UrBestSelf The 6-Minute Diary (The Original) | Gratitude
UrBestSelf The 6-Minute Diary (The Original) | Gratitude Journal for Men & Women | Manifestation Journal | Daily Wellness Journal for More Mindfulness
| Weight: | 450 g |
| Dimensions: | 22 x 14.2 x 2.1 cm; 450 Grams |
| Brand: | UrBestSelf |
| Colour: | Pink |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Manufacture: | UrBestSelf |
| Dimensions: | 22 x 14.2 x 2.1 cm; 450 Grams |
| Quantity: | 1 |
Quick delivery. Arrived in perfect condition. After finding out about the benefits of journaling, I bought this for my 13yo daughter as she was beginning to go through the stressful teen years. She now enjoys writing in it as part of her morning and evening routine. It’s been about a month now and I’ve seen a difference in her ~ more confidence in herself and a more positive attitude to her day.
I highly recommend making this part of your life and promise you won’t regret it for a second…
I was looking for an appointment diary & ordered this by mistake. This is a journal in which u are invited to write your daily thoughts in. It has no days or dates in it. The book is off high quality paper & attractive. I gifted it to my fianc who thinks it will be quite good to use. He hasn’t started using it yet.
This was a gift and when I received was a bit sceptical about the whole writing in a diary. I started and now I am addicted and obsessed with taking the time out to write in this journal. It is the time of day for ‘me’ and I thin kit is the best gift you could buy someone.
I would recommend this item.
If you are a fan of doing the same stuff over and over again (it can be good for habit-building) it might be for you. I got frustrated after a few weeks, and as much as I tried to find little things to be grateful for or good things that happened at some point I just run out of ideas. It’s very nicely presented and great for a gift, but I think it’s a bit expensive for what it is.
It’s quite helpful, but maybe overwhelming of information in the beginning. Depends really on what people need and want. The negative for me was the texture of the fabric on the cover. While the colour is beautiful the fabric makes me not to want to touch the notebook. Not for my sensory needs I guess.
This diary is simply gorgeous. The amount of time, effort, love, thought, and knowledge that has gone into it outstanding. The author really cares about the statistics and process about living a happier life and creating positive habits. Only downside for me would be that beginning NOVEL Yeesh. It’s so long. 70+ pages long to be exact. I read all of it as it states in the diary to read it all as it will be helpful in the long run and will help you get the best use out of the diary – I bought another one of these as a gift for somebody and they told me they didn’t read it due to how long it was, which is a shame as I feel they won’t get the same benefits as I will hopefully get from it having read it all. I feel it has far too much information and this could be cut down MASSIVELY. It was hard not to just simply skip it all and get straight to the morning and evening routine. Sadly, for this reason, I wouldn’t buy this diary again as a gift.
It’s taken me a while to start using this ‘Diary’ but it is so much more than a Diary! This product is an investment in your well-being. Take the time to read and understand the introduction information as this is vital to using the diary properly and get the most out of it. I’ve tagged the Quick Overview and Example pages so I can flick back to them when I need prompting. This happened quite a lot to start with! The inspirational quotes sprinkled throughout are wonderful. There is something useful on every single page – nothing is wasted! It has a gusseted pouch at the back & is very well bound – doesn’t fall apart when it’s been used a few times. There are weekly questions, daily entries & monthly overviews to help monitor progress. It really does only take 3 mins once you’re familiar with it. So, take time to read the first sections as these are key & provide so much information about how this process will help in so many ways. If you really want to get the most out of your days, you will make time. If you’re too busy to read them, don’t start writing. It took me 2 years to find time but I know it was the right thing to do because then I was ready to start. Highly recommended
I decided to buy this after a very traumatic experience. My mental health was suffering and I felt I needed to focus on looking at the positive things. This has helped me so much. It doesn’t take much time so I don’t feel overwhelmed by it. It is good to journal things that have happened in more detail but focus on the little positive steps towards recovery as well as realising I have a lot to be grateful for. I have also used it as a daily focus for my 14 year old son but he does it verbally. It’s lovely to hear him talk about things he is grateful for. It has helped us both understand that even when life seems really tough there are things to be grateful for and great things still happen. It makes me think of the saying “Enjoy the little things because one day you will look back and realise that they were the big things”. I have found this so useful for the last six months that I have now bought the follow on version to continue for the next six months. I would recommend this to anyone who is struggling and perhaps may feel overwhelmed by having to write a lot each day. This is meant to only take 3 minutes in the morning and another 3 minutes at night but there is space to record longer thoughts at the end of each week and at the back of the planner. It’s really good.
The unexpected by product of this experience however, is that THIS book grabbed my attention… it’s not ‘just’ a gratitude journal which you write stuff down, it’s the preamble, it’s the all the information up front – the bit about why you’re doing it in the first place…
That’s what hooked me…
And then practicing the ritual with my daughters each day.
And at first, it was clutching at the obvious; grateful for food, water, clothes, warmth
But then something started to change, unexpectedly so… I started to dig deeper and feel more positive…
My gratitude now involves; realising my self worth and what I mean to my children, recognising what we have, not what we don’t, grateful for opportunities and more meaningful, deeper reflection when it comes to positive affirmations….and one of my good deeds today, was simply ‘Acceptance’… and ‘Acceptance with grace’…
I love this book.
I have recommended and even bought copies for friends and colleagues…
I am more positive, more energised, more determined and dare I say happier in myself… I didn’t even realise I needed changing, my days had been focused on other people and things and work and jobs which needed doing, that I forgot myself along the way. But I’m back now… and it feels great 🙂
The focus on gratitude is a lovely way to get your day started in a positive and open frame of mind. Considering what would truly make each day great has often created significant and powerful insights that changed my day (and the ones that followed) for the better. I think that’s pretty amazing for three minutes! The three minutes at the end of the day can be just as powerful and ensure you close your day finishing on a positive. To be honest, I get value from each section of the diary – nothing is wasted. Because you are following a consistent format each day and week, it’s a good way to track how things have changed, how your focus, priorities and concerns have evolved.
Previously I’d never managed to journal daily and yet, without much effort, it has become an embedded part of everyday: I haven’t missed one day and that has been a real surprise. Today marks the completion of the book and the Pure Diary (the follow-on version) is already here, waiting for tomorrow.
As you have no doubt realised, I’m a big fan of this diary: the research behind it is sound and the layout is well-thought through. It might seem expensive at first, but try it, see how much you benefit, and you won’t think twice when you order your next one!
The only bit I don’t like about the diary is where it asks you to write ‘how will I improve’ I don’t want to spend even seconds reflecting on my shortcomings, I’ve spent over 50 years doing that. We all have shortcoming or things we don’t like about ourselves, this journey is about learning to accept who I am (I can’t say ‘love myself’ yet, but I’ll keep trying) not carry on criticising myself, so I cross that question out every day! Other than that, I love this diary, it’s expensive, but maybe that makes me use it rather than waste my money and put it away in a drawer. I’ve had so many people comment on the change in me and I have bought one for my brother as he sounded interested in my ‘recovery’.
Love this little book, it’s become part of my morning routine when I sit with my cup of coffee looking into the garden, and evening routine. I’ve had it for a few weeks and notice I’m looking for more opportunities to help people whenever I can.
I also like the habit tracker , which I had forgotten about till halfway through. I have practised being grateful prior to using the book but it’s nice seeing the list written down here. I like the focus it gives me and I love the daily quotations. I loved the 90 pages of psychology, although I knew most of it already, it was good to see the research cited as well.
The only things which somewhat irritated me, was firstly his confident statement that “one may confidently assume that any physician knows a lot about nutrition”. As a qualifed BSc Nutritionist who is evidence- based and has worked with GPs I can say that this is categorically not the case, as my GP clients have told me so themselves! That’s why they come and see me.
Secondly, I found it rather ironic that he says there’s no “esoteric wishy-washy” in the book yet he says the book is based in part on ancient wisdom- it so happens that a lot of esoteric philosophy comes from ancient wisdom itself! So these 2 comments really made me question his claim to expertise on everything he wrote and actual breadth of knowledge. Better not to make sweeping statements if it’s not your field of expertise or you haven’t researched it properly. Would have given it a 4.5 because of this but didn’t want to be mean and give it a 4, so gave it a 5.
Other than that would highly recommend this journal.
After I placed the order, Dominik sent me an email and kept in touch to take me through the process. He also sent a 20 page short ebook that talks about the power of journaling and had some great ideas and insights. One of the most important takeaways for me has been this point, which is now part of my routine:
Be active and not reactive – the example he talks about is our morning routine and how many of us are mindless about it. This resonated with me very well. I wake up to my phone alarm, turn off the alarm and then look at all the notifications awaiting me from overnight. I then spend the first 15 minutes replying to those emails or notifications that I deemed important. That set the tone for the rest of my day.
After reading Dominik’s advice, I decided to take charge of my morning. Since January 1, I ensure that my phone is on flight mode before I go to sleep. When I wake up, I spend the first 15-20 minutes playing with my daughter and then having a light breakfast with my family. Then I do a short walk around where I live and come back and get ready for the day. For the past 8 days, this has been my routine and I feel so much more energetic and in control. The best part is, my colleagues or other people I work with do not seem to be bothered or notice that I reply 90 minutes later than usual. This has been an eye-opener for me.
The diary itself is well packaged and laden with much more insights. Consider it as a guided journaling practice with tips and tricks on how best to get going. And true to its name, it is a 6-minute affair. It comes hardbound and is roughly A5 size. Quality of the pages and content is fantastic. Above all, Dominik is easily accessible for any queries you may have.
I hope this helps! Wishing you a lovely year ahead 🙂
I love The Miracle Morning – I will continue to use it and to recommend it every time I can, because I know how good it is.
But The 6-Minute Diary is in a different plane — deeper, wiser, more inspiring and revealing. The prompts are so well thought-out that in just the space of a week I have made two discoveries that completely reframed important aspects of my productivity and my relationships. The 6-Minute Diary is also much more pleasant to work with -and to look at- than The Miracle Morning — much as I love it, The Miracle Morning has all the charms of an accountant’s spread sheet (and they haven’t bothered to improve the layout in years) whereas The 6-Minute Diary has been crafted and designed with an artist’s sensibility. Am I being superficial by pointing out such things? I don’t think so. This is a tool you will be using every single good or bad, happy or sad day of the year, so it only helps that it is a beauty to open and look at. I know the beautiful pages make me more thoughtful and considerate when I write in themi.e. they nudge me to think harder before I spoil their pristine surface. Is it only me? If you had to scribble a note, however short and simple, would it make any difference if you were writing on the corner of the back page of yesterday’s newspaper or on a sheet of lovingly prepared vellum? This is what I mean — you’d force yourself to think a bit deeper before you spoiled the page. And that only helps when reflection is the whole point of the exercise.
I have read hundreds of Self-Help books, and taken too many courses. I have certificates on NLP, Mindfulness and Erikssonian Hypnosis, read and written extensively on Psychoanalisis, Theory of Knowledge and CBT. And this is why I can say that the 64-page introductory section that Dominik Spenst has prepared for The 6-Minute Diary –which you could skip, but I would urge you to read attentively- is the briefest, more engagingly written and scientifically supported introduction to the topics of Positive Psychology, Habits and Self-Reflection anywhere. I was already impressed by this when a few days after I bought the Diary, Mr Spenst sent me via email a very pretty and useful pdf titled The Golden Morning Routine, which he personally sends to all customers, and which comprises five scientific arguments for the beneficial effect of a morning routine, as well as examples of the morning routines of 25 successful people, from politicians and other pop stars to Marcus Aurelius, Stephen Covey and Immanuel Kant.
The 6-Minute Diary promises to be “a priceless journey into the most exciting and emotional realms of your own memory” and to allow you to “follow the footsteps of your personal evolution”(p.15). I believe it will deliver. Having only used it for a week, I’m already looking forward to more discoveries with The 6-Minute Diary as my companion.
1) The theoretical part at the beginning:
This “manual” is a must-read and the quotes in it a great inspiration. You don’t need a background in psychology to understand this theoretical part which contains really practical tips as well. I was pleasantly surprised about how much research there is behind this diary. Every single part of the daily routine is well justified and researched . It’s just the right quantity and quality.
2) The 5 weekly questions:
This section is brilliant every week anew. There are questions, which you would probably never ask yourself but when you do, you reveal so much about yourself. Wicked! My favourite weekly question so far: “What advice would the ten-year-older version of yourself give to you?”
3) The mind-set switch:
After only a short period of time I started noticing how differently I live through the day when I spend these few minutes in the morning to express gratitude and to visualise my day ahead. Using the diary on a daily basis simply sets you into the right mood and helps you focus on your own needs.
4) A journey to your past self:
I love reading what I put down a few weeks ago, it’s like a journey to the person I was then. Can’t wait to look back at it in years’ time!
5) The E-Book:
I’ve received it via email shortly after purchasing the diary. It partly repeats sections from the 6-Minute Diary itself which actually isn’t bad to refresh your memory. The highlight however are the 25 practical examples of morning routines. They motivated me to modify some parts of my own routine. All in all, pretty well-researched and interesting.
Last but not least, I would like to make two suggestions for improvement:
I use some pressure when writing and sometimes can see my writing shimmering through on some pages. So if I could make a wish I’d like the paper to be a little bit thicker. Not too much though because that would make the book thicker and less handy.
Also, having the two ribbons is fantastic to mark my current day and sections from the theoretical part which I like to read time and time again. However, it would be great to have a third ribbon for the monthly check or the weekly five questions.
All in all, I highly recommend this book (though I’m someone who can’t be persuaded very easily).