3 Big Benefits of Keeping a Journal

When I was growing up, I kept a journal. Boxes and boxes of journals where I recorded my life events, thoughts, quotes, etc. They were works of art. What happened to them and how I fell out of the journaling habit is another story. Maybe I’ll share later (and maybe I won’t😉).

Journaling is older than the written word. Men and women have been tracking their lives since cavemen were drawing crude pictograms on walls. It’s in our DNA to draw, write, process, and document our journey through life. Some of this country’s most beloved treasures are the journals and accounts written by the founding mothers and fathers of America. 

Whether you’re planning out a new business, plotting your next bestseller, processing your thoughts in a safe place or creating a documentary of your time on this Earth, journaling is an effective way to sort through life and create new outcomes. 

There are three big benefits to keeping a journal:

• Exploration of possibilities 
• Expressing the processes of life
• Gaining personal historical perspective

Explore life’s possibilities.

Journaling creates a safe space to ponder any and every idea that enters your mind. It’s a great way to manage the overwhelm of life; allowing you to empty your head of the thoughts, ideas, and information running through your brain. 

Writing things out creates a space for ideas to come and be catalogued. You can go back later and add to the ideas or let them go if they no longer suit you. Ask yourself ‘what if’ and invite in all sorts of possibilities. Record the ideas that come to mind making room for you to explore what it would take to make them a reality. 

Express yourself.

Just as art, music and dance are forms of expression, journaling is a fundamental way that people express themselves. Whether you’re Bible journaling, bullet journaling, or writing long hand in a leather-bound book filled with empty pages, you’re expressing yourself in a very profound way. No two journals are alike. There is power in having an outlet to share whatever is on the forefront of your mind. 

Expressing yourself also gives you an opportunity to manage emotions, recharge your batteries, and practice a little self-care, or a difficult time in life. Journaling provides a pathway to write about, draw, or capture your biggest ideas while they have your full attention. 

Remember what happened.

Life is fleeting. What you are experiencing today will become a memory tomorrow. What you feel about life, happiness, sadness, elation, or confusion won’t always be the case. You won’t always be pregnant. You won’t always be in the beginning stages of starting your business. 

Journaling creates a timeline where you can live in the moment and reflect on the future. Nothing is better than revisiting who you were back then and recognizing how far you’ve come. 

Being able to see how you worked through issues and made it is beneficial. One day your family may read your journal and have a new and deeper understanding of who you were and what you were managing at different times in your life. 

Takeaway.

Journaling has benefits that come alive when you move the thoughts and ideas from your head to a page in your journal. There are undeniable advantages to exploring the possibilities, expressing yourself, and maintaining a historical perspective on life. 

What are you going to record in your journal?