Journaling is recording your inner life on paper. It’s also a way to significantly accelerate the achievement of your dreams.
Journaling gives life to your dreams, thoughts, goals, fears and your inner poetry… this can be very therapeutic.
The way you record your story is a very personal expression of life as you see it and experience it (which is cool, because if you and a friend journaled about the very same experience, your stories would be different!). You can journal all your ideas and great finds in life, be it a poem, a recipe, health tips, great lessons in life, etc.
So. Do you journal?
Why not?
“It takes time, I don’t know what to write about, I don’t have any ideas worth putting on paper, I don’t want anybody to read it, I already have too much to do…”
These are valid, but are they set in stone?
Journaling is actually very easy to establish as a habit, and it’s a habit that will greatly enrich your life especially as time goes by. Here are a few ways to help you get in the habit of daily journaling so you can reap the benefits:
- Commit to just 5 minutes. Surely you can do that, right, even if you’re exhausted? A great time to journal is just before you go to bed. What better opportunity to chronicle the day’s events?
- “Hook” this new habit to some pleasurable ritual you already do at bedtime. Perhaps a bath, or a glass of wine, or a good read… do this journaling ritual first, and it will be emotionally hooked to the pleasure you derive from your existing night time ritual.
- If you have nothing to write about, express gratitude for some things, experiences and people in your life.
- Remember to congratulate yourself and use this opportunity to learn to shift your focus from what you’re doing wrong, to what you’re doing right.
- Write about your failures – don’t gloss over them – but not in a self-bashing way. Write about them with respect to the lessons you have learned because of the experience.
Help Calm Your Thoughts & Activate Your Imagination
With the help of our 8 Minute Deep Meditation
- Write about your decisions and whether they came from the heart or whether they were directed by others. Were your decisions reactive, or responsive? Did you react to a situation, or did you respond to it with your best interests at heart?
- Whenever you notice a pattern in your life, whether it’s a relationship pattern, financial, career, etc. – take note of the pattern. On paper. Sometimes just writing it down will give you the impetus to make the necessary changes so you keep from repeating history.
- Write about the accomplishments of others, ESPECIALLY if you feel envious of them. Write from a place of genuinely wanting to congratulate them and wish them the very best. Write like you mean it. After all, you want people to be happy for you when you succeed, right, and not be envious and resentful of you?
- Write about your dreams and wild ideas because most assuredly, if they exist in your mind they can potentially exist in your life experience!
- Write as though nobody will see your journal – because nobody has to – and treat it like your very best friend who is supportive, encouraging and non-judgmental. Write from the heart. You can’t lie to yourself anyway so you may as well lay it all out, right here in your journal!
- Write about lessons you’ve learned, awareness that has come to you about your thoughts and behaviors, and about the changes and growth that you’re going through every day.
Most, if not all, of the world’s greatest achievers keep a journal and many have done so for most of their adult lives.
Whether or not you consider yourself to be a “great achiever,” start journaling today. You will be astonished at how quickly your life can change, as you stimulate your creativity and really LEARN your life lessons through journaling!
One of the greatest rewards we receive from Jodie (in support) are emails like the one below. I’m very happy to add this to my personal journal collection and share it with you…
Hi, I bought your meditations and am enjoying them. One thing I liked is I can play them from a speaker and get some benefits (although I also use them with headsets.) I have an elderly dog that has Cushings Disease (too many steroids!). Some of her symptoms are excessive panting and getting very anxious. I played the meditations and she raised her head, listened, and within ten minutes was relaxed and asleep. I thought maybe it was just coincidental, but I’ve since used the meditations on several occasions and she relaxed each time.
So, maybe you can let your readers know they benefit the canine population as well as humans! – Jeanne Riecss – Austin, USA
