Learning more about this amazing man, I decided to put journaling to the test. I mean, if the Emperor of Rome found it useful while he was controlling and governing one of the most powerful armies on the planet, then maybe I will get some use from it too. So I set myself a 30-day challenge where I would journal every single night just for 10-15 minutes for 30 days straight. I would start off just by writing down any thoughts that came into my head. I would write about how my day was, what made it a good day, an average day, maybe a bad day. I would also try to speak about my feelings. Was I excited? Was I happy? Was I anxious about something? What was I looking forward to? And right from my very first journal, I was surprised at how much I had forgotten about during the day. You know, usually, guys, by the time I crawl into bed, there's a thousand different things that had gone on during the day. I'd gone through different emotions, been distracted a million and one times, done a hundred different tasks. And so by the time I get home, my brain is in a vegetable state where all I want to do is eat and watch Netflix. But by forcing myself to sit down and actually reflect on my day it brought up little moments that happened that were quite significant. Maybe it was just a moment where I felt grateful for being alive, for breathing, for living on this planet. Maybe it was a moment where I just got a boost of confidence. It might have been a small interaction that I had with someone that just made me smile and laugh. All these things that, by the end of the day, I had just completely forgotten about. The other thing that was bloody fascinating about journaling was that I discovered patterns in my life that I wasn't aware of. There would be certain thoughts, emotions, and habits that would crop up again and again that I just wasn't conscious of. For instance, I discovered little moments where I was giving in to temptation and letting my discipline slip, and this was having little knock-on effects on my happiness. By writing it down, I almost caught myself in the act, and I was able to reflect and say, "Wait a minute, Sam. Why are you doing that if it doesn't make you happy?" And that leads me on to my next point. Journaling also encouraged a lot of honesty with myself. I know that might sound maybe a bit strange. Who isn't honest with themselves? But you will be very surprised how much the brain plays tricks on you to get what it wants. We've all felt that urge where we need to do something right now, whether that be indulge in our favorite food or order that thing on Amazon that we must have by tomorrow. And of course, you don't need any of that stuff right now, but your brain will tell you otherwise. There's just something very different about writing your thoughts down on paper than thinking them in your head. It was almost like I was speaking to another version of me, and therefore it was harder to lie to myself. And I felt encouraged just to be more truthful with how I was feeling and thinking. It's almost like your own personal therapy session. So we're nearly towards the end of this video, but I think the biggest thing journaling has given me is more awareness of myself and my life. I think we can all agree that life can feel so frantic, so busy, so nonstop with the endless commitments, looking after our family, running a business, trying to see your mates, that sometimes we can just end up feeling like we're drifting a bit, doing the same thing out of habit. And journaling just helps me take a step back, slow down, and really observe what's going on around me. Since journaling, I've made some major changes to my habits, to my routine, to my behavior. And to my business, all from becoming more self-aware. And it's not all unicorn farts and fairies, guys. There were certain nights when I really, and I mean really, could not be pissed to write a journal. But I had to push through because I wanted to make it a fair test. The experience of journaling has been so game-changing for me that I've actually continued it for much longer than 30 days. I've been doing it for 5 months straight now. I said to myself, if I've made this many positive changes from journaling for 30 days, imagine where I'm gonna be in 1 year, 2 years, or even 5 years. Lastly, I just want to say a big Roman thank you to Marcus Aurelius for persuading me to start journaling. You are truly an epic dude. And I also want to challenge you, the viewer, to try journaling yourself for 30 days straight. Try it out for yourself. It could just change your life. Sam Miller out. Oh, oh.
