Do you remember what you did on Friday just past? I mean hour by hour? If you can I am so Impressed!  Ok, how about the Monday of that week? I know I would struggle; I mean it is getting to the stage where I wonder why I walked into a room at times! Several hours later, sometimes days it comes back to me [moving on]. Even though these moments occur, I have learnt to get better at remembering. Read on to find out more.

But first, the importance of the log-book. The sole purpose is because it is a legal requirement, to maintain the navigation history, important events and operation of the ship. It is a handwritten record that serves as a companion that can remember every detail of the conversation you had together, my favourite part to read and write is the Skippers Daily summary.  The hourly happenings are recorded as standard in brief, much like a meeting in your calendar, but the summary adds colour and life to the events of the day. Standard entries include the weather conditions, significant communications, (training) drills, sightings, watch changes, repairs, sail plans, maintenance tasks, arrival and departure information etc etc. As it is a legal document nothing can be erased or redacted, but you can strike it through and initial it, during an investigation it may be pertinent in an accident investigation or to an insurance claim. It goes without saying that page may not be removed from the book either.

I have been trying to keep my own personal log-book (dairy) since I was a teenager and had some intermittent success. Do you keep a diary? If your answer is no, you really should! These days I like to call my diary a journal. My current mentor, encouraged me to take journaling seriously and I have committed to writing daily (by hand) and aside from enjoying the process, looking back over the last 2 months, ahead of writing today’s post I was genuinely surprised by how much I had already forgotten or remembered differently. I have been able to look back on our journey because I committed to recording it – the highs and the lows – accurately! It is like the long and lat of our journey. Which, is so sooo important.

Recording my emotions, take-aways, insights and actions, real-time – like an hourly entry on a ship’s log-book – meant that I have real-time data to review. I can see where I started, and how it is going. Therefore, I can also measure my success. We all start with a destination, where we want to be, when we get up off the chair, set foot outside the door, get in the car or when we slip the berth on a boat. Personally I Write something in the morning as I start my bay and then I add my daily summary at the end of the day. I also set a timer for the latter as in a plain journal depending on a great day I can go for a good hour! On a bad day I do not want to even open my journal, heed my advice, these are the days you need to sit down and write the most, for there is a golden nugget within your words when you are ready to look back and read it again.

I have now become a journal junkie. I record the highlights and lowlight in my main journal for the day by hand and I have a digital one for when I am travelling. Especially when on a yacht, space is at a premium for personal kit ( so if you going aboard – don’t forget your power bank!) as electricity is too!

I encourage you to start today,  go buy  a note book and start. Your first entry should capture all the reasons you have for starting your own personal log-book! The last thing I want to leave you with for today is this – if you are worried about your state secrets – is the cost of not expressing all and everything about who you are and what influence and affects you worth it? Can you ever truly know yourself? When you commit to journaling, you commit to logging the journey that will have the greatest effect on your life.

Happy Journaling, KAxx