I’m delighted to be sending you To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop and the two-part companion Shopping Journal! I recommend that you begin by reading the introduction in the text and let that steep a bit before you begin the work of the first chapter. In that chapter, on page 25, you’re introduced to your Shopping Journal. They are an integral piece of the work of To Buy or Not To Buy—the place where you individualize, document and develop your encounter with the text.
There are actually two parts to it: an 81/2 x 11 part—the Journal—and a smaller booklet, the Mini Journal. The exercises in each part follow the page sequence of the book and both the Journal and the Mini Journal have a table of contents and instructions.
The larger booklet, the Journal, is for free writing exercises, for answering series of questions that the text asks, and for planning and reviewing your purchases. You work with it primarily at home.
The smaller booklet, the Mini Journal, is designed to be your constant companion and coach. This pocket-sized booklet brings the techniques and strategies of To Buy or Not to Buy directly to your shopping encounters—so it’s important that you keep it with you whenever you shop.
Before you begin using either one, I recommend that you read the brief introduction on pages i-ii of the Journal, “Making the Most of Your Shopping Journal.” Take a look also at the Index of Written Exercises on pages iii-iv; it lists each exercise and tells you where to find it.
I’ve accompanied many overshoppers as they made their journeys from compelled to fulfilled, as they changed from addicted thinking and self-defeating behavior to clear-headed self-kindness. You can get there too. Follow To Buy or Not to Buy from where you are now to where you want to be—centered, in control, and getting what you’re really shopping for.
I wish you patience, perseverance, and much success!