3 Ways to Help Journaling Solve Your Problems

You might be doing it wrong

Journaling is one of the most life-changing practices anyone can adopt today.

The habitual practice of picking at your brain, drawing out those pesky knots causing you anxiety is as therapeutic as it gets.

It probably is one of those success habits with the greatest references of all time, being enthusiastically practised by many great minds over the years such as Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and Leonardo Da Vinci. (As mentioned in fromthegrapevine.com). It isn’t often you get such famous endorsements.

Journaling should be, by definition, incredibly personal and equally simple. You reflect on everything and anything that bothers you or doesn’t. Eventually, you reach conclusions you never would’ve otherwise, or probe at issues you never would’ve confronted.

Unfortunately, it is possible to do it wrong or rather not be extracting its full potential. As subjective as something like journaling should be, to make it as intuitive as possible, there is no harm in taking a few tips. Don’t take it from me, take it from Mark Twain:

“Yes, a journal that is incomplete isn’t of much use, but a journal properly kept is worth a thousand dollars — when you’ve got it done.”

1.- Take no days off

Journaling every day will ease the process thousand-fold. Every single day you do this, your mind will become more comfortable with spilling your worries onto the page. You will even begin to crave these much-needed moments of self-therapy. You take your vitamins every day, well think of this as just another daily dose of performance fuelling vitamins.

Sounds simple enough, right? Commit to inserting a few minutes of self-reflection into your every day. Unfortunately, adhering to a new practice isn’t as easy as it seems.

Often, we start this new commitment with hope and determination to stick to it. Naturally, this momentary motivation dissipates over time and every day our once unbreakable promise becomes a little fainter.

It also stands, that for your first few sessions of self-reflection and ponderings, words may spill out in a torrent, issues are ripe for discussion and all your frustrations eagerly await to be tackled. This won’t be the case every day, there will be times when you feel there isn’t anything to comment on your journal.

So how can you make sure you sit down and journal every day?

Make a habit of it.

Set yourself a goal of a time frame in which you will journal every day. There aren’t any points for stretch goals in this category, pick something realistic like 15 minutes a day (keeping it short and sweet will also ensure you optimise your journaling time).

Next, choose a time of the day. It could be a specific time like 15.00 or 16.00 or simply “when you wake up”. Habits stick and the more something becomes embedded into your routine, the more it will seem like the Armageddon will break out if you skipped it.

Now to the writer’s block of journaling, how do you dismantle that innocent excuse convincingly musing “there just isn’t much to talk about today”?

Have an agenda.

This can take many forms. Throughout your day, different concerns or thoughts may come to you, attractive tangents you want to explore. Take a note of it as the day progresses, later you can delve deeper into them in your journal.

It can also help to have a set of guidelines or a structure you can follow when your mind is truly blank. Think something along the lines of “How did your day go?”, “Are you satisfied with what you accomplished” or “What are some steps you could take to make today better than yesterday?”.

Making journaling a staple in your routine and having some of these prefab discussion topics ready should be enough to ensure you take no days off in this journey.

2.- Don’t hold back

There is a reason the page is blank before you start. It just so happens to be the single most malleable element in the world.

When taking on this habit, it mainly revolves around releasing anxiety and facing those pesky mental blockades; hence why you shouldn’t hold anything back.

This is the one place where you can be truly and unapologetically honest.

There isn’t any reason, why you should smooth out insecurities or diminish the relevance on certain topics. This is your playground, the way things roam freely in your mind and the way they affect you should be unfiltered when reflected on the page.

The only way to face your problems, and achieve meaningful progress is to pull off the bandaid without restraint.

Imagine the following: Theseus is preparing himself for the epic battle with the minotaur. It does pose to be a frightful beast, towering over him with its devilish horns. Now suppose Theseus, terrified by the concept of facing this ominous beast, decides it better to pretend he’s fighting a cow instead. Toning down reality for the imagery of a far milder version.

The result: he would fight the minotaur as he would a cow, and be swiftly slaughtered. Not a great look for a greek hero.

To face the beast properly, you must be ready for its full force; don’t spare on the details. Outline the full extent of the issue, and only then will your proverbial greek hero be able to slay this monster for you.

Don’t hold back, tackle an issue in all its glorious deformity, only then will you be able to journal your way through to a solution.

3.- Question your relationships

Friends, family or partners will always be affected by your state of mind.

The way you act around them or the things you do may be motivated by other factors. It is very easy to take out your frustration onto others and to allow your problems to reflect on your relationships. Remember:

A journal is a place to reflect and improve on anything and everything in your life

Why not include your relationships?

Our relationships form such an essential part of our lives, as the social animals we are, that why not try to improve them too?

Reflect on the way you feel about other people. What motivates these feelings? Are they deserving of these feelings, or are these feelings fuelled by something else?

This will allow you to be more honest in the way you act towards others. Maybe you had an argument with a friend, later with a cooler head, you reflect on the argument and might realise you were in the wrong. This can go both ways.

Often what others do for you, or how they respond to you can say a lot about them. Reflecting on traits that bother you about others, or certain actions that prove dishonesty is a way to ensure you surround yourself with the right people.

Is this person a true friend to me? What have they done to show they care about me? Is our relationship one-sided?

Either way, reflecting about how you interact with others, and your feelings towards them can lead to useful realisations and is a step towards healthier relationships.

In short:

However and whenever you decide to journal, realise that above all it is extremely personal.

Use this habit to grow and discover yourself in new ways every day. I hope with this advice, you will be able to consolidate journaling into your routine and allow it to open the doors towards a better you.