An attentive student of history cannot fail to notice a pattern among great leaders. In an age defined by data, it’s easy to overlook how remarkable it is that we can know the intimate details of the lives of men like Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and even Marcus Aurelius. We are so accustomed to having our every scroll cataloged, our movements recorded on camera, and our words captured by microphones that we forget most people have passed through this world without leaving any record at all.
In contrast, we possess a strikingly detailed record of what these men thought on any given day. This is not data that was passively collected as they browsed or texted. It was deliberately preserved. They took the time to write down their thoughts and actions.
For whom? Some may have written with posterity in mind, but more often, they wrote for themselves.
Aristotle observed that virtue is a stable habit of choosing the right action, guided by reason. In other words, we are what we repeatedly do, so we had better think about what it is that we are doing.
To be a good man, then, requires more than drifting through life. It demands reflection. It requires intentionality.
Men must carve out time to sit, think, and examine who they are becoming and whether they like that trajectory. Then they must decide on concrete steps to either charge headlong in that direction or reverse course.
Franklin famously created a checklist of virtues he sought to master and would take a moment every night to make a record of whether or not he was successful. “My list of virtues contained at first but twelve,” Franklin wrote, “but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud… I determined endeavoring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list.”
This habit of self-examination is not only practiced by virtuous pagans like Aurelius or moral Deists like Franklin. Christian saints and sages have also maintained records in order to aid themselves in their pursuit of Christ. John Wesley kept meticulous diaries, and his self-examination became a touchstone of Methodist discipline. Ignatius of Loyola likewise taught and promoted the practice of the daily examen.
Consider the alternative. How likely is it that you accidentally become a better leader, father, or friend? Sin exists in precisely the places where we are less than God made us to be, and we know that we will not become the men God is making us by mistake. The great men who have come before us can teach us that keeping a record of our thoughts, words, and deeds is not a trivial habit, but a nearly indispensable tool in that work.
Keeping a journal and taking notes throughout the day is not a huge investment of either time or money, but the payoff may be not only practical but eternal. A man who refuses to examine his life should not be surprised by what it becomes.
But do not just take my word for it. As 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”
Elijah Newcomb is a graduate of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He aspires to advance and defend religious liberty in public life.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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