Journaling

What is journaling? Is there a correct way to journal? What is the point of writing down my thoughts?

These are all good questions and ones I come across pretty consistently when discussing journaling with clients. The best way to start is to think of it conceptually. Think about your life as a whole, its full of twists and turns and ups and downs, a lot of moving pieces is it not? How do you make sense of any of it? Well, the quick answer is its almost impossible without intentional action. You need some guidance, some basis for decision making. Having something to look back on and help you make sense of your current experiences is life changing. Journaling allows you to understand the decisions your making now based on past decisions in similar circumstances. By writing down your experiences daily, the issues and emotions following or preceding that experience you can start building a road map of how you respond to things. The best decisions we can make are made with lots of data, the more we journal the more data we have on how we function. We can clearly label triggers and situations that cause conflict. We can see what needs to be removed from our life and what we could use more of. In my personal life journaling allowed me to see why drinking was just masking my problems and not allowing me to actually deal with them. There really is no wrong way to journal, you are simply writing down the experiences of the previous day and expectations for the new one. Think of it as taking inventory of your past to chart your future.

I have found that the best time to journal is in the morning before you are required to do anything. Wake up early enough that you have 30-45 minutes you can dedicate to silence and your journal. Recap your previous day and prepare your current. The more specific you are the more data you have to fall back on later. There are no expectations for this, it is time for you to unload your mind