The Pen & the Mirror: Wisdom from 50 Years of Journaling Paperback – August 26, 2025

What happens when you keep a daily journal for 50 years?While recovering from surgery in 2023, Ken’s daughter Molly stopped by to check on him, and they got to talking about the value of journaling and self-reflection for both physical and mental recovery. Ken casually told her “When I’m gone, they’re all yours.”Molly said: “Dad, thank you, but realistically I can’t see myself reading through volumes of your handwriting. Have you ever thought of going through them and pulling out the best stories and lessons? I’d love to read that and I know a lot of my friends would too!”In an instant, Ken knew she was right, and the idea for The Pen & The Mirror was born..After combing through more than 130 volumes of handwritten journals from 50 years of journaling, we are proud to bring you Ken’s greatest hits – a distillation of the fundamental life lessons and Aha’s that have served him well. It’s five decades of living and learning, asking and listening, reading and observing, trying and failing and trying again.Readers will find:Raw, unfiltered storytelling and life lessons that will motivate you to build the life you envisionUniversal lessons, with a special focus on those who feel called—as Ken does—to live a life of impactWhy maintaining the reflective practice of journaling over time is a profound, powerful gateway to meaning and living a good lifeKen’s best tools and techniques for self-reflection and meaning-making that helped him succeed at Yale and Stanford, build a successful business, and reinvent himself as a social impact and non-profit leader, all while being a family manWhen Ken started back in 1973, journaling wasn’t the industry it is today. Come experience the power of a modern day master sharing his deepest and freshest reflections—a living example of what happens when you choose a discipline, practice what you preach, and stick to it for fifty years. Read more