Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, sad or depressed? Journaling can help.
How does journaling help?
Journaling helps with managing symptoms and regulating or
improving your mood.
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| How Journaling Helps |
A great number of written research and articles confirm the benefits of
journaling. You can read previous
blog posts on “Research on Journaling” and “Journaling Benefits” for more
information.
The research indicates journaling brings tremendous benefits
such as improved productivity, better memory, healthier relationships, and
improved mental and physical health.
Journaling on a regular basis helps with identifying and
processing negative feelings and with alleviating anxiety.
The University of Rochester Medical Center website indicates how journaling helps. Journaling helps by:
- Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns
- Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them
- Provides an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors
The University of Rochester Medical center website further
states, “When you have a problem and you’re stressed, keeping a journal can
help you identify what’s causing that stress or anxiety. Once you have identified your stressors, you
can work on a plan to resolve the problems and reduce your stress.”
How Journaling Helps - benefits
Journaling helps with having greater intention in your
decisions, actions, and behaviors. It brings
greater clarity and allows time to think through negative feelings, issues, and
helps in determining the best potential solutions.
Greater mindfulness results from journaling. Journaling helps individuals to realize the
many wonderful and great things they have or that surround them. Gratitude journaling will bring awareness of
the things, people, events, etc. that bring you joy and that you are grateful
for. At times we have a tendency to
focus on the negative or the things outside our control or what doesn’t bring
us joy. By being intentional on the good
things, people, and events in our lives and recognizing the things we are
grateful for, elevates your mood and brings greater joy.
Journaling allows time to organize thoughts and allows
individuals to break from negative thought patterns and self-doubt.
The previous blog post on “Leadership and Journaling”
discusses the benefits of journaling as leaders such as: reflection, greater self-awareness, and
personal / professional growth from the practice of journaling. Those same benefits apply to anyone who
routinely journals.
Personally for me, journaling helps bring greater
intentionality to my actions, words, and relationships. I become more value driven with my actions
and decisions. They are better aligned
with my personal values and I feel a greater sense of empowerment. Journaling allows me to organize my thoughts and
determine what actions and events align with deeply rooted values, goals, and
principles.
It also allows me time to process and reflect on feedback or
negative messaging I receive from others and to digest and process that
feedback or situations so I can respond rather than react.
How Journaling Helps - Decisions and Clarity
Especially in difficult times, challenging situations, or
when making difficult decisions, journaling helps bring greater awareness, reflection,
and to organize thoughts to bring clarity and focus. It gives time and space to determine what
really is important and to make decisions with greater awareness, mindfulness, and
brings greater intentionality to your actions.
Journaling allows time to reflect and process your feelings,
motives, and to determine what is important.
Journaling can bring clarity on the legacy you want to leave, what
lasting impressions you want to have with neighbors and friends, and assess
important relationships. Most importantly
it allows you to be more intentional with your time.
Journaling provides freedom and space to express your thoughts
and to eliminate noise or reduce anxiety.
It allows you to focus on what brings joy, purpose, fulfillment, and allows
you to determine the actions that matter the most to you and the actions that
are most important.
Journaling can change your life
An article I read by Benjamin Hardy, PH.D. published on Inc.com
titled, “Keeping A Daily Journal Could Change Your Life. You know exactly what you want in life,” confirms
what the research indicates and the points made above.
Benjamin Hardy feels “Journaling Accelerates Your Ability to
Manifest Your Goals.” Benjamin indicates,
“use your journal to review and hone your daily to-do list . . . . As you read
and rewrite your goals daily, they’ll become forged into your subconscious mind. Eventually, your dreams and vision will
consume your inner world and quickly become your physical reality.”
Benjamin also states, “Journaling brings greater clarity and
congruence into your life,” and emphasizes, “Journaling improves your ability
to make small and large decisions along the way.”
Benjamin confirms many additional benefits:
- Reducing scatter in your life
- Greater stability
- Deeper level of learning, order, action, and release
- Holding thoughts still so they can be changed and integrated
- Releasing pent-up thoughts and emotions
- Empowerment
- Bridging inner thinking with outer events
- Detaching and letting go of the past
- Allowing you to re-experience the past with today’s adult mind
With so many positive benefits of journaling, including the ability
to process emotions, get clarity of thought, and greater intention of your
actions, words, and behaviors, journaling is an important step to greater
clarify and fulfillment in life.
The most powerful aspect of journaling to me is that it helps
manage stress, provides greater stability, and brings greater congruence in life.
So how does journaling help?
It helps to process negative thoughts and emotions, organizes your
thoughts, brings greater clarity and mindfulness on what is important, and
deepens your level of learning, actions, and intention.
How to start?
Journaling is quite easy to start. Purchase a journal or notebook on line and
start free writing. Write down your
feelings, problems, and thoughts. Write
down what you are grateful for. If you
are not sure what to write then I would suggest using journaling prompts. There are many journaling prompts (questions)
available that you can answer to help you get started. Take a look at 50 best prompts for journaling on the blog.
The benefit and reward of journaling is tremendous as it will help you to manage stress and allows for greater joy, fulfillment, and purpose in life. I wish you the best with journaling and if we can help in anyway drop us a comment.
