“Dear diary”…
Hollywood has brainwashed us that journaling is reserved for high school sweethearts, a girly thing to do and without really adding any value to our lives.
If you also believe that, boy you are wrong. Science is backing up the benefits of keeping if not a daily, then a weekly journal. Think of a journal like the one place you can 100% be yourself, criticism and judgment-free, alone with your thoughts ideas and in touch with your deeper self.
Before we dive into the benefits, this is the breakdown of my journaling habit. You can try it out, but I would suggest doing it your way. The important part is being consistent!
- Happens every Sunday night.
- Ranges between 5-20 minutes depending on how deep I go into thinking.
- Consistent, non-biased, non-judgemental.
- Firstly I write down the highlights of the past week in a 1 sentence-style.
- Secondly, I write what I could have done better (more productive towards my goals)
- Finally, I make my to-do list for the following week.
During the second phase of my journaling, I usually have my aha moments and this is the area in which I delve deeply.
Now to make you even more enticed, here are a couple of benefits of journaling:
- Evoking mindfulness: Journaling brings you naturally into a state of being present, being mindful.
- Reflection: Consciously trying to remember past events or past actions – done in an unbiased manner – brings out constructive criticism and moments of enlightenment.
- Achieving more goals: The more your goals are written down the higher the chances to achieve them. Why? Neuroscience baby, just trust it 🙂
- Boosting memory: Remembering what happened during the week is an active exercise to boost our memory. That and of course the exercise of writing connects thoughts to ideas.
- Strengthens our self-discipline: Discipline begets discipline. The act of doing this daily or weekly at a specific time is in fact, an act that enables it!
- Healing: “Expressive writing is an amazing tool to self-healing, emotionally and psychologically” Dr. James Pennebaker, author of Writing to Heal.
Hopefully, this article will make you start journaling and if it does, welcome aboard the amazing journey of self discovery!!
Fotis
https://www.fotischrysochos.com/life-financial-coaching-blog/
