Journaling Benefits are real. They transform the way you feel and give you clarity when dealing with difficulty, and bring value to your thought process.
And the opposite is also true!
When you write about happy moments or successes, you fill your pages with pride.
Keeping a journal helps stimulate future Ideas and understand past experiences.
It also cracks open a door and lets you get an insider’s view of your wants and needs, and if we’re honest with our words, it can even move us forward to places we wouldn’t dare go alone. That’s just one of many journaling benefits.
This is what makes keeping a journal worth it. With each turn of the page, you never know when it’s going to shine!. A simple thought, or a phrase, or even a single word can set it off.
Practice journaling, and yes, you will reap the rewards.
To help motivate you, here are 15 reasons you should start writing in a notebook. Have faith – even if you only invest 10 minutes a day, you will still feel the journaling benefits.
Actionable Steps Towards Your Goals
Who are you today? And what do you want your life to look like?
We all have changes we’d like to make in our lives. It may be small like drinking more water daily or a significant change, like starting a new business.
But the size of the changes you want to make doesn’t matter.
What does matter is writing down in detail the goal you wish to accomplish and how you feel about it.
When you write it down, you confirm that “this is important” to you, and that’s a first step in reaching your goals.
Your journaling benefits are so close. Download the free prompts below to get started!
Keeping a Journal Tracks Emotions.
Some days are roller-coaster days, right?
You wake up frazzled, rush around, think you can’t get anything right, and so on… we all have those days.
But when those days become weeks, then it’s time to slow down and gain some journaling benefits and insights on what’s happening.
Use your journal to write down those emotions.
How do they impact you? How do you wish things were different? What can you do to make it better?
If you write in your journal consistently, your stress levels will go down.
Mind Map a Creative Idea
A journal is for writing, but it’s also for whatever else you want it to be. You can draw. You can make a mind map. You can let your imagination take over.
Use colors or glue photos that help you in some way.
You could create a vision board or a storyboard about yourself. Anything goes.
It’s not a sacred notebook, it’s a guide, a companion, and you are allowed to use it as you wish!
Write Your Shopping List.
Why not? It’s part of daily life. And your journal is there to help make things easier.
We cook often, even when we’re tired and prefer doing something else, because well, we have to eat right?
To make things simpler, try to plan out meals in advance, and then write out all the ingredients you need for the week before going shopping.
The key is to get organized and strive to free up more time for stuff you love doing.
Keeping a Journal Clarifies Feelings.
Making sense of feelings can get complicated sometimes. Writing things out helps.
Write your qualities, and what you’d like to change. Be specific.
Write about your relationships with friends or family.
Describe your work and how you fit in the picture.
Explore the possibility of change if you’re unhappy.
Pinpoint your expectations and what you’re willing to accept. Or not.
Journaling Benefits lead to a Gratitude List.
Being grateful fuels positive thoughts, which lead to positive behavior.
All this attracts goodness and progress.
Except that more often than not we just forget to be grateful. So starting a gratitude list is a good thing. At first, it seems intimidating because maybe you can’t think of anything extravagant to be grateful for.
But gratitude comes in small things. Very small things. For example, I’m grateful to be writing to you today, and maybe a few journaling benefits will make you feel good about yourself.
I’m grateful to have a roof over my head, good coffee every morning, and that my kids are in good health.
Start with just a few things.
Interesting Quotes
Write down quotes that mean something to you. Explain how a particular quote makes a difference in your day or how it applies to your life.
Make a list of affirmations that may help you through hard times, or on the contrary, an affirmation that supports your positivity towards life.
You could also write a poem, a song, whatever inspires you! This is how your journaling benefits will serve you, it fuels on itself.
Keep a Log of Story Ideas.
Many times, I’ll get ideas out of the blue convinced I’ll remember them later.
But of course, when the time comes to use my brilliant idea, it evaporates into thin air. This usually happens because I’m doing something else at the same time. And it’s very frustrating!
So if you want to create anything worth your time, like a poem, big projects, a recipe, business ideas, or anything else you can think of – get in the habit of writing down those great ideas for future use.
When we have so much to do it’s best not to rely solely on memory. Write it down, you’ll thank yourself later.
Write Down Small Wins
Or huge ones.
Life can certainly get overwhelming. No time, too much to do, too many projects, family to take care of, work and study deadlines and so on…
The list is long.
By writing down your small wins, it helps you realize that yes, you are doing good things!
And this is a self-confidence booster for sure.
Keep a Record of What’s Important.
In your relationships, at work, within the family, or with friends – you know what you need to clarify.
Write about yourself. And those around you. What type of relationships are you in? Do these make you happy?
If not, what changes would satisfy you? Are these changes about you? Or others? Are they realistic?
Start being honest.
Dream Up That Bucket List!
Want to climb Kilimanjaro or build your own home?
Or maybe you want to learn how to make great world recipes, learn new languages, or create your business empire?
Write it down! And keep adding to it.
No dream is too big.
Keep a Journal to Solves Problems.
Everyone deals with problems differently.
Some dilemmas are easily solved, while other problems follow us like a dark shadow and we have no idea how to decipher them.
If you write the details and feelings about a particular problem or use a series of prompts and questions, the daunting task of understanding seems a bit smaller and easier to deal with.
Writing helps in the decision making process and brings on clarity.
Among other journaling benefits, solving problems is high on the list. The only condition is honesty.
Keep an Ongoing List of Books.
Often someone will tell me about a book or a movie, even a song they want me to check out. It’s a fun list to go back to in your free time.
If you adopt a journaling habit, remember it’s to serve you and you alone.
Make a list in your journal of things to watch, read, and listen for future reference.
This was very helpful during the 3 months at home.
Identify Negativity
Keeping a journal is extremely helpful in identifying negative thoughts or behavior.
If you are not comfortable confiding in others, then your journal can help.
Pinpoint what changes you need to make by writing out a specific situation.
Maybe where you’ve had negative thoughts or a not so great behavior towards others – or yourself.
It’s also possible that the negativity is towards you. In which case delve into why you are accepting this type of behavior!
When you identify the negative, you can take steps towards the positive.
Your Journal’s Purpose
You’ll find journaling benefits no matter what you write about, and the suggestions above are just to get you started.
Your journal serves YOU. In any which way you want! So no need to stress over grammar or punctuation or overthink anything on the page.
Brainstorm a new business project, or create a schedule to declutter your house or the best plan to get healthy.
Draw in it, write poetry, your shopping list, what you wish for, what you’re grateful for.
The sky’s the limit!
It’s up to you how you fill those pages.
Give it a try.
Reap the Journaling Benefits For a Long Time
If you’re having trouble starting, just write 1 line about how you feel right now.
Or what you did today.
Or who you met and your thoughts about that.
Don’t stress yourself. It’s not a test but an excellent way to grow.
Take it slow but try it out.
In the beginning, it’s easier to sit maybe 10 minutes morning or evening with your notebook.
But once you get in the habit of keeping a journal, you’ll notice that you’ll be picking it throughout the day for many other reasons.
And that’s a very good thing.
