How Writing Can Help You Be Healthier

Would you like to learn a way to more easily deal with stress and be healthier?

In this post, I'll share the secret to how writing and blogging can actually make you healthier.

Here's the truth: Leaders are some of the loneliest people around. Why? Because they usually carry heavy burdens they can’t easily share or process with others. The good news is writing has been shown to have healing properties that help us manage our emotions.

A study by Dr. Joshua Smith in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, suggests that writing helps process emotions, which can actually strengthen your immune system. Venting through writing does not bring about the intended benefits, though. Instead, the study suggests that people must use it to better understand and process their emotions, which brings about healing.(1)

I confess that, for myself, blogging is extremely cathartic. Sometimes I come home at the end of a long day feeling like I have not accomplished much. After writing a short blog post, all of that changes. I feel like I have done something. I have contributed. My day has not been a waste. There is something about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard that helps the mind deal with unprocessed emotions in a powerful way.

Guy Kawasaki, author of numerous books on business, summarizes the effect writing has on him in this way: “Writing is therapeutic. It helps you cope with issues that seem gargantuan at the time. The process of expressing yourself about a problem, editing your thoughts, and writing some more can help you control issues you face.”

Try this experiment:

What is a problem you are facing right now? Pull out a piece of paper or a note on your computer and right the word “problem.” Take a moment and, as clearly as you can, write out exactly what the problem is.

Then try to answer the following questions regarding that problem:

• What is the problem?

• Why is it a problem?

• How long has it been a problem?

• How have I contributed to this problem?

• What would be the consequence if this issue were not resolved?

• What would the ideal outcome look like if this issue were resolved?

On the other side of the paper write the word “solution.” As clearly as you can, delineate three possible solutions to the problem and then commit to an action. Now, I am not suggesting that you do all of this publicly on a blog. But you can hit upon some of these issues in a blog post.

This might not be a blog post where you have the answers. Perhaps you are writing this particular post for the sake of getting counsel from other peers. Or perhaps you’re just trying to identify and define a problem.

Writing a post like this every once in a while helps you learn about an issue, reveal a level of authenticity amongst those who follow you, and process your emotions.

So what about you? What benefits of writing have you noticed in your own life?

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