Accountability

Ego + Journaling - Social Skills = Blogging

I was asked the other day if I kept a journal. I said that I blogged. This person's head tilted and asked, "Why do that? Is there anything personal about blogging? Isn't it all just 'out there'?"

Yes. Yes it is.

And for me, that is what makes blogging greater than journaling. Because it is out there for people to read keeping the blog fresh or posting new posts is vital. If it were not kept up then not only am I not journaling anything but also readers are not reading.

Thus anyone who stops by this humble blog is keeping me accountable to the discipline of journaling. It is almost as though, for me, blogging is journaling PLUS accountability.

And so, I blog in order to keep my mind working and looking for posts. I blog so that people can read and post so that I would keep blogging. This cycle keeps me from dropping the blog/journal discipline all together.

So for those of you out there who may feel guilty for not journaling, I submit that you try blogging. Your readers will keep you from dropping the discipline.

My Buddy and Me

Do you remember those dolls that they marketed to boys called "My Buddy"? Here is a quick commercial I found on YouTube...



Well, I never had a "My Buddy" but my wife and family for graduation gave me my own "My Buddy". It is called a Kindle.

For all that is good and holy, I love this thing. I do not want to turn this into a Kindle commercial, rather I think what I like about it so much is that it actually will force me to read more!

I used to journal. I would hand write out my thoughts and keep them in these cool books. It was a dream to have a wall full of these journal entries like "Indian Jones". Needless to say my handwriting sucks and I am cannot sketch cool things onto the pages of these journals other than stick men on skateboards, standing oddly on uneven ground.

So I blog now. And I find I write a lot more. Additionally I am able to search this site and read the "handwriting" of the keystrokes. Blogging has enabled me to write more and the few people who read this babble hold me accountable to keep writing. It has been very good for me.

The same is true with the Kindle. I can search the notes I make on the books I read and can carry around 1500 books at a time. My Kindle library is small for the time being, but I know it will grow. Additionally, in order to justify the cost I need to read 40 books (saving around $10 a book). This monetary drive keeps me accountable to keep reading. And finally, the thing is just cool.

What I have learned about blogging and the Kindle is this: if I can find those things that nudge me to change, hold me accountable and are easy to access, my behavior and life patterns change.

So I am curious to know, what are some of the things you do or use or have that help make you a "better" person?