Build resilience through journaling

In May, I completed a 9-month leadership program sponsored through my work at Indiana University. During this time, I:

“Building resilience” was one of the final workshop topics. This involves:

We were challenged with two questions:

My response is two fold. I want to be more:

As we’ve also learned in the workshops, practice makes habits. I must practice daily and keep the practice top of my mind.

My core daily routine is writing in my journal. I want to leverage that established practice to support these new commitments.

I’ve explored a number of physical and digital journaling options over the years. The most resilient approach has been the latest. I’ve used the desktop app Obsidian every day for the last five years. I continue to use this tool because it aligns with my values:

  1. Ownership: All data is stored in my local file system, not in the cloud.
  2. Longevity: Every note is a Markdown-formatted text file. I can open and edit this file in any text editor. It is not bound to Obsidian. I’ve paired it with my own sync and backup solutions. Obsidian is well maintained and has strong community backing.
  3. Accessible: The software is free. Markdown is human readable and structures content. Notes connect to each other via hyperlinks.
  4. Usable: I can instantly search through the content of my 3,000 notes collection. It works offline. There is no lag when opening or saving notes.
  5. Control: I can install and develop plugins to suit my needs (see my plugin obsidian-alias-from-heading).

I click on a day in Obsidian’s calendar widget to create or open a new note file for that day. I dedicate a space on my screen for Obsidian and default to seeing today’s note. This setup allows me to reflect on the past, work on today, plan for the week, and keep all of it front of mind.

The daily note is generated from a template I made. Its structure has and will continue to evolve. It currently contains five sections. I call them the “5 T’s”:

  1. Themes: Searchable tags that generally describe the day, such as #family, #friends, #travel, #run, #kayaking, #gaming, and #work.
  2. Tasks: A checkbox list of things I am doing today, generally in the order I prioritize them (if unchecked) or finish them (once checked).
  3. Transformation: Prompts of growth and reflection.
  4. Takeaways: Links to articles, posts, and other content, along with selective quotations and my reactions.
  5. Today: A chronological narrative of the day, including any relevant photos with captions.

Since learning about building resilience, I added two new prompts to this middle Transformation section:

Over the last six weeks, this practice of daily prompts has made me more considerate toward the needs of others and appreciative in my circumstances.

It becomes most rewarding when filling out this list is difficult. It forces me to dig deeper, reflect more, and change my perspective.

One of the program coaches said that at least, “You can always be grateful for being alive, learning something, and giving something.”

Today, I am grateful for the:

Today, I am praying for you to: