Jumpstart Your Journaling 31-Day Challenge, Day 31 (Art of Manliness)

The final writing prompt:

Day 31: Reflect on the last 30 days of journaling. Did you enjoy the experience? What did you learn about yourself? What was most difficult? Will you continue the practice? If so, take some time to map out how you’d like your journaling habit to continue. It can be entirely up to you; don’t worry about following a set of rules. Maybe you want to write every day, maybe you’re okay with a slightly longer session every month or so. Just make sure it’s something that youwant to do.

Jumpstart Your Journaling 31-Day Challenge, Day 30 (Art of Manliness)

Here are the writing prompts for day 30:

Day 30: Jot down a list of all the things you’re grateful for. It could be as simple as “Family, Job, Home…” or as detailed as “The bacon I had for breakfast, the weather being warm today, the chance to sleep in this weekend…” When we aren’t feeling chipper, thinking about what we’re thankful for can help get us in the right mindset. No matter how down and out you may be, there is always something to be thankful for.

The Universe Is Not Indifferent (from Pressfield's "Do The Work")

Some thoughts on the nature of the universe and Resistance from Steven Pressfield:

The Universe Is Not Indifferent 

"I blame Communism. I blame Fascism. I blame psychotherapy. They—and a boatload of other well-intentioned ideologies that evolved during the mass-culture, industrialized, dehumanizing epoch of the late 19th and early 20th centuries—all posited the same fantasy. They all preached that human nature was perfectible and that, thereby, evil could be overcome.

It can’t.

When you and I set out to create anything—art, commerce, science, love—or to advance in the direction of a higher, nobler version of ourselves, we uncork from the universe, ineluctably, an equal and opposite reaction.

That reaction is Resistance. Resistance is an active, intelligent, protean, malign force—tireless, relentless, and inextinguishable—whose sole object is to stop us from becoming our best selves and from achieving our higher goals.

The universe is not indifferent. It is actively hostile.

Every principle espoused so far in this volume is predicated upon that truth. The aim of every axiom set forth thus far is to outwit, outflank, outmaneuver Resistance.

We can never eliminate Resistance. It will never go away. But we can outsmart it, and we can enlist allies that are as powerful as it is.

One thing we can never, never permit ourselves to do is to take Resistance lightly, to underestimate it or to fail to take it into account.

We must respect Resistance, like Sigourney Weaver respected the Alien, or St. George respected the dragon."


Pressfield, Steven (2011-04-20). Do the Work (pp. 33-34). AmazonEncore. Kindle Edition.

Jumpstart Your Journaling 31-Day Challenge, Day 29 (Art of Manliness)

Here are the writing prompts for day 29:

Day 29: Try writing out your own personal manifesto. I’d describe the benefits and the how-to, but this short post does it much better than I could: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/02/13/how-and-why-to-write-your-own-personal-manifesto/

Jumpstart Your Journaling 31-Day Challenge, Day 28 (Art of Manliness)

Day 28 writing prompt:

Day 28: Finally in this three-day journey, you need to gather the tools necessary to make your life a masterpiece. Take a look at the article, and define the various tools that you will need and use to work towards those purposes and goals you laid out a couple days ago.

Jumpstart Your Journaling 31-Day Challenge, Day 27 (Art of Manliness)

Here is the writing prompt for day 27:

Day 27: The importance of where you live: our home and environment have a tremendous impact on our lives. Take a look at the eight factors that should be considered when choosing where to live. Maybe you’ve never actually chosen, and you’ve just ended up where you are by default. Take the time today to think about the idea and importance of place. You may determine that where you are is perfect, or you may realize that you belong somewhere else.

Jumpstart Your Journaling 31-Day Challenge, Day 26 (Art of Manliness)

Here is the writing prompt for day 26:

Day 26: For three days, we’ll work from AoM’s “Craft the Life You Want” series. While many things in life are out of our control, there are more things than we often realize that are in our control. Most often, we simply don’t realize that we have the power to change things in our life when we aren’t happy. Today, work on crafting a life plan. It can be a long process, so if you’re short on time, start by defining your various roles as a man, and your ultimate purpose and goals within those roles, including specific action steps.