How to change your life by journaling in 2026

The speaker introduces journaling as a life-changing habit he has practiced consistently since 2015 through physical and digital formats. He explains that the video will cover three main sections: why journaling matters, the three levels of journaling, and actionable tips for starting a journaling practice. The speaker emphasizes that journaling has been the single habit most positively impacting his life and transformed it completely over the past decade. He offers a free Google Doc with his favorite journaling prompts available to viewers who are interested in getting started.

The speaker acknowledges that most people know they should journal but either don't do it consistently or see no results from their efforts. He explains that the key to understanding journaling's importance lies in recognizing the action-thought-feeling chain: actions produce outcomes, decisions drive actions, and thoughts and feelings determine decisions. The speaker uses the example of wanting financial freedom but being blocked by fears about what colleagues might think, showing how unconscious thoughts and feelings prevent people from taking necessary actions. He illustrates how the mind prioritizes safety over growth, acting as a survival mechanism rather than a tool for achieving dreams.

The speaker explains the core mechanism of journaling: when you write down thoughts and feelings, they lose approximately 95% of their power over you. He uses the example of the thought 'my colleagues will laugh at me if I start a business,' noting that this fear seems absurd when written down but feels paralyzing when kept internally. The speaker compares thoughts to clouds passing through the sky, arguing that most people take their thoughts far too seriously because they lack journaling or meditation practices. He emphasizes that the mind creates catastrophic narratives (such as imagining homelessness from one action) without conscious examination. By externalizing thoughts on paper or digitally, you can examine them objectively and realize their illegitimacy, similar to how complex problems like bridge design require external documentation rather than mental processing.

The speaker introduces the first level of journaling as the easiest entry point for beginners: simply writing down what happened during the day. He references the 'Homework for Life' technique from Matthew Dix's book 'Storyworthy,' which involves identifying the most storyworthy moment of each day. This practice serves two purposes: it helps you relive and cherish memories, and it demonstrates how far you've come when reviewing past entries. The speaker shares that he has kept 10 years of journal entries since 2015, which allows him to reflect on personal growth and nostalgia. This level requires no emotional vulnerability about childhood trauma or deep feelings, making it an accessible starting point for newcomers to journaling.

The speaker describes the second level as writing out your thoughts and feelings using the 'morning pages' technique from Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way,' where you write three pages of stream-of-consciousness material each morning without judgment. He explains how this process builds a connection between your mind and pen, revealing negative thought patterns and providing creative benefits for content creators, writers, and artists. Adding feeling awareness to this practice creates significant self-awareness about emotions that unconsciously dictate decisions and actions throughout the day. The speaker gives an example of noticing anxious feelings stemming from thoughts about running out of time, which when externalized becomes a question worth investigating rather than something to act on. This investigative approach to your own thoughts and feelings, conducted on paper rather than mentally, prevents the mind from spiraling into rabbit holes of negativity.

The speaker describes the third level as using journaling to explore goals, plans, and your ideal future life through prompts like 'what would people say at your funeral?' or 'what does your ideal end state look like?' This level helps distinguish between intrinsic values and surface-level desires, such as realizing that the real goal is freedom or the ability to teach rather than money itself. The speaker shares his own journey of discovering through journaling that his deepest fulfillment comes from learning and teaching, which led him to leave medicine for YouTube content creation. He emphasizes that journaling provides the clarity needed to answer the fundamental question 'what do I actually want?' which most people never properly explore due to their focus on daily tasks and stress removal. This clarity then leads to setting authentic goals, creating plans, and building systems that align with your true values rather than external expectations.

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The speaker provides four concrete actionable tips for starting a journaling practice: first, obtain a physical journal that you feel good about using, referencing his collection of themed Harry Potter journals to illustrate the importance of journal aesthetics. Second, use a digital journaling app like Day One or Apple's built-in journaling app, which allows you to photograph physical entries and easily search past entries. Third, obtain journaling prompts (with a free Google Doc linked in the description) to help structure your journaling sessions, especially as a beginner. Fourth, he explains that modern AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, and DeepSeek can serve as journaling partners, providing prompts and helping you process thoughts and feelings if you're just starting out. The speaker emphasizes that the key is choosing an approach that feels good to you, as reflected in his book 'Feel Good Productivity.'

The speaker distinguishes between two journaling approaches: daily habit journaling (2-5 minutes most days using apps or a physical journal) and deep-dive sessions (2-4 hours in a new location without phone distractions). Daily journaling builds and maintains the habit while allowing flexibility in depth, whereas deep-dive sessions generate profound personal insights about goals, values, and life direction. He references his 'think day' approach, detailed in a linked video, which involves going to a new location in Hong Kong with journaling prompts and a notebook for extended reflection. The speaker explains that these focused sessions are particularly effective for making specific, tangible life changes because they create the space for genuine self-discovery outside normal daily routines. Both approaches are valuable: daily journaling maintains the practice, while periodic deep-dive sessions create breakthrough insights that lead to significant life transformation.

The speaker announces a free two-day workshop series called 'Spark' scheduled for January 3-4, 2026, featuring himself, his wife, and guest speakers to help viewers reflect on 2025 and set goals for 2026. He mentions his VoicePal app, a voice-based journaling and note-taking tool available on iOS and Android that includes built-in journaling prompts and allows users to journal while walking. The speaker also references his GPS method for goal-setting, which builds on the journaling process to convert desires into concrete goals, plans, and systems. He encourages viewers to reach out to him with questions about finding their life direction, noting that his primary recommendation is always to start journaling. The announcement emphasizes that clarity about what you actually want, achievable through journaling, is the foundation for all subsequent decision-making and life changes.