The Next Right Thing Guided Journal: A Decision-Making Companion

I’m really being challenged by working through this journal. Emily knows how to ask the right questions!

I did not realize when I started this journal, just how helpful it would be to reflect, look back and see patterns in my daily life. The clarity it has given me and the way it has helped shaped my mind, my decision making process and my overall approach to decisions making has been incredibly valuable! Highly recommend!

Here's the thing about Emily P. Freeman. However you encounter her, in person, through her podcast, or through her writing, you're just going to feel better having her books nearby. She's that reassuring, reasonable, and honest. When I heard that she was creating a guided journal to accompany her book The Next Right Thing, I had it on order before I even fully knew the title. She described the process of creating this book as 'wanting it to be the kind of journal I most needed in my own life.' I was hooked and kept an eye on my shipping updates since I ordered it even before it was truly released into the world. I have to tell you, Emily P. Freeman is well represented in the countless journals I already keep. Her thought provoking questions and lists are sticky-noted everywhere in my life. So the prospect of having a book created by Emily in precisely the format she prefers to use and refers to often in her own writing and speaking? Oh yes please. If you want to be more intentional in gathering your thoughts and lists and discoveries in one elegantly curated location, this is your journal. It's intended to be used for a year, with weekly, monthly, and quarterly sections conveniently divided into seasons. It feels as natural and organic and unforced as a conversation with Emily herself. Buy it for yourself, and buy another as a gift along with a copy of Emily's book The Next Right Thing for anyone you know going through a time of transition in their life. It will not preach at you. It will come alongside and say, gently, you are going to get this right, and you'll love having this to look back through as a benchmark of your successful journey.

I've followed Emily's writing & teaching for years, and I always appreciate her thoughtful questions that prompt meaningful decision-making.I have tried to include her prompts such as "What I Learned..." lists in my regular daily planner, but I found it difficult to remember that it was there or where I'd written it. This guided journal is the perfect solution! Now, I have one place for reflection that I can pick up once a week or so. You fill in your own dates so you can begin at any time. The prompts guide my time of reflection so I'm no longer aimlessly staring at a blank page wondering what to write. Unlike other journal prompts that I've tried, these are actually meaningful to my life. It's not about making a gratitude list or only reflecting on the good. The prompts help me pay attention to what is actually happen in my life and in the world so that I can begin to understand what matters the most to me. This in turn helps me make better decisions.It's unfortunate that Amazon screwed up the printing at the time of launch. I know that must have been frustrating for Emily and her team, but it has been corrected now. No more greyscale! All orders from here forward will be the correct printing with that stunning green font.This journal is one of the few things that makes me excited for the year ahead.

This is going to be a game-changer journal! It will make reviewing the year clear and accessible!I kept wondering, "Do I REALLY need another journal? Will it REALLY be $20 helpful?"YES! and YES!TNRT-GJ will not replace my musings journal, the one where I write lots of words to get thoughts onto paper. I have 35 years of these in my closet. Sadly, they are not easy to find the "want to remember" nuggets. That is where THIS journal will step in. I can't wait for December 2021 to easily review this year.I did receive an Amazon reprinted "Oops copy" and am waiting for my replacement copy to arrive (the problem has been fixed so all new orders should be the beautiful copies - if you need a replacement, go to @emilypfreeman on Instagram and click on "OOPS.")YET... I've not been able to wait for my new copy and am already writing in this one.Honestly, the huge value in this journal lies in its thoughtful layout, questions, guidance, and content. That, in itself, is well worth $20 (spoken from one who can be tight with a dollar). The beautiful cover and colored print will be a bonus cherry on top.Thank you, Emily, for designing this journal that you, yourself, always wished was available. What a gift!

Emily is a guide I trust for counsel in decision-making as a way of making a life. Her podcast and book, the next right thing helped me through some life-changing choices; her suggestions worked for me. In this journal format she shares those same practical suggestions, spiritual insights, and gentle encouragement for those of us anxious, distracted, or in an episode of decision fatigue. This journal format flows from her own practices of reflecting. Undated, but sectioned by unnamed “month” and “season” sections, it’s flexible and doesn’t demand daily writing. Simple and practical, it includes sections for different kinds of reflections for monthly and quarterly lists and notes of the year. It includes helpful writing prompts, questions, and page outlines/structure that are inviting and provocative. Two examples helpful to me: Happy lists — a place to note by month the things that brought joy (books, music, video, podcasts), and, my favorite, the life energy list: events, places, people and experiences that affirm me and inspire me in life so that I pay attention! to what is life-giving. The hope is to capture the reflection for the joy of savoring the moment in gratitude AND so that I can use this information for the next big decisions — next job, retirement, school, other life events. Thick paper stock, lovely green printing, lays flat. Practical and inviting.

I have been using this journal for the last 2 years and just ordered my third copy as I'll finish my current one soon. It's a low-pressure, but meaningful way to record the happenings of life. I have always loved the idea of journaling and keeping a record of all the things I know I'll eventually forget, but end up only doing so in spurts-- partly because my expectations for journaling have been far too high for me to maintain! This is a real bummer when I look back at pivotal seasons of my life that were just too busy or stressful to keep a journal. For posterity AND for processing I wish I had journals from those times.This journal is a gamechanger-- it's really a guide to jotting down the most important things TO YOU in a way that is gently forumulaic (I say this as a good thing!) and helps you process as you write and reflect. I don't do every page every week/month-- even though I DO write in this weekly (!!)-- but that is a testemant to the freedom of this journaling. Do what works for you and don't feel bad about the rest (I confess I have never filled in the "quote for the month" section in my 24 months of writing in this journal).The fact that I have consistently journaled for two years through some pretty hectic life seasons is about the best recommendation I can give for this book. It has helped me sort through some tough questions, and it's such an encouragement to look back and see the process work itself out. Having the same "system" from month to month and year to year really does make reflecting so much easier.Plus, now I have a record of the origins of my husband and I's stupid inside jokes that seem to form and become vernacular every week. No more "Where did that even start??" and it's joyful to read back through those too!If you're a person who loves the idea of journaling but has a hard time keeping up with it or feels intimidated by it, this book is for you. If you're a person who has trouble making time to reflect and think about where you've been and where you're going, this book is for you.Thanks for this wonderful creation, Emily!

So thankful I pre-ordered this guided journal. The last 18months -actually the last 5 years - have held so much change, so much unknown, and so much (often painful) growth that I'm really appreciating this guided journal to record the next months and seasons of life. Thank you Emily!

Just started but after flipping through and reading intro/explanation, this journal thoughtfully helps you organize your scattered thoughts and hone down the really important questions to enable self-reflection that is accurate and will inspire action. It's a gentle guide and a warm reminder and an encouragement in all the ways we need to pay attention to the challenges AND the positives in our lives, and make full use of their lessons.

Just received my journal and it is marvelous! I got an “oops” copy that Amazon printed on demand, a print mistake on the orders placed before 2020 Jan 5th. But even this copy is wonderful. (I can see that is printed as draft, but this is not a big deal for me, since this is a journal to write on...)Even though it’s beautiful, I got it because I needed some guide into journaling, and I don’t think there’s any better writer than Emily P. Freeman to help me on that! Her reflections and questions are thoughtful and relevant.

This unique planner, which guides users to do “the next right thing” month by month and season by season, is well worth using each year. It goes great with the book and podcast by the same name.