Over the years, I've studied many existing models and ways of thinking in the realms of psychology, spirituality, and self-improvement. Once in a blue moon, I became inspired to come up with my own models and systems.

In my opinion, a good model has three defining characteristics: it's perspective-widening, enlightening, and useful. I'd like to think that my models meet that standard.

I'll start by sharing the birth of a model that's near to my heart. It's the core of what Elevator 63 is and explains why it exists in the way you see it today.

The self-actualization triad

In the diagram below, there's a plain triangle with three words at each corner: body, mind, and spirit. To a spiritualist, this is a good, simple way to depict who we are as people. Remove any one element and you remove what it means to be human.

For a thought exercise, I wondered what is each aspect of myself wanting to achieve? Or in other words, how will I know when I'm satisfied in these three different ways? My answers are below:

The body wants to achieve capability — the capability to support itself and the efforts of the mind. I'm satisfied when I have bodily ability.

The mind wants to achieve understanding — understanding of the self, surroundings, and others. I'm satisfied if I have perspective.

The spirit wants to achieve alignment — being in sync with life, one's decisions, and desires. I'm satisfied if I have potential.

An updated graphic is below:

It became quickly clear to me that I was making models and journals around themes in psychology. And being a spiritual person myself, I was also willing to accept that spirituality was a cornerstone of what I was doing. But it took some time to label the final pillar of what I was doing - which is self-care. 

 

Now I've identified the "what", "why", and "how" of Elevator 63. Spirituality was the reason why I founded this company, and I believe the reason why you may be reading this. Psychology describes the how for my approach. I consider human psychology both in product development (like what product features make people actually want to journal?) and I also consider it deeply when I create the content for my models, systems, and guided journals. Your psychology is also fundamental to what makes this content work for you. Finally, self-care is what we're actually doing. Creating guided journals is my form of self-care, and journaling is a form of self-care too.

Which leads me to my final graphics.

Dictionaries

Besides models, I also like to create topic-specific dictionaries. These are useful for projects or journal ideas I'm working on, and simply serve as a database to aid with growth.

The two dictionaries you'll find are the dictionary of divinity — containing over 350 personality and character traits that a person may want to have — and the dictionary of self-care.

How it fits together

All of the models, systems, and dictionaries that I create speak to the "mind" aspect of the self-actualization triad. They were made to help widen perspective and help with understanding, both for ourselves and others.

It's my hope that you might use them in conjunction with Elevator 63 guided journals, as journaling speaks to the "body" aspect of the triangle. And if you are so inclined, may you find a spiritual practice that speaks to the "spirit" aspect. It is my dream that these tools can be a conduit for the fulfillment of your potential.