Decision Journal Template: Write the Choice Before the Outcome

After a choice works out, memory tidies the story. You “always knew” the class would be worth the Saturday, or you “should have seen” that the other option was better. A decision journal template writes the story down while you still do not know.

The template is short on purpose. It records the choice, the options you actually had, what you expected, and the date you will look again. The later pass, once the result exists, is a separate page: how to review a decision journal after the outcome.

Quick Answer

Before you act, fill eight lines: the decision, the options including doing nothing, the facts, the assumption, the expectation, the way you will know, the review date, and a plain-language confidence line. Leave that text unchanged. When the date arrives, add an outcome note underneath. Do not turn the template into a verdict on your character.

What a Decision Journal Is

A decision journal is a record of a choice at the time you make it. It is not a pros-and-cons performance, a goal list, or a diary of how the week felt. Those can sit nearby. They answer different questions.

Use an entry when all three are true:

You can name the choice in one sentence.
You have at least two real options, and one of them may be “wait.”
You will be able to tell, on a date you pick now, whether your expectation was roughly right.

Skip the template for a mood, a value, or a situation you do not control. “I want to feel less rushed” is a reflection. “I will drop the Saturday class for six weeks and review it on November 21” is a decision.

The Template

Copy this into a new entry. Keep the labels so later you can scan them.

Decision date:
Decision: one sentence, present tense.
Options I actually have: include “do nothing” if it is real.
Facts I have today: only what you could show someone.
Assumption I am making: the part you cannot show yet.
What I expect if I choose this:
How I will know, and the review date:
What would change my mind before that date:
Confidence: low, medium, or high, plus one sentence.

Title the entry Decision: plus a short name and the date, such as Decision: Saturday class, 2026-10-13. The title is how you will find it. A feeling-word title will not sort later.

How to Fill Each Line

Decision

Write the action, not the identity. “I will keep Saturday mornings free through November 21” can be done or not done. “I will become someone who protects their time” cannot be checked on a calendar.

Options

List the options available this week, not the life you wish you had. If money, a contract, or another person removes an option, say so in the facts line. Inventing a third path you cannot take makes the note look more open than the choice was.

Facts and assumption

Facts are dates, prices, deadlines, and sentences someone else also heard. The assumption is the forecast hiding inside the choice: “A free Saturday will still be used for rest, not for extra errands.” Separating them is the useful part. Outcomes mostly punish hidden assumptions.

Expectation and review date

Say what you think will be true on the review date. Pick a date close enough that you will remember the entry and far enough that the result can show up. For a class, a few weeks is enough. For a move, a season may be honest. Put the date in the title or the first line so a calendar can surface it.

What would change your mind

Name one condition, agreed now, that would make you reverse the choice before the review. “If I miss two family events in October, I drop the class.” Without that line, every new feeling feels like a reason to quit, and every sunk cost feels like a reason to stay.

Confidence

Low, medium, or high is enough. Add one sentence about why. A precise percentage usually pretends you have data you do not have. The sentence is what you will compare later.

A Filled Example

Decision date: October 13, 2026
Decision: I will keep Saturday mornings free through November 21 and not enroll in the six-week class.
Options: enroll and give up Saturday mornings; wait and use Saturday mornings for rest and one household task; enroll next term if the morning still feels empty.
Facts: The class is paid up front. It meets at 9 a.m. I already have two Saturday commitments in October.
Assumption: An empty morning will stay partly empty. I will not fill all of it with errands.
Expectation: By November 21 I will have used at least half of those mornings for rest or a hobby, and I will not feel I missed a rare class.
Review date: November 21. I will count how many Saturdays matched that expectation.
Change my mind if: the next term’s class moves to a weekday, or I spend three Saturdays in a row only on errands.
Confidence: medium. I want the class, and I also know October is already crowded.

That note is finished. It does not need a moral. On November 21, add the outcome underneath and leave this block alone. The steps for that sitting are in the outcome review.

What to Leave Out

Write your choice. Leave out other people’s private details, account numbers, and workplace material you are not free to copy. If the decision is sensitive, run the secure journal app checklist first, and use the shared-phone routine when someone else holds the device.

A work decision can use the same eight lines. Keep it narrower than a performance review. The companion for weekly work notes is career journal prompts, which already separates facts, feelings, and one next step.

Where This Sits Next to Other Reviews

A decision entry is one choice. A monthly review is the wider month. They should link, not merge. When you do a monthly life journal review, look only for decision titles that came due. Read the expectation line and the outcome note. Leave the rest of the month’s diary in its own entries.

If you are mostly trying to understand a pattern of energy or mood, this template will feel forced. Use it when there is a fork. Use a life review when there is a stretch of time.

Using the Template in Glimmo

Glimmo includes daily prompts and templates to help you start an entry. The public pages do not describe a dedicated decision-journal pack, so paste the eight lines into a normal entry yourself. Title it with Decision: and the date. The calendar and timeline can show that entry when the review date arrives. Source: Glimmo

You can type the lines or speak them. A voice note is still an entry. Scanning a paper page captures the page. It does not mean the app turns handwriting into searchable text through native OCR.

Mood tracking and Emotion Insights can sit beside the entry. They describe signals in your writing. They do not score the decision. An AI companion can ask a follow-up if you want one. Skip that when the note includes someone else’s private facts. Relevant entry text is processed when you use companion replies, the Emoji Life Jar, or automatic mood tracking. Entries stay on the device by default. iCloud sync is optional. The details are in the privacy policy.

There is no extra button that “runs” this template. The value is the date you wrote the expectation, and the fact that you do not edit it later.

FAQs About a Decision Journal Template

What belongs in a decision journal template?

Write the decision in one sentence, the real options including doing nothing, the facts you have, the assumption you are making, what you expect, how you will know, and a review date. Add a confidence line in plain words.

When should I fill in the template?

Fill it in before you act, or in the same sitting as the choice. The point is to record what you knew then. An entry written after the result is a memory of the result, not a decision record.

How long should a decision entry be?

One screen is enough for most personal choices. If you cannot name the options in a few lines, you may be journaling a mood rather than a decision. Split the feeling into a separate entry.

Does Glimmo include a decision-journal template?

Glimmo offers daily prompts and templates for journaling. Its public pages do not describe a dedicated decision-journal pack. Paste this template into a normal entry and title it with the decision date.

Should I edit the prediction after I know what happened?

Leave the original prediction as you wrote it. Add a dated outcome note underneath. Rewriting the forecast makes the next review look wiser than the choice actually was.

Conclusion: Date the Expectation

Write the eight lines before you act. Name a review date. Leave the expectation where you put it.

You will still be wrong sometimes. The template makes that useful, because you can see which line was wrong: the facts, the assumption, or the confidence. That is the part worth carrying into the next choice.