Before we start how journaling changed me, let’s admit that daily journaling is not a fancy habit that you would put in your new year’s resolution.
It’s thought of as a habit reserved for the scholars and people of letters. Is it your cup of tea?
It does seem pointless to write about what happened in our mundane everyday life. What is there to write about, anyway?
Before you dismiss this thought of whether this is suited for you, let’s just pause and ponder about it for a moment.
I have been doing it for some time now, so let me tell you how journaling changed me.
Let me first tell you what this post contains.
4, Become wiser before you’re older
What is the price you have to pay?
Capsulizing everything discussed so far
So let’s get started then.
What I love about journaling
These are the benefits that I found from my journaling journey.
1, Sharpening rationality
This might make you think I’m going to ramble about scrutinizing all our choices.
What a dull way to live!
Most of our decisions are on that spur of the moment, not being judgmental. Something is thrilling about making those split-second decisions. You find the zest for life in that ‘Hey, let’s do it!’ moments. Why would anyone want to banish that?
Being rational might sound like living very artificially and robotically. That is true, but!
At the end of the day, when you sit back and reflect on all your decisions, you will know which one was good for you and which one wasn’t. This is important.
Training yourself to see which is the good decision and which one the bad one is the best way to sharpen your intuition.
The point is not to stop making snappy decisions, it’s about training to make the right one!
Journaling sharpens your intuitions.
2, Having clarity
This is very simple logic. Pay attention.
Writing about your life makes you think about your life. Thinking about your life gives you clarity on your life.
I admit this is slightly far-fetched. This doesn’t mean that you suddenly will be enlightened after journaling. It just means your clarity on life will be better off with journaling than not.
Who doesn’t want to be sober in life?
3, Being a documentarian
I know being a documentarian isn’t your career choice. But what if your life depends on it?
Let me simplify things for you.
How many things have you read and listened to in your life? How much of it do you remember?
You read a book and in the next month forget all about it.
Transferring something from your short-term memory to your long-term one is a tedious process involving a series of active recalls and spaced repetitions. It’s not your fault!
This means that your brain is not reliable, and you need somewhere reliable to store it.
That is why you should document everything. Instead of staring at the ceiling, you can retrieve any piece of information when you need it.
Journaling is your baby’s step in that direction.
4, Become wiser before you’re older
If wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. I just told you how to get the last two. Sorry, there is no shortcut to gain experience. I guess this is all you can do to be wiser.
With age comes wisdom is an old age saying before technology.
Just flux your thinking and judgment muscles every day and before you know it, you can beat the old folks.
5, Better well being
Before you claim ‘I knew it!’ and accuse me of stating the obvious, just hear me out.
You don’t need super intelligence to figure out that all the things said earlier leads to a polished up well being. I made to this point just emphasize this one from the obviousness.
Having a reality check at the end of the day can be a very humbling experience.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
What is the price you have to pay?
1, It takes time and effort
Sitting down every day and writing about your life is not as a simple task as it seems. It takes up time and effort. Both of which most of us are short of.
“If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain.”
John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
I hope you can deal with one as well.
2, Lack of secrecy
I’m a reserved person, so this was a big deal to me. Keeping everything in your head is more comforting than having a record of everything.
The possibility of exposing your awful thoughts and embarrassing moments is there. But then again, we are all imperfect humans after all.
The relief of having a place to let your steam off is better than the comfort of locking away your secrets.
Capsulizing everything discussed so far
Your journal is your private world, and what you can do with it is up to you.
My journal is my diary, my to-do list, my idea repository, my daily tracker. It can be anything you need it to be.
Maybe it is the place where you mark your progress towards your secret mission.
Whatever it is, I’m sure it will help you shape your life.
So why not give it a try?
After all, who will come to know even if you failed?
No one.
That’s a heartening point to start your journaling journey
Cheers!