How it started

For years I have participated in a wide variety of practices and programs—Twelve-Step meetings, psychotherapy, meditation classes—and have read shelves of spiritual, self-help and personal-psychology books. From all of these, one lesson stood out most: look at myself honestly and often.

From Habit to Product

“We first make our habits,
and then our habits make us.”

John Dryden

I tried many approaches before finding what works best for me: ending the day with a personal inventory, taking note of my mood, what I am grateful for, my wins, stumbles and next steps. Over time I found I didn't like leaving personal notebooks around the house, nor did I want to just throw away my thoughts and reflections. So I wrote a simple app to create a permanent, personal record. After using it a little while I included indexing to search past entries easily, then added different ways to compare entries over time.

With research and feedback, first from fellow 12-step members and later from friends and an expanding circle of interested acquaintances, we refined Daily Inventory's question prompts and presentation until we had an app that we agreed helps make a mindful self-reflection as routine as brushing your teeth.

Fast: seven guided prompts, about 10 minutes.
Evidence-inspired: grounded in cognitive-behavioural and mindfulness research.
Insightful: charts surface trends you’d never spot on paper.
Private: your entries never leave your device unless you choose to back them up.

What Users Notice

Most people finish a session feeling lighter, clearer and more hopeful. With a few weeks of use, the data visualisations will uncover patterns in attitude, behavior and relationships that suggest opportunities to change and possibilities for growth.

I feel better when I use Daily Inventory. I think you will, too.

DailyInventory