Record Yourself Extensively and Frequently - Recording Can Truly Change Your Destiny!

You must have experienced this: the key task your supervisor assigned last week suddenly becomes unclear when discussed in this week’s meeting; the breathtaking sunset you encountered during last year’s travels now feels emotionally distant and blurred; that life-changing decision from three years ago - you can no longer articulate your thought process at the time.

These lost details are like sand paintings weathered by wind - the more precious the image, the more completely it disappears.

Leonardo da Vinci reportedly kept a legendary notebook containing sketches of flying machines, human anatomical diagrams, animal dissections, recipes… This genius wrote in the Atlantic Codex: “Observation should flow like water continuously, and recording should be as deep as carving with a knife.”

His world-shocking innovations all grew from his fragmentary daily recordings. We often think recording is exclusive to student days, not realizing that true masters spend their entire lives using pen and paper to combat forgetting.

I. Memory Deceives More Than We Imagine

Psychology features a famous experiment: college students were asked to recall their high school graduation ceremonies. Results showed most people had forgotten details and would fabricate events that never occurred, such as the principal’s speech content, even creating entirely non-existent scenarios.

Our brains function like auto-beautifying cameras, constantly tampering with memories to align with current cognition.

Those instances of “I knew this would happen all along” hindsight bias, those regrets of “if only I had done this back then” - these are all memory playing tricks.

A friend who works as a professional stock investor deeply understands this. When reviewing a failed stock investment, he insisted he had identified a certain risk factor initially. Only after checking his investment records from three months prior did he discover he hadn’t considered that risk at all.

Now he carries a notebook everywhere, jotting down key points from his reading and thoughts as they occur.

II. Thinking Takes Shape at the Pen Tip

Writer Ernest Hemingway had a peculiar habit: he would stop writing each day precisely when he felt most inspired. He said, “Let tomorrow’s self continue thinking with today’s warmth.”

Recording isn’t mechanical copying but using words to X-ray our thinking. When you write “Why do I always procrastinate?” in your notebook, the pen tip compels you to continue with “Because I fear not doing it perfectly enough,” then further with “Actually, completion is more important than perfection” - this process of peeling back layers like an onion is exponentially more efficient than sitting and pondering emptily.

Stanford University conducted longitudinal research showing that people who consistently kept decision journals significantly improved their accuracy rate for major choices over three years.

Those who maintained emotional journals substantially enhanced their emotional management abilities.

This isn’t mysticism but black-and-white text forcing us to confront logical gaps. Just as programmers need line-by-line debugging to fix code, when we’re debugging life’s glitches, the thought processes written on paper serve as our best debugging tools.

III. Recording Is Writing Letters to Your Future Self

Japanese organizing expert Marie Kondo said: “Objects carry conversations between your past self and future self.”

Written words do this even more profoundly.

A depression patient consistently kept a “darkness diary,” recording specific triggers and physical reactions during each emotional breakdown. After six months, he discovered that neck stiffness always preceded each episode - this discovery proved more effective than any medication.

These tear-stained records helped him continuously battle depression.

I’ve used this method for several years: writing a letter to next year’s self every birthday. Last year I wrote: “Will things that seem impossibly difficult now feel like climbing small hills when viewed next year?”

When opening this year’s letter, I found that problems causing me anguish had actually become stepping stones and opportunities for self-improvement. This cross-temporal self-dialogue is more nourishing than any motivational content.

It’s like when you’re immersed in a new romance and look back at heartbreak diaries from your youth - the pain and devastation that felt overwhelming then now seems somewhat excessive in hindsight.

Now - with a smile at the corner of your mouth, light and breezy.

Recording tools needn’t be elaborate.

Phone memos, WeChat Moments’ “private” function, physical notebooks - all serve as good carriers. The key is developing muscle memory: immediately capture flashes of inspiration, write immediately during emotional fluctuations, take real-time notes during important events.

Don’t wait to “prepare the right notebook” - the best time to record is always now.

Neuroscience confirms that writing activates seven times more brain regions than speaking. When we transform floating thoughts into words, it’s like giving chaotic clouds a skeletal framework. These accumulated records become your personal life navigation map.

That hastily scribbled sentence you write today might be quietly rewriting your destiny’s trajectory five years from now.

Let’s encourage each other in this endeavor.