A pause for breath, and more cursive lettering!

Special thanks to @manofmiracles for the pictured quote.

I have handwritten it on an index card and now keep it on my desk for a little extra motivation. I intended to post this much earlier, but because of this and that and other excuses, I didn't. To @manofmiracles, @joebrens, and @sabinwrites: thank you for taking the time to check out my previous post. Here are your usernames, written in cursive lettering.

If anyone else would like me to write their usernames like this, just say so and @ me in the comments below!

And now, for a few stray thoughts about the past and the future.

Around the first week of January, I started a bullet journal, which is a very uniquely systematic way of keeping a journal. I want to say it's been tremendously helpful, but in reality, I think I still need to learn how to use it effectively.

This is a very candid and personal look into the past two weeks of my journaling. Not every aspect of my life is recorded in it, and I'm still testing what I want to include and exclude. The x's are completed tasks or things that happened on that day. The dots are incomplete tasks. As you can see, I have a lot of unfinished work to do for school! And so far, writing about it in my journal has hardly helped to motivate me to do it!

I guess 2018 won't be all sunshine and rainbows. But of course, we all already knew that.

Motivating yourself can be tremendously difficult. It has been for me in the past, and though I've gotten a bit better at it, there are still times when I just can't seem to force myself to do anything. Not having made a post on Steemit for the past week and a half is a good reminder of that to myself. This journal is, for me, an exercise in self-discipline. That, and an excuse to practice my lettering. It might seem tedious to the outsider... but it's actually something I rather enjoy doing.

Anyway, to anyone who stumbles across this post, I want to ask:

• Have you tried journaling before?
• Did you find it helpful for motivational purposes at all?
• What about to-do lists, or sticky note reminders?

Different things work for different people. Maybe none of this works for you, and you do other things to regenerate or maintain your willpower.

An upvote for your thoughts?

~Mel.