Why journal?
Many people do not set goals and actively manage those goals. Because when we set up these metrics, while we can see when we improve, we also must face when we did not achieve what we set out to. We prefer to stay in the dark about failures. However, what gets measured gets managed.
The Monk Manual was specifically chosen because it allows its users to manage many aspects of their day, set themes instead of concrete achievement points each day (which is often much more beneficial—see video below), gives an opportunity to engage in a gratitude practice, and evaluate things that went well and things that can improve.
The Monk Manual helps you shed more common—but ineffective—ideas about behavior change and only incorporates those things which are much more likely to stick.
The two videos below show why the classic resolution framework sucks, what you can do instead, and a specific explanation of the Monk Manual. The first video is like the theory, whereas the second one is the concrete practice as we use it in R+R.
Monk Manual walk-thru:
The gym membership and health coaching relationship must be established in the first 30 days. Open the Monk Manual to the first monthly page and mark what day that will be.