Life is intense.
Our feelings blend. We go from possibilities that energize to fears that paralyze us.
And so many people come to the end of their life, saying “I wish I had…”.
Your journal is the best companion in this adventure. He’s always there to listen to you. By constantly collecting your thoughts, he will lead you to the right answers
Happiness and success come from the inside out. Your journal helps you discover and cultivate them.
Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels
10 Reasons Why I’ve Been Journaling Every Day For 7 Years. (that Might Inspire You)
1/Clarity.
Life ceases for the rest of us just when we are getting ready for it.”
― Seneca, On the Shortness of Life.
“I wish I had XXXX.”
Whether we like it or not, our life is counted. Two thousand years ago, Seneca was already treating this topic “On the shortness of life.” What should we say now, with all the distractions available to us?
Reflecting and acknowledging that we are responsible for our lives is crucial. Work with the end in mind, define where we want to go, and create intentionality in our lives.
There are many ways to do this, but writing will, at one point, be part of it.
2/Decision support.
Putting your thoughts on paper helps you see more clearly.
And clarity makes it easier to decide.
3/Action.
Thinking and acting are the two engines of success.
Planning and writing down your future actions makes it easier to move forward.
4/Calmness.
Photo by Hasmik Ghazaryan Olson on Unsplash
Our lives are complicated. We go through so many things, internally and externally. This creates a lot of emotions; anger, fear, sadness, joy, energy…
All-day long, the thoughts crossing our minds and bodies, consciously or unconsciously, bring energy or fear, clarity or confusion, happiness or sadness.
Understanding that we are responsible for our emotions is a game-changer.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” ― Viktor E. Frankl.
It’s a very dynamic process, and writing helps you every day.
5/Consistency.
By writing every day, you develop the consistency muscle. It helps you with all your other projects.
6/Patience.
Everything in life which has value comes from the compound effect. Love, relationship, business, knowledge, money…
To get access to it, we need to maintain our consistency and discipline, and whatever results, to continue with patience for long periods.
It’s so hard and sometimes so easy to stop. But don’t… write about it in your journal instead. It will help you come back to a state of clarity, manage your emotions (fear of not succeeding), and reinforce your patience.
7/Questions.
The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking yourself”
― Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within.
What better place to start than your journal with a question.
If you’re short on inspiration, use other people’s questions. Below are Anthony Robbins’ questions from his morning routine.
- What am I happy about in my life now?
- What am I excited about in my life now?
- What am I proud about in my life now?
- What am I grateful about in my life now?
- What am I enjoying in my life right now?
8/Review.
Any system not reviewed ends up being so complicated or useless that it’s abandoned.
Reviewing your journal regularly (every 3 months) is a unique experience. It allows you to accelerate your learning.
Reviewing has become as important as writing for me.
Here is my process.
- I open my note for the past period.
- I open a second note that I call “journal: lessons learned.”
- I reread my past period like a digital book.
- Each time I come across something that interests me, an idea, a doubt, a project, an action, a thought, I highlight it in bold and write it down in the second note ” “journal: lessons learned.”
- Once I had done the whole year, I reorganized my “lessons learned” note by theme. The year 2021 for me revolved around a career change, running, learning chess, inspirational thoughts, interesting book passages, doubts, decisions…
9/Adapt.
The review process facilitates adaptation. Many summarize the formula for success as follows:
Decide what you want, initiate actions, evaluate the result and adapt for the next moves.
The journal helps you review what you need to adapt.
10/Accelerate my specific learning.
I decided to learn chess, prepare for a marathon, start a business. For each important project. I have a simple keyword RunX ChessX BusinessX.
Finding all my entries on the subject helps me to progress faster.
And you, why do you journal?
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Related articles:
The art of correction. How journaling helps you to constantly adapt and win more?
How to build your weekly review?
Capture. Store. Review. The importance of building your digital brain.
Technology can either take you away from your goals or help you reach them faster. How do you use it well?
Simple Habits Are Often Powerful. How To Amplify The Benefits Of Journaling?
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