I started writing a journal when I was going through COVID anxiety. And I couldn’t be more grateful for it.
This isn’t a one-off experience. There is much research on how journaling has a great impact on the mental health of people, even on those with severe illnesses that there is a Center for Journal Therapy. Writing a journal is your avenue to emotional literacy. There’s no greater self-help book written in the history than the one you write about yourself through journaling.
Many great thinkers like Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, and Leonardo da Vinci are known to have kept journals and detailed ones at that!
So, what can journaling do for you?
1. A Safe Space to Express
Can you be 100% yourself to anybody around you? Can you share every single thing without the fear of being judged?
The answer is, more often than not, NO.
We all need a safe space where we can express our thoughts and feelings without judgment. Journaling acts as that cathartic space where we can be ourselves. Completely.
Be it negative emotions, half-baked ideas, or just random thoughts, you can download it all on a piece of paper and reduce the load in your head. Renowned author Robin Sharma rightly says ‘journaling is meditating on paper’.
2. Deeper Understanding Of Yourself
As you journal about what you believe in, what your goals are, your daily interactions, and more, you start to get a deeper understanding of yourself. Be it everyday things like work pressure or long-term things like relationships; you will be able to go below the surface level feeling and understand where they are coming from. It also lets you clear the mental clutter and get clarity over things.
Trust me, the relief you feel after journaling is real!
3. Promotes Healing
Why is expressing important?
Because expressing leads to healing. It gives you insights into your thought process, behavioral patterns, conditioning, relationships and worldview. It gives you better clarity and improves self-awareness to help you understand yourself better in terms of your motives, intent, emotional history, inner wounds that need healing.
Multiple studies prove that journaling improves health and even promotes healing from serious diseases. After all, mental health and physical health are interdependent.
4. Take Better Decisions
Say you are thinking about quitting a job you don’t like. On some days, you’re so done with it, and on others, you convince yourself that that’s how everybody’s job is. This back and forth keeps going on and on.
But when you journal about it, you take a more serious look at the situation. It’s no longer a passing thought. You will go deeper into it and ask questions like ‘Why you don’t like it?’, ‘What’s holding you back from quitting?’, etc.
Before you know it, you’d have made a decision to quit, made peace with the job, or found a way to make it better.
The more you journal about things, the easier it becomes for you to make a sound decision.
5. Improve Communication Skills
As you write down your thoughts, you naturally become a better communicator. It becomes easier for you to put words to your thoughts and feelings.
But don’t we do this already?
No, many of us are not good at it!
But it is one of the most important skills one needs in personal as well as professional life.
Just like everything, communication also improves only through practice. And journaling daily is the best way to practice without being interrupted or intimidated.
6. Guaranteed Personal Growth
Better self-awareness inevitably leads to personal growth. It is impossible not to grow as a person once you start journaling. That’s why journaling is such a powerful tool. Once you pen down your mistakes or errors in judgment, it becomes more real. You can no longer ignore that and keep going as if it’s okay.
Other Reasons
- It acts as a memory and inspiration bank.
- It helps you achieve goals by keeping track of progress.
- It gets your creative juices flowing.
- It improves your self-confidence.
- It strengthens your memory.
Bottom Line
There is enough research, and many people I know, including myself, can vouch for the amazing benefits that come with journaling.
So, grab a notebook today and just start. Don’t overthink it.
Recommended reading: How To Make Your Bucket List
