Why writing down what you did works
What the trials found
Harkin and colleagues pooled 138 randomised trials, 19,951 people in all, in which some people were helped to monitor their progress toward a goal and others weren’t. Monitoring helped people reach their goals, by an average effect of d = .40 (95% interval .32 to .48), which researchers would call small to medium.
Two things made the effect larger: recording progress physically, rather than keeping it in your head, and reporting it to someone or making it public.
The more complete the record, the bigger the change
A review of 22 weight-loss studies saw the same pattern: the more complete and consistent people’s food and activity records were, the more weight they lost. Those studies watched people rather than assigning them, so they show a link, not proof.
What to do with it this week
Write it down the moment it happens, every time, rather than at the end of the week from memory. Holding the ring in Forvel is that record: one hold when it’s done, kept with the day it happened. In the trials, telling someone how it went made the effect larger.