Journaling

Self-awareness can play a vital role in our lives. By being more in touch with the way you think, how you do things and how you see the world, you can take steps to improve your life. Any work on growth or bettering your life starts with that crucial awareness.





How do you get that self-awareness? Answer: by introspection. By getting in touch with yourself and actually analysing how you act, realising what habits you have, and so on. You might have done some introspection in the past. You might have been doing so when driving, or in a quiet moment at home, or maybe not at all. But oftentimes it's not very structured: it's part of the continuous mental dialogue that occurs in the background of your thoughts. For introspection to work at its best, you need to give it structure, to consciously take time out to do it.



A lot of people and authors suggest meditation as a good way of getting in touch with yourself and increasing your self-awareness. While I suppose it does have benefits in the long run, I don't find it effective if I want to sit down and sort something through in my head *right now* or find a solution to a problem I'm having right now. For that I need something to help guide my thoughts, and for me that thing is journaling.



I've been keeping a journal now for over 2 years, and it's my favourite tool for developing my self-awareness. These are some of the key benefits it has:





1: You get to read back what you write, either now or in future. This can be fantastic and open doors on mental blocks or erroneous ways of thinking which you otherwise would have missed. Imagine, if you've been struggling with a problem you've been having for a long time, and then all of a sudden it becomes clear that you've been thinking about it the wrong way, that's so much of the struggle overcome. What if all you needed to do to land your perfect partner was think to yourself "I am attractive"? What if all you needed to do to improve your health was realise "You know, every time I eat out at these fast food restaurants, I feel terrible about myself afterwards"?

5 years or more down the line, you can read back your old journal entries and think "Whoa, I've grown a lot since then! I sure don't find those things difficult any more!" Even in so much as a year, the change can be really noticeable.


2: Journaling facilitates clearer thinking. When journaling, you are sitting down quietly and writing out your thoughts in a sequential way. This programs a new way of thinking into your brain, which can then infect the other areas of your life. You gain access to a way of thinking that is clearer, more logical, and also calmer. In this way, journaling actually has a lot in common with meditation as it can help clear out the gunk in your head and reduce a raging torrent of thoughts into a navigable, calm sea.





3: It's more tactile than traditional "meditation". You've most likely heard that meditation is a good way to help you get a window on your own thoughts. But in meditation, it can be hard for you to get a good focusing point for your mind. Whether it's breathing, or a white spot, a mantra or an object in front of you, the mind can wander off as it can't hold on to the grasp of the thing you are meditating on. This is different for different people, but it's definitely my experience.
Journaling gives you something far easier for your mind to focus on as you do what is effectively a meditation. Instead of your own breath or some nice-sounding words in a foreign language, you have a pen and pad in hand, or your fingers on a keyboard. This makes it easier for your mind to engage itself, especially if you have a short attention span.





4: It's fun! Like many other good habits, the #1 reason I have been able to maintain a journaling practice for 2 years is this: it is enjoyable. In fact, I wouldn't even use the word "maintain" to describe how I continue to do it. It feels effortless. I take off days now and then, but after them there's tons of stuff I can't wait to write. And I mean, what would you rather do on a Wednesday night in? Sit around on Facebook pretending to be enjoying yourself, having so-called "conversations" with your friends? Or writing down your thoughts and seeing where your little dialogue takes you? You really don't have much better to be doing :) Let's face it: Facebook sucks. You might decide you don't like journaling in the end, but hey, at least it's something :)





How to get started


If what you've read has got you interested in starting your own journal, then why not start today? All you'll need is a pen and pad, or a computer. Write the date, and just type away. I started with pen and pad, and then moved on to keeping an electronic journal after six months. Why? Because it's faster and cheaper to type than to write since you don't have to keep getting new notebooks. Plus, pens run out, but keyboards don't :)


There are many good software programs you can use to keep an electronic journal. You can use Word, but I wouldn't recommend it for two reasons: (a) it can be an effort storing and organising all your journal files, and (b) there's no autosave, which means you can lose a lot of what you've written. The program I use is Microsoft OneNote, part of the Office package. This is awesome because you can organise your notes into separate pages and tabs. What I do is have one tab for each month, and one page for each day under those tabs. You can insert pictures or audio files, and your work is saved automatically as soon as you exit.


There are plenty of other applications you can use. There are even apps for the iPhone and iPad. One which I haven't used but heard lots about is a program called The Journal. See a review here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/the-journal


Give it a go!

Don't say you don't have the time to do it. You seem to have plenty of time to sit bored in front of the TV, so why not do this for a change? The worst that will happen is you won't like it and you'll shelve it. The best? You can have a wonderful, insightful tool that can accelerate your growth and follow you through life.