How many times have you thought to yourself, “I should totally start journaling”? How many times has someone in your life suggested you journal? Bonus points if it was your life coach!
Look, we all know it’s a good idea. Here are 5 reasons why you need to start now.
Anxiety relief. Are you staying up late worrying? Whip out your journal, lay it all out there, and when you are done, you can let the paper worry about it while you sleep.
Get to know yourself. Journaling your thoughts can help you clarify your opinions and learn things about yourself. Putting your innermost thoughts onto paper can be an intimate experience that makes you more in tune with what you think & feel.
In place of trying to remember it all. Stop trying to juggle all your ideas in your head and write them down. It’s freeing!
See how far you’ve come. There’s nothing quite like flipping through an old journal and seeing where you were vs where you are now. You’ll see growth but also be reminded of things that really made an impact on you way back when.
Entertain your descendants. Let’s face it, when you pass away someday (hopefully in a VERY distant future!), your grandkids are going to be snooping in your house hoping to find the goods – your journals. Leave a pot of gold at the end of their treasure hunt!
How to start.
In my opinion, the best way to start journaling is to throw away everything you think you know about journaling. It doesn’t have to be anything in particular. You can write one word or one sentence a day. You can write 3 things you are grateful for every day. You can misspell every other word, write bullet points, leave sentences incomplete. You can write the worst stuff known to humankind. It can be deep or shallow, all about your dreams for the future, your day, or your past. It can just be a bunch of questions. You can use a crayon. You can type it. One of my clients even voice records herself as a way of journaling.
There’s no wrong way – except if you aren’t doing it at all.
