"Write site title here…"

I gradually realized that I couldn’t recall what my daily life looked like years ago, or even a year or half a year ago. It’s strange because each of those days was once my entire present—filled with my concerns, progress, and the things going on around me. I’m constantly changing, improving, and unlearning concepts and beliefs that hinder my goals. Every six months, I feel like a different person, almost unrecognizable to those who knew me before. It would be a shame to completely lose track of that journey, so I turned to journaling as a solution.

Without journaling, the memories of who I was and how my mentality and life looked are fading into a blur. I barely remember anything from my four years in high school. When an old classmate asks if I remember certain events, I always say no, as if that time has been wiped from my memory. I’ve noticed that as more time passes, the less I recall things as they were. My brain reorganizes itself, deleting irrelevant and useless memories to align with my current reality. On top of that, as time goes by, I see the world through new and updated filters shaped by my evolving goals and perspectives.

I tried journaling before, not as a daily diary, but more sporadically. It wasn’t a habit; I’d write occasionally, and sometimes I’d write a lot. But I don’t always have the time to pour out long entries, especially when trying to summarize weeks of experiences after I’ve already moved on from the person I was during those moments.

Then, while reading Atomic Habits, I was reintroduced to the idea of journaling, but this time with a focus on simplicity. Keeping entries short and manageable is crucial so it doesn’t become a chore. I learned this the hard way with a dream diary I once kept. Each entry took me more than an hour as I tried to capture every detail. It quickly became overwhelming, and I soon stopped altogether because it felt like a huge chore, especially when I had other important daily responsibilities. The lack of restraint in including every detail was a major reason I abandoned it (I just couldn’t stop myself from overloading each entry with details).

Now that I’m keeping my journal entries short, I know that someday, wherever I am, I’ll have the option to look back at who I was and where I was. I won’t lose track of the arduous and seemingly endless (but so meaningful and important) path that led me to achieve something great in life. By the time I reach my destination, I’ll be a completely different person. I don’t expect my future self to remember the path in detail because he’ll be focused on the achievement itself. But if he ever wants to look back, he’ll have that option, thanks to the versions of me that documented each day along the way.