I’ve only been taking solid daily notes for about four years now; that may sound like a lot, but compared to many folks it’s not much at all. One of those that has been doing this far longer than I have is Ryan Holiday, some of whose books you’ve likely read.
He recently shared how his note-taking habit can feel like time-traveling, and I’m a bit jealous of how far back he’s able to go. For example, here is Holiday talking about “The Great Gatsby”:
One of my favorite books to re-read is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. I love Gatsby not just because it’s an incredible book, one of the great works of the English language. I love it because it was one of the first books I ever loved. I was assigned to read and write an essay on Gatsby in my sophomore English class and I still have that copy. So when I re-read Gatsby, I’m not just talking to Nick Carroway and Jay Gatsby and Meyer Wolfsheim and Scott Fitzgerald himself, I am also talking to 16-year-old me. I can see the food I spilled while I read it at the kitchen table of my parent’s house. I can see my teenage handwriting in the margins.
While I have some notes that go further back, they’re very limited and scattered. Even so, having four years worth of notes gives me quite a lot to go back to, particularly when revisiting a book from a few years back (which is something I’m intentionally trying to do more of).
While posts like this from Holiday make me feel a little bad, it also gives me inspiration to keep going strong. The longer I do it, the more value I’m building for my future self. He encourages people to start today if they haven’t done anything yet, saying:
The best time to have started a notebook or a commonplace book would have been many years ago, but the second best time would be now. Start small–record what strikes you, quotes that motivate you, stories that inspire you. Don’t think too hard, just follow your curiosity. When you read a book, write in it, fold the pages, really engage with the material. Preserve this moment in time. Capture what you’re thinking and feeling. Your future self will thank you.
His full post is quite good, and you should check it out.
