It might be surprising in today’s digitally dominated world, but Journaling has become incredibly popular these days. In fact it’s actually being recommended by health professionals as a scientifically proven way to help cope with the stresses of modern day life.

It can be incredibly impactful especially in the unprecedented times we are facing now.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of journaling, think back to when you were younger. You may have started a secret diary back in elementary school or middle school, and wrote about whoever was your secret crush that week, or how you managed to sneak out to hang with friends when your parents thought you were in your room diligently doing your homework?

Journaling is still writing your thoughts down, but is generally a place for you to express your deeper thoughts, feelings, and emotions rather than just catalogue daily events.

So how can journaling help you cope with stress?

It releases pent up feelings
Think about it. Do you say out loud everything you ever think? Probably not. Most people don’t. We all have thoughts that are never verbally expressed, especially negative ones. So instead of letting those thoughts become pent up emotions that eat you up inside, a journal gives you a place write them down instead. It can be a great stress reliever to tear up the paper once you’re done – symbolically getting rid of the negative feelings and dumping them in the trash where they belong.

Nobody is judging you
Allowing pent up emotions to build up inside will eventually have a negative effect on your well-being. Journaling is an excellent way to getting things off your chest and releasing your emotions in a non-judgmental environment. You can clear your mind and mentally purge the stresses of your day without worrying what somebody else might think. Thoughts and emotions you might otherwise have kept hidden and never talked about can be released.

You gain greater self-awareness
Writing down both positive and negative feelings helps you become more self-aware. You can reflect on how you felt about something that happened in your day. How did you react? How do you wish you had reacted? What thoughts did you have but didn’t vocalize? What would you do if the same thing happened again?

Reading back what you wrote every few days allows you to re-assess the issues that arose and then learn from them. Knowing your emotional strengths and limitations is one of the best ways to understand yourself so you can cope better with stress as it arises, as well as grow and thrive both mentally and physically.

Better mental clarity
Sometimes your thoughts and feelings can seem like a jumbled mess, especially when you are stressed and your mind is anxious. Writing your thoughts and feelings down can help you sort them out logically so you can understand them better. Having the words on paper in front of you can also help you see things more clearly and put situations into perspective.

Recognize the positives
Journaling isn’t just for getting rid of negative emotions. Keeping a gratitude journal is an excellent way of focusing on the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives. When you write down the good things in your life and give thanks for them, that will often allow you to see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes, and realize that maybe things aren’t quite as bad as they first seemed.

As you can see, there are many reasons why keeping a journal helps you cope with stress. All you need is a notebook and pen to get started. I’ve found the less precious the notebook, the freer my thoughts come out.

You will not only feel less stress by writing down your daily thoughts, but journaling is also proven to improve cognitive function, strengthen the immune system and improve your memory.

Why not get started today?!

Whether you’re going through a difficult period in your life, or perhaps dealing with anxiety and depression, journaling can serve as a free and entirely self-managed form of therapy that’s actually quite effective. In fact, keeping a journal can also be beneficial when you’ve managed to reach and sustain a state of emotional balance and mental peace. Journaling gives us perspective into our daily life and also helps us see the “whole picture” in life that even talking to a best friend cannot give us. Let’s look at some ways in which journaling can be life changing.

Evoke A Sense of Mindfulness
Far too often, we move from day to day without ever stopping to smell the roses [see my article on this]. Not only are we failing to feel and express gratitude for the many wonderful things that that are happening in our lives, but we’re overlooking a number of incredible learning opportunities. Writing in a journal provides you a chance to stop and reflect on seemingly minor events that might otherwise go unnoticed.

This practice isn’t just about noticing the positive things in life either. During the process of writing about your day and your interactions with others, you may notice negative patterns repeating themselves in your thoughts and deeds, problems within your personal relationships, personal needs that you haven’t been paying attention to, and alternative ways of responding to both internal and external stress that you haven’t been using.

Establish a Positive Mindset
When you keep a journal, you have the power to fill it with any type of material that you choose. Spending time to reflect on the small blessings in life, however, can automatically move you from a negative and self-defeating mindset into a more positive and proactive one. You might be swimming in debt, struggling in your inter-personal relationships, or barely hanging on at your job, but you may have the ability to walk, run, and jump, which is something that many people lack.

You have another day to affect change in your life, strong mental abilities, the power of self-forgiveness, and more. Taking the time to list out things that establish you as stronger, smarter, and more enduring than the problems that you’re facing at the present moment will give you the strength, and the right attitude, to keep pushing forward.

Start Forming New Goals
Journals are also great tools for overall life planning. If you’ve ever wondered how some people seem to have their whole lives figured out, you should consider the fact that these individuals may be keeping journals. The best part about using a journal to establish and pursue life goals is the fact that this process can be an entirely informal one. This is merely a platform for bouncing ideas around and helping them take shape. Once you’re ready to make an actual commitment to a new life effort, you can always take notes from your journal and use them to draft a more formal plan.

Enhance Your Creative Potential
The act of journaling can be an incredibly creative process as well. After all, you’re not just writing about the things that have happened or are happening in your life; you’re also writing about the way in which you want things to be. This flexes your imagination, enhances your creative skills, and promotes new and far more interesting ways of thinking. For some people, journaling has even given rise to some fairly impressive works of fiction and fan fiction. If you’re a writer or aspire to be a writer, a journal gives you sufficient private space for writing without fear of judgment.

Build Better Communication Skills
In the very long list of benefits that regular journaling can provide, better communication is hardly the least. The practice of writing about your thoughts and feelings will make you more adept in issuing thoughtful responses. It will also improve your emotional intelligence, thereby making you better able to respond to the wants and needs of others in an empathetic way.

PRACTICE:

Tell Your Life Story with a Journal
In the later years of your life, will you remember all of your adventures? Will you vividly recall the emotions that you felt during some of the best times as well as some of the worst times? Will your family be able to learn about who you truly were as a person after you are gone? Will they understand your side of the story or your driving motivations? Each life is filled with incredibly rich and poignant twists and turns. Even on average days of your life, your unique thoughts and daily activities can be rich with meaning and importance in subtle or grand ways. Journaling is an excellent way to tell your life story for your own benefit or to share with others at a much later date.

Get to Know Yourself
Through journaling, you get to take a close, introspective look at who you are and what you stand for. Many people simply assume that they know who they are a person because they live in their own skin, but as soon as you sit down to put pen to paper, you may realize that there are at least a few parts of yourself that are a mystery. With each new journal entry that you write, you may discover a little more about yourself that you previously did not know. Your life story that unfolds on each new page in your journal may fascinate you in different ways.

Examine Your Highs and Lows
Many people who journal on a regular basis will not have major dramatic events to examine more closely, but no life is without its highs and lows. Journaling gives you a chance to capture the events of each passing day as well as to analyze your own feelings about these events. IF you choose to share your journal with others, the details of each journal entry can give others a day-by-day account about your own experiences and feelings related to routine days as well as to major life events.

Let It All Out
Many people remember major life events, but they fail to remember important smaller details surrounding those events. They may also forget details about day-to-day life that may actually be relevant and interesting in various ways. Through journaling, you can share the details of your life based on your own observations, and you can also let out all of your feelings. When you read back through the journal at a later date, you can recall in clear detail what your life was like at a certain point. This also gives you an opportunity to see how much you’ve grown since that past experience.

Explore the Big Picture
Everyone wants to find some meaning in their life. That meaning may be something profoundly important to the community, or it may be a special significance to others who are near and dear to you. Through the retrospection associated with reading through the daily journal entries that you wrote, you may be able to see the big picture of your own life. You can understand the importance of your own life. Others who read your journal and hear about the story of your life in your own words may also gain a deeper understanding about the meaning of your life.

Journaling can be a richly rewarding experience. It is an excellent way to de-stress and to sort through difficult emotions. It also is a way to document the story of your life for yourself and for others. You do not need to be going through some major life event to journal. Each day has its beautiful moments as well as its stressful moments. These are precious moments, and journaling captures each day in vivid clarity and great detail.

Please share in the comments section what you find most valuable about journaling.

You’ve likely heard that practicing gratitude is good for your body, your mind, and your soul. It is also often mentioned that a practice of gratitude will help you manifest the life of your dreams.

But how do you actually put a practice of gratitude into practice? Keep reading!

Gratitude has strong links to life satisfaction and good mental health. People who are grateful experience more enthusiasm, love, and joy. They also have better protection from emotions that have a destructive impact like bitterness, greed, and envy. Simply because they area more focused on what is good in their life.

It is believed that gratitude can reduce your lifetime risk of developing a substance abuse disorder, anxiety, or even depression. It can also help those who suffer from these issues and other conditions to find healing and closure. Being thankful helps you to understand that there is goodness out there, even if you are suffering or feeling lost.

Gratitude isn’t just an uplifting and warm feeling; it can also benefit your body. People who introduce gratitude practice into their lives cope more effectively with stress, enjoy better physical health, and recover more rapidly from illnesses.

Even better, gratitude extends beyond you. When you experience gratitude, it reaches past you into your wider social circle. Gratitude has the power of inspiring others to act more kindly, and it can strengthen your bond with others around you. People who are grateful are more likely to be viewed as trustworthy, optimistic, outgoing, and helpful. These are valuable characteristics that draw others to you and help you forge positive and strong relationships. And better yet? Gratitude is contagious! Wouldn’t you love to spread more good feelings to your community, to the world?!

When you introduce gratitude practice into your everyday routine, you’ll experience positive effects such as:

• A sense of abundance in your life
• A greater appreciation of how others contribute to your well-being
• Recognition of the small pleasures in life
• Developing a more positive outlook that allows for a happier life experience

If you start practicing gratitude regularly, you can begin to reap all those benefits for yourself.

Banishing Negativity, Focusing On Positivity

A key element of introducing gratitude practice into your life is banishing negativity and focusing on positivity in return.

Thinking positively comes with a host of benefits including:

• Happiness – banishing negativity in favor of a positive attitude can awaken happiness in your life. You may not be rich and you may not have reached the career goals you set yourself, but happiness is all about attitude. If you have a positive mindset, you automatically become happy. Recognize your happiness doesn’t depend on an external cause. Rather, it comes from within. All too often, we find reasons not to be happy. We delay adopting a positive mindset. I’ll be happy when I lose weight. I’ll be happy when I win the lottery… Banish negative thoughts like “I’m too fat to be happy,” or “I’m too poor to be happy.” You can make yourself happy right now without any of those things by simply thinking positively. It sounds hard at first, but with some practice it can become second nature!
• Motivation – when you banish negative thinking, you can actually become more motivated to accomplish the goals and dreams you set for yourself. Being motivated in itself is a positive characteristic, pushing you forward, encouraging you, and helping you to overcome obstacles. Being positive makes you more motivated to succeed and it also helps you believe that you can be successful. As a result, you will be able to achieve more than you ever imagined.
• Self-esteem – when you have a positive mental attitude you’ll have higher self-esteem. You will look at yourself more kindly and begin to see your good traits rather than only the bad ones. Ignore negative people and forget about what they say and think. As soon as you adopt a positive mindset, others around you automatically raise their opinions of you and become more respectful.
• Better health – positive thinkers are usually healthier and more energetic than negative thinkers. The mind’s effect on the body is a powerful one, and positive thinkers enjoy a healthier immune system with faster recovery times.
• Better relationships – when you think positively, you’ll find that other people gravitate towards you. People prefer those around them to be positive since they bring happiness, energy and joy into their lives.

Gratitude – A Skill That Takes Work

Although we’re all capable of being grateful for so many things in life, it’s not something that we all do naturally. This makes it a somewhat alien skill. When you first decide to start practicing gratitude it can be very difficult at first.

You may find yourself struggling to think of things to feel thankful for, or you may try telling yourself to be grateful but not truly feeling it. All of this is normal, and it’s something that needs to be worked through to come out the other side and to reap all the benefits that gratitude can bring.

Remember that gratitude is a skill like any other. How does an aspiring musician end up playing at Carnegie Hall? The answer is “practice.” It’s the same for gratitude. Practice makes perfect, so keep working on being grateful for the little things. It may be hard at first. In fact, it almost certainly will be. But, with a little effort and time, it will eventually become easier and, soon, being thankful will be second nature.

One great way to get started with a gratitude practice is to take a simple paper calendar (you can always make your own) and write three things you are grateful for each day. Ideally you will write your list in the morning, but any time of day you can spend two minutes reflecting on the good in your life is a great time!

As your calendar fills up with all these wonderful, beautiful, even simple things, you will start to see the bounty in which you already live!

If you forget a day, don’t fret. Just fill in more things the next day. Can’t think of three “new” ideas each day. That’s ok! Repeating what you really love, what you are really grateful for is also a great way to start.

The point is to keep up the PRACTICE so that over time gratitude will become a natural process for you every day!

Do you insert positive things about yourself into your journal when you’re looking at your goals?

If you’ve been looking at these kinds of articles for a bit, then you’ve probably heard about the importance of positive self-talk and things of this nature. Sometimes the world can make you feel so cynical that positive self-talk just sounds like silliness, but it’s a lot more powerful than most people give it credit for, and it’s a very important part of a process that helps you to reach your goals.

It Keeps You Pumped

One of the main reasons why positive self-talk is so important is that it keeps you excited for your goals. If you’re feeling good about the things that you’ve set out to do, then there’s a better chance that you’ll keep going and trying when things aren’t going perfectly. That’s why it’s so hard to get to new things when people are being negative towards you frequently.

When you’re writing out your goals, use the positive talk to keep you on page with the goal, and include some perks that you can have along the way. If you begin to have some serious blowback with the negative part of your mind, then you can break out your secret weapon and use positive affirmations to counter with those bad thoughts.

Positive Affirmations and the Power They Have

The great thing about positive affirmations is that they can be as general or as specific as you like depending on the context in which you’re going to use them. If you feel as though you might fail, you can tell yourself that, “Success is something I know I can create for myself.” A large part of the reason why this matters so much, is because you can begin to replace those negative thoughts with more realistic views of yourself.

Another thing that happens is that you will probably begin to see patterns that you’ve created in life to distract yourself or to sabotage yourself in some way. Even though these kinds of realizations are uncomfortable at times, it’s another important step towards achieving the things you want.

How to Begin

The best way to get this going would be to focus on one attainable goal for a week or two. Don’t worry if it’s something that you don’t think you’ll be able to get done in that time. It’s mostly just so that you know what to do and how this process really works. Write down your singular goal and be sure to include all of the steps that are going to make it possible to reach that goal. At this point, it’s really important that you make some kind of plausible timeline for the next week that tells you what you’ll be doing to advanced towards your goal.

This helps you to get to a real-world view that commits you to getting to the next part of your personal or professional success. You might find it helpful to ask a close friend or loved one of some kind to help you to retain your accountability to this endeavor. Having someone there to remind can make it a lot easier to stick to things as well. They would be sort of like a spotter who helps you to stay focused and safe during workouts. Make a list of the things that make you feel like you aren’t able to achieve the things you set out to do.

After you have all of them written down, spend some time rewriting them into positive versions of each reason, so that you CAN do it. For example, you would write something like, “I don’t think I know enough to reach my goals” and then you would change it to, “I know more than enough to get to my goals.” If you made a list of 10 or so, then you just want to pick 2 – 3 of these formerly negative statements that have now been transformed into dynamic affirmations that will help you to focus. Repeat or write them every day no less than 7 times each. Start in the morning, and for extra effort, do it at night.

Be Patient and Persistent

A lot of the things that you’ve set out to do aren’t going to be the easiest paths to face. In all of these things always remember that you’ll working towards something and that you shouldn’t expect any instant results. It’s going to take a lot of patience and persistence. This means following through and observing this process that you’ve committed to. Take each day at a time and be sure to remind yourself why you’re doing it, and that you’re entirely capable of doing it. The more you believe, more possible it will become.

Journaling For Your Life

If you are ready to achieve and sustain a state of emotional balance, mental peace, and to see how putting yourself first allows you to be an even better support at home, at work, and to friends, this interactive course is for you!

Journaling supports your self-discovery and growth!

Learn More

Find Peace and Happiness

When you start journaling your life, you begin to find all of these amazing benefits. It is wonderful for your mental, physical, and emotional health. These benefits might take a little while to become apparent, so be patient! And don’t force yourself to feel or experience something you think you should be experiencing. Just let it come naturally.

One of our favorite benefits of journaling is the ability to truly become a happier and more peaceful person. This is through the act of journaling, the clarity you get, creating plans for the future, and so much more. Here is a quick look at how you can become a happier and more content person with journaling.

It’s Not Meant to Be Perfect

The first thing to remember is that journaling is not meant to be perfect. It is not something you need to do a certain way and there is no “right” way to do it. But that’s the beauty of it – it becomes whatever you need it to be.

This is at the forefront of finding more peace with journaling, because there is no pressure. You are not showing your journal to anyone (unless you want to), so you can write anything and everything you want without worrying about the repercussions.

Your journal is your private sanctuary, your safe haven, the one place you can go to where you can express all your inner thoughts and hopes and fears without worrying about judgment or ridicule.

This provides so much power for your life, allowing you to become a much more peaceful person, and ultimately, a happier person.

Expert Tip – Keeping Your Journal Private

If this is something you hope to get out of your journaling experience, keep it private! Either don’t tell people you have it or always keep it with you or in a safe place. Knowing nobody can find your journal and read it makes it even more freeing for you.

Journaling for Mindful Thinking

The next way journaling can help you become a happier person is through mindful thinking. Mindfulness is all about living in the current moment and acknowledging what you feel right now, whether it is good or bad. You take each moment to reflect on your current mental and physical state, without worrying too much about the future or dwelling on the past.

It is used in many different scenarios, with some people doing mindful meditation on a daily basis, while others practice mindfulness for things like weight loss (mindful eating) or just mindful thinking as they go throughout their day.

It is an amazing tool for your mental and emotional wellbeing.

How do You Use it in Journaling?

Something to keep in mind is that you don’t need to try to be mindful while journaling, because the act of writing in your journal alone will become a more mindful experience. However, here are some tips for being more mindful as you journal:

Take a minute to think about your thoughts first. There is no need to rush into writing in your journal if you have a little extra time. Take a few minutes to just sit quietly, close your eyes, and explore what your mind is providing you. It will typically guide you in one direction or another, giving you clues as to what is a priority right now in your thought process.

Journal about what you are feeling at this very moment before going into the past or future. Yes, there are a lot of benefits to journaling about what you have gone through, remembering important moments in your life, and making plans for the future. But for mindful journaling, always start with the present and what you are experiencing at this point in your life before exploring other moments.

When making plans, think of what you can change NOW. Another way to be more mindful in your journaling process is to think of what you can change now, or in the near future, as opposed to what you can do in 6 months or a year or longer. As you make plans and set your goals for the future, always start with the present day and circumstances right now in your life.

Allow yourself to be grateful for your current life. A big part of being mindful is understanding, acknowledging, and appreciating how you feel right now. Listen to what your mind is telling you, feel those emotions, be grateful for your life, then move on.

Express Gratitude

Speaking of gratitude, this is another amazing benefit you get by journaling. Sometimes it can seem a little counter-intuitive, but when you are more thankful for what is in your life, it brings in even more happiness and more things to be grateful for.

Never underestimate the power of gratitude.

No matter where your life is now, you have something to be grateful for. There are big things and small things, and everything in between. Here are some examples, though what YOU are grateful for is going to be unique for YOU.

• You have steady employment – whether it is your dream job or not.
• Your personal/family life is going well.
• You got up today.
• Your illness is improving.
• You have amazing friends in your life.
• You accomplished something today.
• You are working hard on your goals.
• You have all the basic comforts people need.
• You had help with a big problem you were experiencing.
• Your faith is helping to bring you peace in a dark time.

Remember nothing is too small or insignificant.

How to Express Gratitude in Your Journal

This part is easy – just write it down! Some people will have a journal specifically dedicated to their daily gratitude, but this isn’t necessary. If you are journaling your life and writing in it every day, you can have one section each day where you list at least one thing you are grateful for today. This is also going to help with mindfulness.

Don’t feel too much pressure to make it long and detailed. Just a simple sentence about something you are grateful for today is all you need.

Happiness Through Achievements

Another thing that people tend to underestimate in their life is how much happier and fulfilled they feel when they accomplish something. Making goals and reaching them is so much more than what it brings to you on a financial or professional level – this can bring you so much joy when you realize you set a goal and accomplished it.

These can be achievements in your personal or professional life. There are a lot of wonderful things to set your mind to and work hard to strive for.

Every small and large achievement is worth celebrating.

Use your journal to celebrate every single achievement you have, from small things like getting up the courage to meet someone new, to large achievements like completing a big project or a goal you wrote in your journal a while ago.

Memories and Nostalgia

There are some memories in your life that you might not want to remember – mistakes you have made, regrets you have. But those good memories – the ones you really want to hold onto, can bring you joy.

Think about a time when you were truly happy. It can be one small moment, a compliment paid to you, a fun birthday, a special moment between you and a beloved family member. When you think back on it, it brings you joy, right? You smile at the thought of it.

This is what nostalgia can bring to you. When you write everything down in your journal, you have all these opportunities to bring back your happy memories, reflect on them, and become a happier person having experienced them.

Journaling For Your Life

Journaling supports your self-discovery and growth!

Knowing who you are is essential to keeping you on track for personal success and leading a happy, calm life.

If you are ready to be held accountable for putting yourself first it is time to enroll in the 4-week interactive course Journaling For Your Life!

Put yourself first so you can be an even better support at home, at work, and to friends, this interactive course is for you!

Enroll Now

In the later years of your life, will you remember all of your adventures? Will you vividly recall the emotions that you felt during some of the best times as well as some of the worst times? Will your family be able to learn about who you truly were as a person after you are gone? Will they understand your side of the story or your driving motivations?

Each life is filled with incredibly rich and poignant twists and turns. Even on average days of your life, your unique thoughts and daily activities can be rich with meaning and importance in subtle or grand ways. Journaling is an excellent way to tell your life story for your own benefit or to share with others at a much later date.

Get to Know Yourself

Through journaling, you have the opportunity to take a close, introspective look at who you are and what you stand for. Many people simply assume that they know who they are as a person because they live in their own skin, but as soon as you sit down to put pen to paper, you may realize that there are at least a few parts of yourself that are a mystery. With each new journal entry that you write, you may discover a little more about yourself that you previously did not know. Your life story that unfolds on each new page in your journal may fascinate you in different ways.

Examine Your Highs and Lows

Many people who journal on a regular basis will not have major dramatic events to examine more closely, but no life is without its highs and lows. Journaling gives you a chance to capture the events of each passing day as well as to analyze your own feelings about these events. If you choose to share your journal with others, the details of each journal entry can give others a day-by-day account about your own experiences and feelings related to routine days as well as to major life events.

Let It All Out

Many people remember major life events, but they fail to remember important smaller details surrounding those events. They may also forget details about day-to-day life that may actually be relevant and interesting in various ways. Through journaling, you can share the details of your life based on your own observations, and you can also let out all of your feelings. When you read back through the journal at a later date, you can recall in clear detail what your life was like at a certain point.

Explore the Big Picture

Everyone wants to find some meaning in their life. That meaning may be something profoundly important to the community, or it may be a special significance to others who are near and dear to you. Through the retrospection associated with reading through the daily journal entries that you wrote, you may be able to see the big picture of your own life. You can understand the importance of your own life. Others who read your journal and hear about the story of your life in your own words may also gain a deeper understanding about the meaning of your life.

Journaling can be a richly rewarding experience. It is an excellent way to de-stress and to sort through difficult emotions. It also is a way to document the story of your life for yourself and for others. You do not need to be going through some major life event to journal. Each day has its beautiful moments as well as its stressful moments. These are precious moments, and journaling captures each day in vivid clarity and great detail.

Journaling For Your Life

Journaling supports your self-discovery and growth!

Knowing who you are is essential to keeping you on track for personal success and leading a happy, calm life.

If you are ready to be held accountable for putting yourself first it is time to enroll in the interactive course Journaling For Your Life!

Put yourself first so you can be an even better support at home, at work, and to friends, this interactive course is for you!

Enroll Now

Motivation VS Habit in Journaling

Motivation is something many people strive for with journaling and many other activities, but often find that it disappears pretty quickly. Your motivation is what drives you. It gives you something to work toward, it is the reason why you want to complete these goals, and it influences the choices you make. The problem is that it doesn’t last forever, and at a certain point, you need to find another reason to keep going.

This is true of journaling as well. What you want to do is form a journaling habit, instead of relying solely on your motivation.

Motivation is Temporary

This can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow, because you have always been told you just need more motivation to get things done. Motivation to exercise, motivation to reach your goal, motivation to get chores done around your house, motivation to wake up early, and yes, motivation to write in your journal.

Motivation isn’t something that lasts forever; it might come and go multiple times. It gets you started and provides that drive you need to get up and start something new. But, it is temporary. There will always come a point when the motivation fades, and you have to rely on your own willingness to keep going, persistence, and making sure you have built a good habit that you will continue working on

Building a Habit

How do you keep journaling every day if your motivation doesn’t last? You start a habit. While you still want to make sure it is something you enjoy doing and that you benefit from it, you also want to focus on making it a habit. This can take time, but as long as you keep at it, it will soon be something you do every day without even thinking about it.

This is why in the beginning, it is good to be consistent with when and where you journal. Over time, it is great to try new environments and times of the day for journaling, but for that first month, try to simply make it a habit.

You can choose how to do this, such as writing in your journal first thing every morning, bringing it with you to write during your lunch break, or saving it for the end of the day. Choose a time of day you can schedule in and do it around the same time every day, until it becomes a habit where you know it is time to write in your journal.

Let’s start with the basics – which is why and how journaling can actually help with your creativity. Keep in mind this is not just for artists and writers, but all types of creative people, and people who don’t feel creative and want to explore that part of themselves more.

Here are just some of the ways journaling can help, but really this list could be miles longer. Starting journaling yourself is the best way to see all the many ways it can help you.

You Unleash What is Holding You Back

One of the first things you might notice when you start journaling, is that a lot of things come up you haven’t thought about before, or at least not in a while. This is where that magical “clarity” and “self awareness” comes in. These are two things that people discuss often in terms of how journaling has helped them.

The trick here is to be 100 percent honest when you journal. If you are concerned someone will find it and read your inner feelings, then keep it safe! Make your journal private. Don’t let anyone see what you write, and if you fear they might get curious, never write in it when other people are around. That way they have no idea you are using it.

By being honest with yourself, you tap into what has been holding you back and what you might be hiding even from yourself. This is what people are talking about when they say clarity. The mind and subconscious are powerful things, and often times you have thoughts and ideals far back in your subconscious that need a little coaxing.

These thoughts are shy and might take a little convincing, but once you start journaling to reveal them, something magical happens. You not only understand yourself a little more, but you discover what was holding you back in a creative capacity.

When you get to know yourself more and who you really are, you discover your inner creative soul and are able to express that much more freely.

You Can Sketch in Your Journal

Aside from just writing in your journal, keep in mind that you can also use it for creating the art itself. If you are an artist or want to be more artistic in your creative endeavors, use your journal! You can start creating different types of sketches on full pages of the journal, or just to describe what you are talking about.

Drawing in the journal provides additional advantages as well. When you are writing about something complicated, and find it easier to sketch your feelings instead of put them into words, journaling is great for that.

It can also help you to explore different emotions through your sketches, by seeing what direction your art goes under different circumstances. You can also use different types of art medium and materials to express yourself even further.

Ideas Come to Life with Journaling
Another amazing benefit of journaling for your creativity, which we will explore more in a later section, is that your ideas often come to life. You can explore them, get them out on paper, and either write or sketch them out.

It is not uncommon for your brain to be filled with different ideas, but with no real way to express them, they either pile up, or you end up forgetting about many of them.

Don’t let this happen! Start using your journal to write down every single idea you have, creative or non-creative, and you will be surprised by how much you can actually flesh out these ideas. They soon become something and you are able to let your creative nature explore even more.

It Becomes a Part of Who You Are
Journaling and creativity truly go hand in hand, and they just become a part of you. You put your heart and soul into journaling in the same way you do any creative endeavor. You become someone that is more free with their feelings, isn’t afraid to hide their emotions, and has found a new and healthy way to express themselves.

Clarity Often Precedes Creativity
As mentioned previously, journaling can bring you a lot of clarity. When you have more clarity and self-awareness, you know a lot more about yourself and what motivates you. This in turn can help to promote more creativity.

This process is gradual, so don’t expect a miraculous change overnight. However, the more you journal and really get to know yourself, the more you will see what motivates you to succeed, and where your inspirations for being more creative come from.

Maybe you understand when and why you like to write, and what you want to create with art or other creative aspirations. This can also help when you need to be more creative in your job, no matter what that job is. Or if you just want to boost your creativity in your everyday life.

Journaling For Your Life

If you are ready to achieve and sustain a state of emotional balance, mental peace, and to see how putting yourself first allows you to be an even better support at home, at work, and to friends, this interactive course is for you!

Journaling supports your self-discovery and growth!

Learn More

Most of us have a lot of things on our minds, yet we don’t put enough of it down on paper. Many of those ideas and thoughts bouncing around in your head can sometimes start to feel overwhelming. You may have secret hopes, dreams, love interests, failures or ups and downs going through your head.

It can be hard to remember each of those and it can be very difficult to keep all of your thoughts organized without writing them down somewhere. A great way to remedy this, as well as clear your mind a little, is to write everything down in a journal. Keeping a journal is great for anyone and is an awesome way to express yourself away from any judgment of others. Below are some tips for starting your first journal.

1. Protect Your Privacy
You must first think of ways to protect your privacy when you start a journal. This is especially true if you plan to add ideas that you don’t want people stealing. Always reserve the first page of your journal for your name and phone number or email address. This way, if it gets lost, you might get lucky and have it returned to you. If you like to write online, you may consider getting a personal email set aside just for your journal entries. Alternately, consider getting a flash drive to keep your entries on and make them password protected.

2. Date Your Entries
If you are only able to establish one habit when writing in your journal, it needs to be adding dates to all of your entries. This will allow you to reconstruct your entries chronologically by dates. It can also let you notice the silence in between certain entries.

3. Keep and Read What You Write
Many don’t feel the need to go back and read what they have written. However, it can be of great importance to go back and read what you wrote previously. You can be pleasantly surprised with how much you knew before and how far you have come.

4. Write Thoughts Down Quickly
Many people who journal regularly know all to well about “journal block.” This is the same as writer’s block and you can lose everything you want to write down if you don’t get it out in time. To outsmart this block, write everything down as fast as you can or as soon as you have a thought come to mind. Don’t tell yourself you will write it down later because you might miss your chance.

5. Be Truthful
Your own personal truth is not your enemy. You are writing for yourself, not for anyone else. Do not try and talk yourself out of getting to know yourself better and trying to understand how you really feel about things. You have to give yourself permission to tell the truth about everything. Also, give yourself the ability to go at your own pace. If you are having a hard time facing your own truth, you can slow it down a little.

6. Write Naturally
The best thing about keeping a journal is that there are no rules to follow. Don’t overthink what you are writing or how you are writing it. Write naturally and enjoy the process. You will gain more from it than you realize.

7. When You Start, Don’t Stop
When you start a new entry, it is best to start with the present moment. This could be what is going on in your life that day or that week. It is best to keep the thoughts and ideas flowing. Add in how you are feeling about everything going on as well. When you come back to read old entries, you will find it easier to relive the moment if you were more descriptive about how you were feeling as things were happening in your life. While writing, don’t take time to go back and edit or rewrite anything. Let everything flow out naturally.

8. Start with A Quick Meditation Moment
In order to get yourself ready for a writing session, take a few moments to take some deep breaths and meditate. You can use a variety of things to help you get in the mood for writing. The use of deep breathing, soft music, stretches or candles are all great things to help get your creative juices flowing.

Do any of these methods resonate for you? If so, please share your experience below.