Journaling

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Journaling has changed the way I lead my day-to-day life and there has been studies on how journaling can benefit a person's life. I've only started journaling for about half a year and I've seen a steady improvement in my own life as I continue doing it.

Journaling is the just a simple process of writing, or typing if that's your preference, your personal experience, goals, stories, thoughts, dreams etc on a medium. You can really just write about anything! But why should you do it? How will it benefit you?

These are some of the benefits I've experienced since beginning this.

1. It relieves stress

Have you ever laid on your bed, about to close your eyes and then a thought drifted into your mind "What if.....?" or "I wonder....." then you just spend the next 3 hours staring at the ceiling in frustration? Or have you come back from work, frustrated or confused about an experience that just happened?

Writing these thoughts down or being able to express it onto a medium, just like a relieving pressure from a boiler about to explode, will allow you to deflate instead of letting your emotions get ahead of you. There is a certain peace that comes with being able to just let it all out.

The difference between writing it down instead of expressing it to a partner/friend/cat is that no one will judge you for it, not even that damned cat. You have the freedom to be completely be free with your thoughts and opinions and emotions with only you being your own judge.

2. It makes your more mindful about yourself

So you've just wrote 3 pages about that promotion you just got or maybe the girl/boy that rejected your confession, you've vented all your emotions down onto that piece of paper/computer screen. Now, you get to go back and read it again but with a clearer mind. Doing this allows you to reflect on your thoughts and discover more about yourself.

In my previous post about Values, I talked about the importance of self-introspection, journaling will only make it easier for you to go through this process as you get. Many times our brain is so full of emotions that may distort our logical minds. This allows us to really pick into it.

Don't like how you got angry at your boss? After writing about it, reading back on your thoughts will allow you to gain more clarity and maybe make you realize that there may be a better solution to resolve the issue between you and your boss, leading him to be proud of you for being a better man, leading to that promotion you get, leading you to a higher salary, leading you to buying your dream house and marrying your childhood sweetheart. You're welcome.

3. It helps you relive the past

I remember trying to journal years ago when I was in High School. I recently found my old journal and read through it again. "Jan 14, 2008. She was the love of my life, I can't believe we broke up, I will NEVER MEET ANOTHER GIRL LIKE HERE AGAIN...." (not the actual text, but it was somewhere along those lines). Not only was it such a laugh to relive past moments of my life with my emotions, it also allowed me to appreciate how much I've changed and grown since then.

I also wrote about wanting to be a doctor, about my dad's health, about many things. It's been about 10 years later and so many things have changed! If I never wrote any of these down, I would never have remembered the details of it.

Every few weeks I like to turn back a few pages to read just for fun. Many of those times, I think to myself, that there was no way I would think that with embarrassment and it helps me grow as a person as well.

P.S. Why I'm writing my random thoughts and travel stories in Steemit is also so I can relive them again on a later date when I may have forgotten the details.

4. It helps you keep to your goals

Sometimes in my journal, I will write about how I've eaten so much food at the buffet for dinner today, I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN ANYMORE! Then, in my heated moment of self-loathing, I write down

1. DO 50 PUSHUPS
2. EAT ONLY UP TO 70% FULL, NOT 100%
3. etc

I follow it for awhile then completely forget about it. But since I've started writing these things down in my journal, it becomes much easier to keep myself accountable, especially when I turn back a few pages and I have these goals glaring me in the face.

5. Your kids/grandkids will know how cool you were

One of my big regrets is that I never got to know my granddad whom I've heard lead a very interested life, if only there was some way he could have left stories of himself for his future generations to learn about his life. Hmmmmm....

Jokes aside, I'm also writing these journals with the intention of my future kids being able to read them and know me for who I am, flaws and all. I want them to learn from my mistakes and the ups and downs of my life. I want them to know how cool/lame (it's very subjective) I was and see me as more real and more human. I know a lot of my dad's stories, but he's also admitted that they were very fuzzy and he definitely can't describe them as detailed anymore.

I usually write my journals with a few audience in mind, future me and my future generations.

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Are you convinced? I hope you are! In my next few coming posts, I will write about How to start writing your journal, Where and When should you write your journal and some suggestions on What you should write about. Follow me (@chuazm) and look forward to them!