Something sort of emotional happened yesterday: I filled up another journal.

“OK, big deal…” you’re likely thinking now. And, I can’t blame you. What kind of nutcase gets a little teary eyed when they manage to fill the pages of a notebook?

Well, I do. And, for good reason, I think. You see, we all know around here that I’m a list maker. They keep me organized and on top of things. I love making lists.

So, I start my day every single morning by sitting down and jotting my to-do list for that day. It lists all of the things—big and small, professional and personal—that I want to accomplish over the course of the next few hours.

Here’s the cool part—I’ve done that very same thing since I started my business almost two years ago. Every day, I turn the page and start my new list. And, yesterday? Well, I just filled up my FIFTH journal.

That’s right—five entire journals, detailing the entire course of my business thus far. Of course, while there are a lot of scribbles (because the whole point of creating lists is to cross things off!), I can still flip through and get a clear look at the progression of my work. From the things I ended up scribbling out immediately (answering that pesky email or signing a contract) to the things that stayed on my list for ages (ahem, finishing my business website), it’s so cool to have this record of my entire business—a detailed log of every single stinkin’ workday.

After I closed out my fifth notebook yesterday and added it to the stack, I took some time to flip through the old ones and look back on all that’s happened in this seemingly short and simultaneously long time. The beginning of July will mark two years in business for me, and it’s so crazy to look back and see how much things have changed and how far I’ve come.

Needless to say, I’ll keep this habit up as I continue to move forward. And, you can bet I’ll never throw a single one of those notebooks out. For now, they sit on a special shelf in my office so that I can always glance over at them and be reminded of where and how it all started. Eventually, I might need a designated room or storage unit to hold them all (let’s shoot for 50 years in business, shall we?!), but I’ll still never part with them!

Until next time!