How and Why I Journal

Today, I’m sharing how and why I journal.

The challenge many of us face is navigating through life’s complexities while trying to find clarity in what can be a mental mess. From work, business, relationships, figuring out how to stay healthy whilst parenting our children and dealing with life’s constant influx of admin…

It can feel chaotic. As if there’s too much happening at once. You may be striving to find clarity, wanting to perform better, and stay on top of things. Occasionally, emotions overwhelm you: feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and confusion. These feelings accumulate in your mind, often unnoticed, until a minor trigger leads to a significant breakdown.

This is where journaling can be used as a powerful tool for raising self-awareness, dealing with your emotions, and finding clarity on how to respond to situations.

In today’s email, I’ll answer 3 questions:

1. Why is journaling important?

Overcoming emotional baggage

It’s a few months after I had just gotten married and my mind is racing. I’m sat on the sofa of our new home and I’m feeling frustrated, angry, and annoyed. I was emotionally charged. I can’t remember what I was triggered about but something my wife did or said certainly set me off on an emotional rollercoaster.

As I sat there journaling out all of my raw emotions, it felt like a huge relief. What would have otherwise been vented in a heated conversation, was now being dumped onto paper. As time went on, I became lighter, less emotional and calmer.

It allowed me to realise that whatever triggered me wasn’t my wife’s fault. It wasn’t her at all. It was me. It was my mess to deal with. It was my own thoughts about how I saw the situation. It was the meaning I put onto it. It was my own made up stories in my mind that created my emotional state.

This is a success story of my dealing with something myself via journaling. Yet there have been times it hasn’t been successful. Whether it be in this relationship or another. There have been emotional outbursts that have ended up in hurt and misery.

Journalling, on this occasion, saved another heated argument and allowed me to transcend my triggers to reconnect me to my inner peace. It can literally save or at least maintain peace in relationships.

Journaling is therapy

Writing down how you feel, things that challenge you, things you’re excited about, personal reflections and learnings all allow you to actually understand yourself more. It allows you to understand what’s actually going on in your mind. It’s an opportunity to be a better observer of what’s on your mental radar.

In the distracted lives we live, it’s too easy to be superficial and top-line with your own thoughts and mental wellbeing. It’s too easy to have something trigger you, and push it away,  ignore it or worse, react to it. When it actually could be a great opportunity to grow yourself and overcome internal triggers.

Noticing patterns

Journalling allows us to notice patterns in our lives. I just completed a review of my journal which I do at the end of every quarter and the end of the year. In this case, it was an end of year review. I go through my main journal entries. From a higher level perspective, I look at what I went through, how I was feeling, what desires were coming through me, what was on my mind at that moment in time.

We cannot remember how we felt earlier in the year. We forget things. We forget challenges we faced and learnings we received. It’s only when we can retrospectively look back, do we notice important patterns. When something like a business idea or a problem continues to pop up upon reflection, it allows me to see that this is something that I need to really address or spend more time digging deeper.

So, in summary, why is it important?

2. How I journal

My journal is simply an A4 notepad. I love the Moleskine brand and quality so I use their A4 notepad.

Journaling doesn’t need to be complicated and I would move away from thinking there’s a right and wrong way to do it.

A lot of my clients ask me “how do I even journal?!”.

My answer is always the same: just write what’s on your mind. 

Especially if it’s the first time you’re journaling. The most important thing is getting in the habit of, and getting comfortable writing out your thoughts.

At first, it will seem weird. It will feel intrusive. You may even feel vulnerable. “What if someone comes across this journal and reads it, they’d think I’m psycho!”

Maybe. Or maybe they’d feel better as they are not the only one.

Things you could start writing down:

When things are chaotic in my mind or there’s a lot of inspiration, I tend to journal more regularly. However, there are times where I’ve gone a week or more without it. I personally don’t stick to a set routine with it.

I use it as a tool to understand myself more. Clear my mind. Jot down creative ideas so then I have space for more to flow to me. I use it to track my thinking. I use it to vent and express my feelings so I can then take a more measured well-thought approach with people whether it be personal or professional. I use it to introspect and get more out from within me.

Do I use any form of structure? Not really. I treat it as a brain dump. I date and timestamp my entry and get writing. But I do have a few questions which I regularly ask myself…

3.How can you get started and what questions can you ask yourself?

When we start anything, it can help to have some form of structure. So if this helpful for you, I share a few practical tips below so you can get started:

7 Journal prompts

Here are a few questions you can use as journal prompts. Write what first comes to mind and don’t judge what comes. Don’t overthink it. Just write and get it out.

Summary

Journaling is a tool. A tool for introspection. A tool for mental clarity. A tool to capture your ideas and thoughts. A tool to manage your life.

Experiment and do what is right for you.

What is clear is that you will come out with greater self-awareness, a clearer mind, and a considered approach to situations you’re facing.

Less reactive and more creative. Less unconscious more conscious.

I’m eager to hear about your journaling experiences or any questions you might have.