Why should I journal?
It’s been said, that journaling could possibly be the most powerfully, transformative habit that one could adopt.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ~ Ghandi
Just a few of the many benefits to be found in journaling:
* optimizes your creative potential
* accelerates ability to manifest goals
* aids in self-regulation and rebalancing
* generates clarity and congruence
* clears emotions and soothes troubled memories
* ingrains learning
* reveals and tracks patterns, triggers, and cycles
* increases gratitude, appreciation, and kindness
* records history, growth, and progress
* heals, strengthens, and rebalances body, mind and spirit
* recalls and reconstructs past events as the observer
* offers new perspective and bring things together
* acts as your own counselor or best friend
Keeping a journal can be useful for many different reasons, including as a life coaching exercise. Daily journaling facilitates reflection and can spark useful brainstorming about how to better strive toward your goals. As a coach I help ensure that my clients’ journaling is helpful by providing some guidance.
Here I will share with you some valuable information on effective journaling, using the handy JOURNAL acronym (Coach Federation, 2013):
J – Judgement-free
You are encourage to write whatever is in your heart. This journal is personal, private, and a safe space to express your thoughts and feelings.
O – Observation
Journaling is an excellent opportunity to step into an observer role. Just write down things that happen during your day and spend some time thinking about how you interpret them.
U – Understanding
Piggybacking off of observation, what we observe can help us reach understanding about ourselves. How we perceive what happens to us is more important than what actually happens to us, and observing how we think can help us understand our own thought patterns, which can lead to effective management of our thoughts and behaviors.
R – Revelation
This process can often lead to revelations about our desires, our dreams, our goals, and aspirations. Journaling can help us get in touch with our core selves.
N – Needs Assessment
Keeping a daily journal makes it easier to notice problems and potential solutions, as the simple act of writing something down can make it seem simpler and clearer. Keeping everything bottled up can be extremely harmful, and just putting pen to paper can sometimes be all that is needed to release some pressure.
A – Awareness
Writing down your experiences helps in taking a wider perspective on your life, as well as reminding you of the problem areas and things you have to be grateful for. Raising awareness of these areas is the first step towards making the necessary changes and appreciating what you have.
L – Life
Quality Journaling is known to be an effective way to de-stress and decrease anxiety. Just a few minutes a day can have a major impact on health and happiness.
I hope this helps give you a greater understanding on the benefits and power in journaling and allows you to comfortably and confidently begin your own journaling practice. Leave comments and questions below.