Journaling sounds simple. Almost too simple. But it’s one of the most powerful tools I’ve found for improvement — in golf, in food, and in business.
Here’s why: problems repeat. And awareness is the shortcut to fixing them.
And when I say “journal,” I don’t mean a 300-word essay where you pour out your soul every night. What I mean is simple — as short as one line, with a date. The real key is that after a certain time, you can look back and spot a pattern you wouldn’t have seen in the moment. That’s where the value is.
Golf: Seeing the Patterns
When I was grinding on the mini-tour, an older pro in Tempe told me to keep a journal. At first, I thought it was “fru fru” work. But he explained it differently: don’t write essays. Just note your swing fault, the fixes you tried, and what you felt. The key wasn’t the writing — it was the patterns you’d see after a few months.
Sure enough, I found my swing faults weren’t random. They cycled back every two or three months, tied to my body’s limitations in flexibility, mobility, and strength. With the journal, I could recognize the cycle sooner and fix it faster.
Food: Listening to the Body
When I switched to a vegetarian diet to share meals with my wife, I thought I was being healthier. Instead, I ended up bloated and constipated. A student of mine who was a nutritionist suggested keeping a food journal. Just one line a day: date, what I ate, and how I felt the next day.
Within weeks, the pattern appeared. Tofu was the culprit. My body, shaped by growing up in the U.S. with less tofu in my diet, didn’t have the gut bacteria to digest it well. Once I saw it, I adjusted. Later, I used the same journaling method to test intermittent fasting. The logs showed my body thrived on one meal a day, waistline shrinking, digestion stable, blood sugar under control.
Business: Breaking the Cycle
In business, the same mistakes repeat. Staff gaps, scheduling crunches, or sales dips feel new in the moment, but they’re often old patterns resurfacing. Without records, you start from scratch each time. With records, you recognize the trend and plan ahead.
At Sugarbush, I’ve seen how logs and notes on operations, staffing, and sales cycles help shorten the gap between problem and solution. What looked like chaos became patterns I could anticipate.
The Lesson
Journaling doesn’t prevent mistakes. But it shortens the distance between the mistake and the solution.
In golf, that means fewer wasted weeks chasing fixes.
In food, it means less discomfort and faster health answers.
In business, it means fewer blind spots and smoother decisions.
Awareness compounds. And a simple journal — one line at a time — is the fastest way I know to build it.
➡️ Want to see it in action? Read my own stories in [Food Journal] and [Golf Journal], where a few lines a day changed the way I understood my body and my swing.