ARTICLE | PERSONS

How Do I Feel After Journaling For The Last 2 Years

An article on the benefits of Journaling and why you should start too.

Let me be real with you. I started writing Journals by chance. I had a habit of forgetting names of people I may have met and the names I should have remembered.

So, the only solution that had come to my mind then was to write the names of all the new people I meet each day and mention why I met them, where I met them, and why should I remember them. That’s how it all started.

Soon I realized that I can write more than just names and began writing everything I did the previous day first thing in the morning.

“The starting point of discovering who you are, your gifts, your talents, your dreams, is being comfortable with yourself. Spend time alone. Write in a journal.”

— Robin Sharma

It’s been 2 years now and my journals hold a lot of information today. So, I will talk about 6 benefits of journaling that you can seek once you start.

Go Back In The Past

This is one of the coolest parts of journaling. One day I had no work and randomly took out my last year’s journal and started turning the pages just to see how I was back then. I could literally see what I did that day the previous year. Isn’t that cool?

This can be a very powerful tool to analyze ourselves if we want to. That brings me to my next point.

Reviewing Myself Every Month and Every Quarter

I usually make a to-do list for each day and have some specific targets for each month. So, at the end of each month, I sit back for a couple of hours to review myself and the tasks that I’m able to achieve. I am self-employed and hence reviewing my progress is a crucial aspect of personal development.

Also, every quarter I perform the same tasks just to analyze how far I’m from the goals that I have set for this particular year.

What this allows me is:

Develop a Deeper Understanding of Myself

This is important for every individual who doesn’t want to go with the flow and wants to take control of his/her life.

If you are planning to have control over the set of actions you’re taking day-in-day-out, you need to understand yourself better so that you are assured whatever decisions you are taking is the best you could.

You can write about why something bad happened to you yesterday and also jot down the possible reasons. Similarly, if you feel something good happened, identify the tasks that resulted in such a success and try to repeat them whenever needed.

This way you can understand your strengths and conquer your weaknesses.

“Journaling is paying attention to the inside for the purpose of living well from the inside out.” — Lee Wise

I’m More Clear On What To Focus Next

This constant reviewing process and the constant connection with your inner self will let you have a clearer mind. You will know exactly how much you are able to cover, where you are getting stuck, and how you can overcome them.

This way you will be more clear on what to focus next and you will be aware of the difficulties you might be facing from your previous experiences. Journaling has made be far more productive than I was before I started this.

I’m Not Afraid To Forget Anymore

We are meeting so many people every day and our lives are getting more and more complicated with time. There is always some probability that we will forget some names and some information over time.

But when you develop a habit of journaling, you will always put down the important pieces of information relevant to you and your work every single day.

That way you won’t have to worry all the time.

I know people who also write about their emotions and insecurities. They like to talk to their journals and that way they release the hyper emotions or the negative thoughts out of themselves.

“A personal journal is an ideal environment in which to become. It is a perfect place for you to think, feel, discover, expand, remember, and dream.” — Brad Wilcox

I am attaching 3 more incredible articles if you want to dive deep into journaling. These three articles are very different from each other. So, I would suggest you give each one a read.

1. Thomas Oppong’s Life-Changing Habit of Journaling.

2. Darius Foroux’s How to start a daily journaling habit.

3. Michal Korzonek’s Minimalistic Journaling

You can follow me if you like my articles.

See you next time.

Regards.