Writing in your journal is the best way to find out why you should journal.
Journal in action
A few years ago, I had an unfortunate experience with my mental health. While at the time it was tough, the speed and quality of my recovery was improved by my journaling efforts and actions.
The event that broke the camels back as it were, is consumed by days of journaling either side. My feelings, thoughts, events, reactions, schedules, notes, meetings, assignments and deadlines were all sitting there in my journal waiting for me.
Having all of this information allowed me to look back on trends, events and triggers that may have caused my blip. When I first went to see a therapist I had my journal with me, so when asked to share relevant events or feelings I could flip back to a page and share my exact words and feelings. By having this structure I could also see progress and visible improvements in what I was writing about.
Fast forward to today, even through a turbulent 2020 I have a healthy mind, a healthy lifestyle and my journaling has developed in to a much wider resources across many areas of my life. Journaling supports me to improve my performance in everything I do and not just a notebook to store things, it makes me better each day.
I invite you to start Striving with your own journal.
First we need to identify the reason why we feel we should journal. This not only gives us direction, it provides us an opportunity to keep going when we are too busy to journal, or don’t know what to journal about. Writing in your journal is the best way to find out why you should journal.
Your journal is not a notebook
It is your personal safe space that you can write, design, log, track, plan, draw, schedule and develop with.
You don’t need to charge it, It doesn’t distract you with notifications, you won’t receive spam messages or have someone comment and judge your work.
It is your personal safe space for what ever you want it for.
Why journal?
Journaling has taken on many forms in its popular rise in the self care world.
Here are a few of the main reasons people journal:
Keeps your thoughts organised
Keeps you organised
Improves your writing
Plan and track goals
Relieves stress
Self reflection
Boost memory
Habit tracker
Inspire creativity
Prioritise tasks
Trigger tracker
Self talk
Better sleep
Self confidence
Improve I.Q
Improve E.Q
Mindfulness
Memory
The list is ever growing, and you can add anything else that is relevant to you.
How to Journal
The best way to answer the how is to grab your journal and just start.
Some journals will have preprinted pages that will provide you space and structure along with questions and prompts. Some people like the accountability of a question, while others like the control of an empty page. Try as many different ways to begin with and find out which way provides you the best structure that aligns with the purpose for your journaling. There is no right or wrong way,
Just start with one page, write about anything, ask a question to yourself or check out our social media for prompts.
Journaling through Lockdown
The Strivers who use The Strive25 Journal found many benefits of the process during lockdown. Some had very extreme praise for the structure while others found it provided them a routine and normality.
Although we many not all share with people how we did through lockdown, it is important for our mental capacity and energy that we can empty our mind of our thoughts and feelings.
One Striver referenced her lockdown journaling as the reverse of cooking spaghetti. She said, In my mind every thought, worry, task and feeling started to be jumbled, everything was getting on top of me and I couldn’t prioritise any of it. When I took time to journal, all of the various tangled bits of spaghetti became; straight, organised, visible and understood. From this clarity I could go about my day with focus and energy. Over time she has added gratitude sections and goals to her journal. That’s the beauty, the journal can develop alongside you, for you.
When to Journal
When ever you feel you need to, want to or can do, journal.
Some people like the routine of a morning coffee and 5 minutes to plan the day while others like to sit and reflect in the evening and plan for the next day. Find your own best way. The only guidance we encourage is that you journal for your own purpose and benefit.
Some high performing individuals who journal include Oprah Winfrey, who started using a gratitude diary during the turn of the millennium. She would write down 5 things she was grateful for and claims it to be the single most important thing she has ever done.
Megan Markle also has a ticket to the journal party. Megan uses her journal to maintain a positive outlook on life. In her appearance for the Teenage Therapy Podcast she highlights “I think journaling is a really powerful thing. ’It allows me to reflect on where I’ve come from and with that comes a lot of perspective.” (Go have a listen, 8 minutes 18 seconds)
Journaling is still regarded as one of the most effective and cheapest self care resources available. So whats stopping you starting?
If you haven’t got your Journal yet then head to https://www.strive25.co.uk/resources and join the party today.
Good luck and keep Striving.
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