“Journaling is paying attention to the inside for the purpose of living well from the inside out.” – Bobby Knight
If you want to strive for continuous growth, journaling is a useful tool and a good habit to develop. When things get too hectic, it's easy to lose track of what you've been up to, what you've accomplished, and how far you've come. Writing it down, whether on paper or in digital format, helps you remember and keep track.
Developing the habit of journaling every day helps you discover new things and rediscover old truths about yourself. It also helps you stay on track with your goals, keeps you accountable, and motivates you by reminding you how much you’ve achieved.
Getting the habit to stick can be a challenge, and starting can be quite daunting—after all, there’s nothing more overwhelming than a blank page. But sticking to a format and challenging yourself to stick to a journaling schedule for 30 days can help build momentum.
Journaling doesn’t just help with knowing yourself and your personal development. It also helps you improve your writing and communication skills, develop critical thinking, and change the way you think in general.
When your thoughts are free to run rampant, it is often hard to see the unhelpful thought patterns behind them. But when you give physical form to your thoughts by putting them into words, you can see those patterns and come up with ways to improve and change them.
Keeping a journal also helps you build your career. When you have a place to store all your ideas, inspirations, and learning, you can review and remember them. It also helps you identify if there are any tasks or projects that have been lagging, or bad working habits that you can change to improve your productivity.
It helps you identify mistakes and reflect on them, and keeps your goals visible in a place you can revisit often, in case you need a reminder.
A lot of successful people always say that knowing yourself is the first step to becoming successful, and journaling helps you achieve that.
Lastly, it helps you reduce your stress and anxiety. A journal is a safe space for you to vent and put your thoughts and frustrations without fear of judgment. But most importantly, it is a space where you can reinvent yourself, challenge your shortcomings, and really reflect on how you can become one step closer to who you originally envisioned yourself to be.
“Keeping a journal of what’s going on in your life is a good way to help you distill what’s important and what’s not.” – Martina Navratilova
Thank you for reading A Brilliant Tribe.
