dingomick Wrote:I don't think it so much motivates us as tracks where we've been and helps us decide where we need to go.I agree. The last few years it's become more and more apparent to me that there are two factors that really stop you from changing from the better : awareness of where you are now (the good and the bad), and memory of what it was before. Because some changes are difficult, they are progressive, but since positive changes often take you to a more "natural" state (say "peace" for example instead of stress), you tend to ignore the changes because it all seems like it should always have been in the first place!
And that is a problem because if you can't see what changed and what progress you have made, however small, when difficulties arise you are easily led off track and stop progress. Tracking how good you did at something over time is one way of keeping memory of changes, and also every time you assess the situation it's a way of bringing awareness of the current situation.Thing is no matter what "track keeping" method I try, I tend to abandon after a while because it's cumbersome. I've been wondering is this is what Tony Buzan is doing with his "mind maps", because he seems to use them for pretty much everything in life. Perhaps he uses mind maps a bit like Benjamin Franklin's plan above, but with the advantage that it's always there.