I’ve been a longtime follower of Chalene Johnson and just recently bit the bullet and bought her Push Journal. I’d been on the fence about it for a while and wasn’t sure if the $$ was worth spending. After some thought (and a flash sale), I bought a set of 3, kept one and then gifted two of them this Christmas.
At heart, I’ve always preferred a paper-based planner system. I keep a hardbound yearly planner already and wondered if this Push Journal would be duplicating what I’m already using. Well, I am writing this on day 54 of using the journal system (yes, I bought a second journal) and I can honestly say that I’ve started 2019 in the best way possible. Let me share with you just what it’s all about.
First off, this is a 30-day journal system. This was my biggest hesitation prior to purchasing. Why would I spend $20+ for a journal I can only use for a month? Needless to say, the Push Journal is much more than a journal or a planner. Having already read Chalene’s book Push, I was well-versed in her goal setting, habit creating methods. You don’t need to have read the book to use the journal though! The Push Journal has its own website and Chalene has created user-friendly videos to guide you in using the journal.
While the Push Journal is designed to be used for only 30 days, you can buy a pack of 3 and be ready to crush some big goals in just 90 days (this is her recommendation…and mine!).
What exactly makes this journal different than the rest?
Before you begin with Day One of your journal, there are some really important steps you must take (but don’t worry, they are all outlined in the journal). First, you’ll identify areas in your life that need your immediate attention. Using a scale of 1 to 10, you score twelve different important areas of your life and hone-in on the lowest scored area. For me, my Mental Wellbeing easily became my key priority. If that was an area I could improve upon in the next 90 days, I knew I could feel an incredible sense of relief.
After identifying your key priority, the next step is to brainstorm goals for the next 90 days. I tried to focus all of my goals on my key priority, but she suggests that you focus three goals on improving your key priority. So, for example, the first three goals I listed that would [hopefully] improve my overall mental state were:
(1) Exercise at least four times per week for at least 30 minutes.
(2) Set boundaries/work-life balance: Stop checking work email after 7PM each day.
(3) Commit to 15-minutes/day of personal development.
My remaining smaller goals focused on other areas of my life, such as environment/surroundings and physical health. In reality, these ten goals that you’ve set for yourself are ones that can be reached/maintained in a well-planned out 90 days. To “push” yourself forward with these new goals, Chalene teaches you to set one ‘push goal’ that will essentially get the ball rolling for all your other goals.
Creating my ‘push goal’ was more challenging, but honestly you can’t go wrong. I settled on intentional screentime as my push goal. I figured that having written it down, it might be easier to follow through with. When I say intentional I really just wanted to better separate myself from my phone and random social media scrolling. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m slowly developing better habits 🙂
Phew! Now that we’ve gone through the goal setting process, it is time to show you all the daily trackers! This journal is undated, so you can start at any time! Every morning (or the night before) I fill out the daily tracker and do a “brain dump” of all the things that I’d like to get done for that day. Everyday, at the top of your journal, you are rewriting that push goal and choosing just three tasks related to that push goal that can be accomplished in less than 15 minutes each. Essentially, if you get just those three tasks done in the day, you should feel amazing because, on the daily, you are working towards those goals of yours! I reuse my three goals often: usually they relate to some kind of intentional screen time with my business, time spent on personal development, or decluttering my house.
There is a space each day for you to plan out your day and make note of any work, appointments, or other commitments (aka…schedule that gym time!). I prefer to write in my journal the night before, but if not then I try really hard to make it the first thing I do in the mornings.
Included in each Day of your journal is also a Health Tracker. I’ve been pretty good about using this as well! I try to log what I’ve eaten each day and record my water intake (that’s one of my goals, too). I use the fitness log to track my time at the gym–each journal actually comes with a handy bookmark that you can easily mark off if you’ve reached your goals each day (i.e., check off Day One if you exercised for 30 minutes, check off Day One if you drank at least ___ounces of water).
If I still have your attention…
…..what do you think?
While many of you may feel like you wouldn’t get the bang for your buck with this journal, I strongly encourage you to give it a try! I am on journal number two and after 54 days of this system, I am proud to say that I have been able to maintain all three of my big goals [listed above]! I think that there is such power in writing down your goals and your plans for the day. In a technology-driven world, I know that I have lost touch with some of my old-school ways. By taking a little bit of time to reflect on what’s going well/not going well and then setting some intentional goals, I’ve seen a big improvement in my ability to manage my busy life.
I am slowly making myself a priority again—and not feeling bad about it!
Purchase a 3-pack here (that’s the best deal for sure), but if you want to try just one you can! For those on a budget, you could purchase one and then create your own using a blank journal!
But think of it this way, would you be willing to spend less than just $1/day to crush your goals and live a more intentional existence? That’s my plan.
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Would you consider this journal? Comments are welcome and appreciated!
~ Danielle
Danielle Pelletier 
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