March 6, 2010
The Benefits of Writing A Journal
If you have never kept a journal, it is a good idea to start. Keeping a journal has many benefits to helping you grow as a person.
There are many ways to maintain a journal. The most common form is to record your stream of consciousness in the morning. This is an exercise that is very useful in clearing your mind before you start the day by putting down all your thoughts on paper. It can be a very liberating feeling to be able to write whatever you want to write without having to censor any thought that goes through your mind.
If you intend to be a writer, it will help you tremendously to maintain a journal. Not only will it improve your writing skills, it can also serve as a way to improve your memory as well as providing you with notes on ideas that you have. One reason why many people do not keep a journal is because they do not know how to start and maintain one.
To get your writing juices flowing, a great starter is to use journal prompts. Journal prompts are simply questions that you ask yourself. When you have a suitable question, the next thing you do is to write down your thoughts and answers to that question. Because you are not censoring any information going through your mind, you might be surprised at the interesting and novel ways your subconscious mind comes up with in answering your question! Using journal prompts also helps you to think about new things that you may have never thought about before.
Starting your own journal is a very simple thing. You can either use an empty notebook to write your thoughts into, or you can use a personal journal program that you install on your computer. It costs very little to use a pen and notebook, but there are several advantages to using a journal software.
There are several advantages to using a journal software compared to a written notebook. You can password protect your entries, as well as organizing your thoughts and notes into various categories. Keeping a diary or journal with a daily journal software also is a lot faster than writing by hand.
With a journal, you can keep track of what is going through your life and mind on a regular basis. The ability to examine your thoughts gives you the chance to find areas for self-improvement. When you find specific thought patterns that are not supporting you, you know that it is time to change what you are thinking by introducing new beliefs into your life.
Filed under Personal Development by Coach












Comments on The Benefits of Writing A Journal
Thank you for this post. I have been a lifelong journal writer and I think it is a wonderful activity for: creativity, reinforcing our life’s purpose and goals, dealing with stress and anxiety, getting in touch with our spiritual selves etc.
There is also something very satisfying about writing in a journal the old fashioned way. I am a school teacher and although we use a lot of technology in our classroom I also encourage my kids to hand write as much as possible.
One of my projects is a blog for people who are having trouble sleeping at night. I strongly encourage any of us who have insomnia, anxiety, worry etc. to write in a sleep journal.
Thanks again!