An Introduction to Journaling

In this course we're going to explore how and why you should start a Journal.

Last updated 8 April 2022

Benefits

Journaling can have many different benefits and help us reach a wide range of goals. It can help you clear your head, make important connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. We will cover these in the course.

• greater self-awareness

• identify goals and ways to reach them

• focus on positive aspects of our life

• brings structure to chaotic thoughts

• enhance your sense of well-being

• look at situations from a different viewpoint

• look back at good times in our life

• promotes honesty to ourselves and others

• reduce symptoms of depression before an important event (like an exam or presentation)

• facilitates creativity

• improved decision making

• improve your working memory

You might be wondering how writing in a journal can have a significant impact on your life. After all, it’s just putting some words on a page—how much can that really do for you? It turns out that this simple practice can do quite a bit, especially as you strive towards a cultivating more positive attitude.

Writing a journal can make us more self-aware and allow us to take more control over our lives and puts things in perspective. Furthermore, it can help us shift from a negative mindset to a more positive one, especially about ourselves (Robinson, 2017). Although journaling is a private activity by nature, it makes us feel more a part of life and we grow in confidence and become more grateful for everything and everyone around us.

How to Journal

We'll cover the basics and give you an example of several different types of journal - as well as explain what a journal is NOT.

We promote the use of pen and paper rather than a laptop as writing by hand slows down our thoughts and requires the application of the analytical, rational left side of the brain; while your left side is busy writing, your right side (the creative side) is free to wander. This allows your creativity to flourish and expand and can make a big difference in your daily well-being. We also identify more with our own handwriting rather than an impersonal piece of printed paper. Meaning the content has greater impact.

And it only take 5-7 minutes a day! AND you can do it anywhere.

Some other people you may know who kept a journal

Some of the greatest people in history share this simple, empowering habit of keeping a journal to reflect.

Sir Richard Branson - the most celebrated entrepreneur of our time, reportedly worth $4.8 billion, said:

“It may sound ridiculous, but my most important is to always carry a little notebook in your back pocket. I think the number one thing that I take with me when I'm traveling is the notebook… I could never have built the Virgin Group into the size it is without those few bits of paper. [...] If you have a thought but don’t write it down, by the next morning it may be gone forever.”

No membership fee required to join the most exclusive, top 3% in the world, just a pen and journal.  Check out some of the names below who kept/keep a journal:

John D. Rockefeller

George Patton

Marie Curie

Benjamin Franklin

Albert Einstein

Thomas Edison

John Adams

Ronald Reagan

Richard Branson

Winston Churchill

Oprah Winfrey

Mark Twain

Ernest Hemingway

We hope you will find this general overview stimulating enough for you to embark on your own journaling journey. It is a technique for personal well-being, transformation and success that costs pennies, but the return on investment is bountiful.