The power of journaling and how to get started

For most people, journaling sounds like writing a diary, but it can be so much more.

Journaling, in a traditional way, is nothing more than breaking down your thoughts. This can be similar to writing a diary and taking notes of the happenings in your life, but it can also mean to let go of what is going on in your head and release stress.

Additionally to writing down memories and experiences as in a diary, journaling helps to do proper self-reflection and to get to know yourself better.

Keeping a diary is about writing down what happened, journaling is so much more.

Only writing down past experiences will not lead to significant personal growth. Journaling, on the other side, is an exceptional tool if you want to reflect and grow personally. It helps to explore and understand yourself and become your best version.

According to mental health professionals, journaling is one of the most recommended tools to have a clearer mind and a happier life. It helps to release mental blockades and be more precise about your thoughts.

Additionally, journaling helps to understand your desires, priorities, and worries. Several studies prove that writing down your thoughts can lead to an increase in well-being and happiness.

In their book “The Writing Cure: How Expressive Writing Promotes Health and Emotional Well-Being” Stephan J. Lepore and Joshua Morrison Smyth describe how people with traumatic experiences can benefit from writing down their thoughts and feelings.

According to the studies, already short journaling sessions can tremendously increase the psychological as well as the physical well-being of the writer.

These results are mainly because writing helps to structure thoughts and experiences. This structure and clarity in return help to assign a meaning to our problems and solve them with ease.

How to get started with journaling

If journaling is new to you, starting small is the best way to go. Even one journaling session per week can help to build the habit of journaling and have a positive impact on your life.

For example, sit down on Sunday evenings, think about what went well and what went wrong in the past week.

What successes did you celebrate and what do you want to improve the next week?

Describe your thoughts and keep journaling until you feel like you have a good picture of your current situation.

Don’t forget to think about both your successes and failures. This is important because journaling is about being honest with yourself.

Once you get used to journaling, you will want to do it much more often than just once a week — trust me. :)

What to journal about:

Gratitude

Expressing gratitude can be one of the most powerful feelings when it is done consciously.

Most of the time, people are so busy complaining that they forget to pay attention to all their blessings.

We see what we lack and what could be better, but we ignore the things that already give us joy. A gratitude diary can help you to focus on what you already have.

In our daily lives, we don’t even realize how much we have and how much we can be thankful for.

If you step back and take some time to think about your blessings, you will recognize that it’s more than you might have thought.

When practicing gratitude, the most important thing is to be as specific as possible and to take time to appreciate your blessings.

The effect of the gratitude journal is straightforward: you certainly know how to enter a room that smells extraordinarily fresh and nice.

When you enter, you find the smell very pleasant, but after a while, you get used to it, and it’s nothing special anymore.

It’s similar to our sense of happiness. If we don’t realize what we’re grateful for, we forget it.

The truth is that everyone has things to be thankful for. These can be people, your health, your job, friends, family, fresh drinking water, or simply a roof over your head.

In 2003, the psychologists Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough conducted a study with three groups of people to scientifically prove the effectiveness of a gratitude diary.

Each group should spend some time journaling every week and note down five different things. The people in the first group focused on gratitude and wrote down five things they were grateful for. The second group noted things that got on their nerves, and the third group reflected on events of the past week.

At the end of the study, those who practiced gratitude were not only happier and more optimistic, but also physically fitter than the other two groups.

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.’’ — Marcus Aurelius

Daily learning

Constant learning is the key to personal growth and self- realization. By learning, we stay alive and seek the best in ourselves. When it comes to learning in the means of journaling, one key point is to reflect on daily lessons.

Every day we experience things that we like and things that don’t go perfectly well. The important thing is to reflect on them and be aware of the key learnings so that we can improve ourselves by repeating the right stuff and avoiding the things that made us unhappy.

Exploring Emotions

Our emotions and feelings make up a massive part of us. Having a high EQ and understanding one’s feelings can be extremely powerful. Understanding and handling our feelings give us some sense of self- control. One way to learn more about yourself and your emotions is to always look for the trigger of certain emotions. When you know what made you felt that way, you can take control of it more easily.

What’s the best time to journal?

When it comes to the timing of journaling, there is no right or wrong. You can open up your journal and start writing whenever you want to.

However, in my experience, different points in time can have various benefits.

In the morning

Journaling in the morning is a fixed part of my morning routine.

The most significant benefit of journaling in the morning is that it helps to get a clear head and start the day with a fresh feeling.

Through journaling, you can release all the tension and anxiety and focus on the positive aspects of the upcoming day.

Through positive affirmations and writing down what you are grateful for, you can set a lovely intention for the day.

Writing down your desires and what you want to achieve throughout the day additionally helps you to focus on your priorities and stay positive.

These questions are great for journaling sessions in the morning and help me to start my day off positively:

What am I currently thankful for?

What is currently making me happy?

What am I excited for at the moment?

What am I proud of?

What do I truly enjoy these days?

In the evening:

If you don’t find time in the morning, also evenings can be great for journaling sessions.

When I journal in the evening, it helps me to let go of the days’ experiences and tensions and to fully relax.

What did go well today?

What could I’ve done better?

What surprised me today?

What do I want to do differently tomorrow?

Additionally, you can upload a picture of that day to highlight the special moments.

If you get used to reflecting on the good things in your life, you will put a stronger focus on them throughout your days.

When we focus on something, we see more of it. By knowing that you have to fill out your journal with positive experiences in the evening, you will take much better care of all the positive experiences that you make throughout your day.

After journaling for one year, it has become a fixed part of my morning and evening routine, and I am thrilled to have started journaling. It helps me to be aware of the great things in my life and to set priorities for essential elements.

You must be aware that self-reflection is a marathon, not a sprint. You do not gain valuable knowledge about yourself through one-time reflection, but only through regularity. Especially in stress-free phases, you should take the time for self-reflection in order to think about what is important to you with a cool head. In stressful situations, our priorities can quickly digress. What is important is what drives you in the long run.

Did you ever try journaling? What are your experiences with it? I did a lot of research in the fields of succeeding and how to build habits that support you on your way — you can find two of my articles about habits here and here.

Originally published on Medium.