The Journal Framework

@dgarcia7 daniel@daniel-ag.com Daniel A. Garcia Rodriguez daniel-ag.com
“The Journal” approach to achieving your goals and increase your
personal productivity.
● “The Journal” is a Framework intended to realizing your big picture and delivering on your
goals in a principle driven way. I have adapted it from Fabian Heilemann partner at
Earlybird and member of the board at Kreatize.
● This document is just a compilation of resources which will guide you and help you set
up your journal and big picture. All copyrights remain with the original authors. The
interpretations and how-tos are not endorsed by the original authors.
“Dreams + Reality + Determination = Successful Life”
Ray Dalio, Principles: Life & Work.

Prologue: Goal setting is overrated!
No matter if you follow this framework or any other framework,
consistent execution is what will help you deliver results.
Writing down goals is overrated, execution is underrated.
This framework has worked for me because it helps me follow my
big picture on a weekly basis. I have adapted a version of it in which
I focus on the end of the week reﬂection rather than the dailys.
What will work for you is whatever you can execute on and
follow consistently.
Be conscious about the way you spend your day.
Be successful by design and not by circumstance.
Time is all you have. Schedule what you want to do.
Be mindful of what you do.
Be aware of what you eat.
Be consequent. Be consistent.
Enjoy your journey.

The Journal
The Preface: A reminder of your big pictures, goals and guidelines.
The Weekly: Weekly goal setting to calibrate and cut through the noise
The Daily : Daily checkin to strengthen routine, practice mindfulness and
set priorities
The End of week reflection: End of week reflection to step back and draw
fundamental learnings
The Weekly The Daily The End of week Reflection
Source: Dr. Fabian Heilemann
The Preface

The Preface
I. Values
II. Principles
III. Goals
1.
Top 15 Guidelines
1.
Source: Dr. Fabian Heilemann, Partner @ Earlybird

The Preface: finding your values, principles goals & guidelines.
Values: An ideal that you give a high degree of importance.
Principles: what values mean to you, how do you live, act and deliver on them.
Goals: What you want to achieve in a family & friends, business & purpose and personal context.
Guidelines: tools and rules which provide valuable basis for decision support and actions.
Freedom, Exploration, Integrity, Sustainability
Exploration => Let your curiosity drive you to new learnings and experiences.
Enjoyment => Love everything you do and find pleasure on the simplest of tasks.
Family & Friends: Call my parents one time per week.
Focus is about saying no.

Finding your values and principles.
Personal Stories
When have you been happiest? Which role did you have to play and what did you do?
What has been your biggest success? What drove you to it?
What do you fear most? When have you been most afraid
What thing in the past are you most ashamed of? What was the situation?
Priorities
Where does your cash goes? Money provides a tangible expression of what we
prioritise
What amount of time goes to different activities in your day?
What activities do you prefer at work.
What habits or routines do you have
Passions
What do you think, dream or worry about?
What are your theological, metaphysical, philosophical and political beliefs? What are
the values of the political parties you vote for?
Influneces, Who do you follow? Who do you want to be like?
Principles
through your personal stories, how you spend your time and
money, your dreams, your beliefs and your influences, you should
be a much better place to assess what your values really are.
What trends do you see appearing and which words help to sum
those up?
Source: https://therightquestions.co/what-are-your-personal-values/

Accountability Discipline Humour Respect Commitment Faith Merit Spontaneity
Accuracy Discretion Humility Restraint Community Family Nature Stability
Achievement Diversity Independence Results-oriented Communication Flexibility Obedience Status
Adventure Dynamism Ingenuity Rigour Compassion Fidelity Openness Strategic
Altruism Economy Inner Harmony Romance Competitiveness Fitness Order Strength
Appearance Effectiveness Inquisitiveness Security Connectivity Fluency Originality Structure
Ambition Efficiency Insightfulness Self-actualization Consistency Focus Partnership Success
Autonomy Elegance Integrity Self-control Contentment Freedom Patriotism Support
Assertiveness Empathy Intelligence Self-expression Continuous Improvement Friendship Perfection Teamwork
Balance Enjoyment Intimacy Selflessness Contribution Fulfilment Personal growth Thankfulness
Beauty Enthusiasm Intuition Self-reliance Control Fun Piety Thoroughness
Being the best Environment Joy Sensitivity Cooperation Generosity Positivity Thoughtfulness
Belonging Equality Justice Serenity Correctness Goodness Power Timeliness
Boldness Excellence Leadership Service Courtesy Grace Practicality Tolerance
Calmness Excitement Legacy Shrewdness Creativity Growth Privacy Tradition
Carefulness Expertise Love Simplicity Curiosity Happiness Preparedness Trustworthiness
Challenge Exploration Loyalty Soundness Decisiveness Hard Work Professionalism Truth
Cheerfulness Expressiveness Making a difference Speed Democraticness Health Prudence Understanding
Clarity Fairness Mastery Spirituality Dependability Helping Society Quality-orientation Uniqueness
Devoutness Honesty Reliability Usefulness Determination Holiness Recognition Unity
Diligence Honour Resourcefulness Vitality Devoutness Honesty Reliability Usefulness
Examples of common values Source: https://therightquestions.co/what-are-your-personal-values/

From values, to principles & guidelines.
What are your top 3 personal values?
Pick the 3-5 most important values based on your stories, beliefs, passions and priorities.
How do you define or refine those principles?
For each of the 3-5 words that you have chosen, write your own definition. Think:
● What does the word mean to you?
● Which actions or behaviours display your defined value?
● What other word or words would you add to the initial one to make it embody the value most clearly?
The idea here is to define how you actually live out your value.
“For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It’s not “integrity,” it’s “always do the right thing.” It’s not
“innovation,” it’s “look at the problem from a different angle.” Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea – we have a clear idea
of how to act in any situation.”
Simon Sinek
Source: https://therightquestions.co/what-are-your-personal-values/

The Preface - Example
I. Values
Unrelenting - Exploration - Enjoyment
II. Principles
1. Chase objectives in a persistent, determined, tireless and nonstop way.
2. Let your curiosity drive you to new learnings and experiences.
3. Love everything you do and ﬁnd pleasure on the simplest of tasks.
4. ….
III. Goals
1. Fam. & Friends:
2. Business./ Purpose: .
3. Personal:...
Top 15 Guidelines
1. There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care
who gets the credit.
2. Focus is about saying no
3. What you do is who you are
4. ….
Template: Dr. Fabian Heilemann

WHAT do I want to achieve?
1. _____________________________________________➡
2. _____________________________________________➡
3. _____________________________________________➡
4. _____________________________________________➡
5. _____________________________________________➡
WHY is it important to me?
_____________________________________________ 📋
_____________________________________________ 📋
_____________________________________________ 📋
_____________________________________________ 📋
_____________________________________________ 📋
WHAT am I most looking forward to do/experience?
1. _____________________________________________➡
2. _____________________________________________➡
3. _____________________________________________➡
WHY ?
_____________________________________________ 📋
_____________________________________________ 📋
_____________________________________________ 📋
WEEKLY PRIO SETTING: Top 5 Goals for this Week CW___ Mon, ___.___.2022
The
Weekly

I. Morning Routine
❏ ____________________________________________
❏ ____________________________________________
❏ ____________________________________________
❏ ____________________________________________
❏ ____________________________________________
III. Top Priotity ToDos today
1. ___________________________________ 📋
2. ___________________________________ 📋
3. ___________________________________ 📋
II. I’m grateful for/ proud of/ mindful of
1. ____________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________
IV. What can I do for myself today?
1. ____________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________
V. What can I do for others?
1. ____________________________________________
VI. What bold move / trial can I make today?
1. ____________________________________________
Daily Journal Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri ___.___.2022
The
Daily

End-of-Week Reﬂection CW ___/2022
I. What did I enjoy the most/am I most grateful for?
1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________
II. Any bold moves/ new trials/ crazy ideas?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
III. Was I in control and managed my energy well?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
IV. Did I feel any agressions and if so: did I allow them to surface/
clear them?
_______________________________________________________________
V. Did I reach my Goals?
WEEKLY: YES/NO DAILY: YES/NO
VI. Progress on 2022 Goals
VII. ERIC Analysis
1. ❌Eliminate/Stop Doing (what drained energy)
________________________________________________________
2. ⬇ Reduce: what does not create any value for me?
________________________________________________________
3. ⬆ Increase: what boosts energy/creates value?
________________________________________________________
4. ⚡ Create: what do I want to test/trial?
________________________________________________________

Keep in mind
Goal Achievement = Discipline + Determination
1. Consistency wins.
2. Achievements/Satisfaction by design and not by circumstance.
3. “Lo comido y lo bailado nadie te lo quita” 💃🕺 → outcomes are uncertain.
4. Frameworks allows you to scale.

Living your life based on Principles
Pain + Reﬂection = Progress
Ray Dalio, Principles
1. Clear Goals
2. Identify (but not tolerate) problems on your
way to achieve those goals
3. Diagnose the problems to identify its root
causes
4. Design plans that will get you around those
problems
5. Do what's necessary to push these designs to
results
Ray Dalio’s 5-step process – Ray Dalio – Principles, p. 171

Concluding remarks from Dalios Work Principles.
Avoid “Frog in the boiling water”
syndrome
if you throw a frog into a pot of boiling
water it will jump out immediately, but if
you put it in room-temperature water and
gradually bring it to a boil, it will stay in the
pot until it dies. If one uses this syndrome
as a metaphor for professional life, it
signiﬁes people’s tendency to slowly get
used to unacceptable things that would
shock them if it would happen at once.
Don’t just pay attention to your job
Pay attention to how your job will be done if
you’re no longer around.
Mistakes are part of the game
Mistakes are “a natural part of the
evolutionary process”. Embrace mistakes
and be open to learn from them Be self
reﬂecting
Source: https://marcabraham.com/2018/12/22/book-review-principles-by-ray-dalio/

Remember to be Grateful.
Write thank you notes
Thank people (mentally &
physically)
Keep a gratitude journal
Count your blessings
Meditate
Improve Sleep Reduce Stress
Resilience Better Health

Final thoughts: escaping the local optimum of low expectation.

Resources
Self-Discipline
https://www.daniel-ag.com/self-discipline/
The Journal
https://www.daniel-ag.com/the-journal/
Principles: Life and Work. Ray Dalio
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021
Book Review: “Principles”
https://marcabraham.com/2018/12/22/book-review-principles-by-ray-dalio/
What are your personal Values?
https://therightquestions.co/what-are-your-personal-values/
Start with Why. Simon Sinek
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Simon-Sinek/dp/159184644
Escaping the local optimum of low expectation. Lex Fridman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qjA8HPJl_0

The Best or Nothing
Gottlieb Daimler

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