Journaling..
Mmmmm…
Do you really want me to start writing a diary…? Really?
Isn’t that only for lovesick teenagers??
NOOOOOO!! ( Of course they too benefit of writing down their thoughts but that’s not what this blog is about)
There are so many advantages of writing down what keeps your mind busy that once you experience them, you will write every single day!
What you write down, your brain recognizes as being important.
The process of writing down your thoughts, gives your brain:
the time to think about it,
to make connections that haven’t occured to you yet,
to reflect on things, events, people,..
There are different kinds of journals: you have the gratitude journal, the “success” journal, the life goal journal, the ideas journal, the travel journal…
Name it as you want, write everything in one book or keep different journals if you prefer that.
It is really important that you write it down on paper! The processing is a lot more effective, deeper when you physically write with pen on paper.
The gratitude journal is an easy one to start with!
You go to the bookstore, you buy a really nice book, one that appeals to you! And you choose your favourite pen, pencil,..
Every night before you go to sleep, you take you nice, cool, lovely…book from your night stand and you start by writing down 3 things that made you smile today, that made you feel warm inside, that cheered you up, … of course you can write down as many as you want and you’ll see that the longer you journal, the more things you will write down.
That’s how you realize that there is a lot to be grateful about! Even after ‘one of those days’ that you thought was a really shitty day, you will find things to be grateful about!! Practice it every day and you’ll go to sleep feeling grateful, feeling happy!
Another type of journal is the one where you write down your goals.
Write them down in as much detail as possible! Visualize the process up until you’ve reached the result you want.
You’ll see more clearly:
what you want
what you need to do first
what you need to learn
who you need to contact
how the way to your goal progresses
what is important and what can wait
how things intertwine
what you can eliminate
…
Reading and writing about it everyday keeps you on track to your goal, it makes it easier to prioritize, it makes you more efficient,..
Journalling about your small (and big) successes keeps you motivated to go on,
makes you realize that you already achieved something,
makes you split up your long time goals into little goals so that every day you feel that you’ve moved one step closer ( as tiny as it may be) to your end goal.
Give it a decent try!
Go buy that nice book!
Start writing ( don’t worry if you can’t find the right words straight away, write down a question, a statement,.. it’s just for you, it’s about your thoughts, you don’t need to publish it)
And feel the benefits of it!!!!!!!
Wishing you a very fine, creative, reflective week!!!
Katrien