A trick that the Greeks used regularly to monitor their habits and strengthen themselves against daily challenges was to write diaries: through the diary, you can write down how, when and in what improvements.
The Stoic philosopher Quintus Sextius, for example, said that we must frequently ask ourselves: "What evils have you remedied today? What vices have you fought against? In what sense have you improved? ».
But the best exponent of this is undoubtedly Marco Aurelio. In his diaries, called Meditations, he reflects on his difficulties and life experiences, and describes how he practiced good habits until they were effortless.
Do you want to follow the example of Marco Aurelio and write your own diary?
Social psychologist James Pennebaker has studied how it helps us to write a newspaper and points out that it is best not to use only the first person (me), but also the you, they, we ... Why? To depersonalize the experience we are talking about, to take a healthy distance. That is what Marco Aurelio does repeatedly in his diaries: he observes a situation from multiple perspectives, thereby making his mind more flexible.