How many times have you been struck by an aha! moment while writing in your journal? Now, just imagine how many nuggets of wisdom are wedged between random ramblings and how valuable they could be if you were to see them each day. Instead of imagining, why not put down that novel for an evening and revisit the past?

Comb through each page of your journal and each time you come to one of these epiphanies (better known as life lessons), write it down on a sheet of paper. Get into the essence of that life lesson and note any patterns you find. If you continue coming across a particular lesson over and over again, then maybe you should be closer attention to it, because you continue repeating the same mistakes.

When your collection of epiphanies is complete, you’ll have an easy reference chart that you can use on a daily basis. Read through it often and see whether you’re about to start repeating mistakes which will lead to one of the life lessons you were supposed to have already learned.