Journaling was a foreign word to me for a very long time. The whole concept of sitting down and writing what was on my mind seemed at times silly and at other times difficult. I could quite put my ideas to paper. As a hobby writer, I had the notion in my head that the act journaling had to be perfect; it had to be of Shakespearean levels in order for it to be worthy of the paper it was written on.
I soon discovered this was not the case; and that, in fact, journaling in its imperfection is a perfect greenhouse for success. Our thoughts, desires, ideas (the crazier the better) begin to germinate on the paper and soon you catch yourself doing things that you had written about weeks prior.
Now, you may ask, "Well, why do I need to journal in order for those things to come to fruition?"
Even for the most goal-oriented of people, journaling is a way of making the ideas concrete. As humans we are such creative beings that ideas are always floating around. Just imagine if you took just 15 minutes in the morning to write down whatever came into your head. It gives you the opportunity to not only take some time for yourself to literally clear you mind of anything that may cause you troubles throughout the day, but it also gives you the opportunity to embrace the thoughts that you might otherwise tend to ignore. This venting out of the negative and embracing inspiration from the positive puts a spring in your step. Plus, it helps us to gain a perspective of those treasured parts of life that we might be overlooking; and, by removing the negative it miraculously creates space in your life to invite those treasures back.
Journaling is very simple: it is the act of writing your own stream of consciousness. This can be anything at all. Ideas, emotions, worries, reminders to self, as the thought births itself in your mind, you give it a form on paper. Spelling and grammar don't matter. Just the thoughts. It is that increased awareness of these thought that allow us to become a better person and a better professional.
Try journaling for 21 days. 21 days, every morning upon waking up for 15 minutes. At the end of those 21 days take a moment to re-read the journal. Be ready to be pleasantly surprise on how such a simple act can make significant changes in your life.
Side note: if you want to take Journaling to the next level - Read the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. You don't need to be an artist in the traditional sense of the word to read this book and to adopt the practices she presents. It is an amazing journey that will give you many gifts.
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