Hello friends!
For as long as I can remember I have been a writer. Writing has always been the way I have been most effective when expressing myself. So it comes as no surprise that I am most comfortable sharing my feelings and issues on the page.
I love this quote from the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Just as breathing exercises help integrate body and mind, writing is a kind of psycho-neural muscular activity which helps bridge and integrate the conscious and subconscious minds. Writing distills, crystallizes, and clarifies thought and helps break the whole into parts.
Stephen R. Covey
Writing is a great way to process thoughts and to better understand concepts. That’s why people get so much out of taking notes to study. You can do the same for your life. Writing in a journal is a great way to get the benefits writing to process your day and the things that happen to you.
Journal writing is my favorite release. It is when I am best able to be myself. I feel that I am at my best when using written words to convey my message. I have been journaling for as long as I can remember and I’ve had countless journals in my life, many of which I still have. I have so many uses for them and they contain everything that has made me who I am.
That’s why today I want to convince you that you should start journaling too. It’s my favorite personal development tool. There are so many ways to go about starting and there is so much value in making it a part of your routine. Below I share some of the many benefits of keeping a journal.
Top 4 Benefits of Journaling
1. Journaling provides a mental health release and helps you manage emotions.
It is easy to get lost in your depression and anxiety. You may have no idea how to cope with those feeling of despair. Dealing with the intense emotions of mental illness can become too much for someone who has nowhere to turn. The pain can sometimes feel too big to manage and processing these feelings can feel impossible. This is when finding healthy coping mechanisms is most important.
Journaling helps you learn to manage your emotions in a way that helps you stay sane. Writing things down is a great way to start processing them. It is hard to know where to start until you understand where you are. Write down how you are feeling and how you got to that point. By understanding the situations that trigger these feelings, you can learn to cope and teach yourself to face them head on.
You can tell your deepest and darkest secrets and trust that no one will be there to judge you and make you feel bad. Journaling is an opportunity to be honest with yourself and face your demons in a way that is nonthreatening and private. Sometimes it is easier to honor your feelings when you are away from prying eyes and a journal is the perfect place for that.
2. You can get anger out on paper and work through personal issues.
We all have times where we need to work through different dilemmas and situations in our lives. We may have conflict or inner turmoil that can take time to unpack. For some talking to someone can be a very important vehicle for change in their life. Therapy can be a great way to talk through your problems and get to the root of them. However, not everyone can afford or has the option to receive counseling.
Journaling is a great way to process anger and other issues. Putting pen to paper can be a great release. Unloading all your problems on the page is a great way to process everything you are feeling and put some order to your jumbled thoughts. You can be honest with yourself. Talk through everything, maybe come up with some solutions when the dust clears.
It is also helpful to take up journaling in times of conflict with others. You can write down everything your frantic mind wants to say privately and avoid confrontation at a time when you are not composed. Writing things down and making sense of your feelings is a much better to approach things. And if you still have things you want to say to someone once you’ve blown off the steam, you’ll have had the time and space to organize your thoughts and resolve the situation in the best way.
3. You will get in touch with your inner self
We all have these stories about ourselves and who we think we are. But we humans are very complex creatures and getting to know your true self is a process we all need to go through. Journaling is a great way to know yourself better. There are so journaling prompts out there that will help you explore all the different areas of your life. Answering these types of questions can be very valuable as you write from the heart and allow yourself to be vulnerable.
Journaling provides a great opportunity to ask yourself the tough questions and admit things you would not tell another person. Your private journal is a great place to be completely honest with yourself. Using a journal in this way is very liberating and having that space where you can be totally honest is very valuable in a world where we are not always able to be our true selves.
4. It’s a chance to map out your life
A journal is a great tool to plan your dream life. This is your opportunity to tell your own story. A journal is the perfect place to start when making plans for yourself. You can be completely honest on the pages and really go for it. No one is looking so you can think as big as you want! Whether it is planning a future career or your bucket list, journals are a great place to store your wildest dreams.
Journaling allows you a place to let your imagination run wild. Every great outcome started with a plan. Journals are great for brainstorming ideas and scribbling possibilities. It may be easier to put thoughts together when you write them down. Your journal affords you the perfect place to let your genius flow. And when you write something down, you are better able to commit to it and to yourself than if you left it as a thought in your head that you didn’t develop and grow. Let your next big project manifest on the pages of your journal and see how one great idea can flourish into a plan that completely changes your life.
Most beneficial types of journaling
There are so many ways to use a journal and below are some of the best types of journal entries you can start using today.
Mental/emotional check
Keeping a journal is a great way to stay in touch with yourself and how you are feeling. Writing daily about the state of your emotions and how you are feeling inside is very valuable if you are trying to keep your mental health in top shape. Using a journal to track you moods can help you pinpoint triggers and better understand how your everyday interactions affect you. It is a great way to keep yourself in check when you are in a difficult time and need a constant place to unload.
Planner
Having a journal is a great way to stay organized and current about what is going on in your life. Many people use journals as planners and track their day on paper. You can use a journal to write out your to-do’s, prepare for the coming week, or even create a gameplan for your life. Writing things down is a great way to make sure they actually get done!
Food tracker
When trying to lose weight, many people find it helpful to write down everything they eat and how they feel towards food at any given time of day. Tracking your food intake and your emotions related to food is a great way to take control of your relationship with food and your diet. You get a better understanding of what times you get hungry and how you feel about certain decisions. Having to write down everything you eat can also deter you from making poor choices, especially when you analyze the emotion behind that desire. People who track their intake and emotions have a lot of success in improving their relationship with food.
Collection of lists
Now I am definitely a big fan of lists, even if it’s not the most glamorous use of a journal. Whether it’s to-do lists, gratitude lists, shopping lists, movie lists, or book lists, I love collecting my important information into a format that I can process and save. People who like to stay organized or may just have a bad memory (like me) find writing things down to be very helpful.
Stream of consciousness
The journaling method I use most is definitely the stream of consciousness journal entry. This is how I unpack my day and process everything in my head. When you put pen to paper and just write whatever your mind spits out, you can get to the root of what you are feeling and how your day affected you. This is when you are able to do all the mental work the benefits above spell out. Writing stream of consciousness is great for helping you relieve the burden of your issues and helping yourself find solutions to them by “talking” them out in your head. Next time you have a problem, trying working through it on paper and see what flows out.
Scripting and manifesting
Those of you who practice the Law of Attraction have probably tried scripting to manifest your desires. Scripting is a manifestation method in which you write out your desire, in great and careful detail, as if you already have it in your life. You create a visual for yourself, a story in which you describe exactly how you will get what you want. Those who practice the Law of Attraction find this helps them become prepared to receive and can have a clear line of communication with the universe. If you do practice, you may find the method very helpful in getting clear on what you want and will help you see just how you will receive it.
Journaling is a truly life altering practice. You can learn a lot about yourself and the way your mind works when you take the time to pay attention to your thoughts and processes. Writing in a journal is a great mental and emotional release and can provide you with a tool to fast track your personal successes. Try making journal writing a daily practice for you. You will find that it allows you to sleep better knowing you have dealt with your concerns and been truly honest with yourself. I write every night and find it has helped me enormously in understanding myself and my heart’s truest desires.
There are so many ways to keep a journal. You can keep a running document on your computer. Or you can use the notes in your phone. But the best way to do it I think is to buy a fresh new notebook and fill the pages with your greatest ideas. Need a place to start? Get my 31 Day Self-Coaching Journal free here for helpful prompts you can use to better understand your mind and what matters most to you. It’s a great opportunity to spend 31 days fully immersed in your own personal development.
Always remember, You are capable of amazing things and You are worthy of your wildest dreams!
Until next time friends!
XOXO
~~Valerie~~
