The Benefits of Journaling: A tool to support your new patterns.

Way before I wrote the book Pattern Breakers I wrote almost daily, I have kept a journal since I was in high school, which was a lot longer than I care to admit. When I began to journal, I would write about my day, what I experienced, the people I encountered, the daily grind. As my writing progressed over the years it evolved into a deep writing practice; writing about my dreams, aspirations, the struggles I felt internally, emotions I was working through, and deeper questions about my existence and my perception of reality.

That became a slippery slope of getting real deep, real quick.

But why do I journal? Why is journaling important?

By committing to journaling every day you will create a new pattern of gaining deep understanding of your life. Journaling is a great problem-solving skill; often times we get stuck thinking about our problems in our head and dwell on them. By writing them out on paper can help you come up with solutions that you may not have initially thought of. Writing about highly emotional or traumatic events can assist in exploring and releasing the emotions involved. It gives you a platform to express what is going on, rather than bottling them up.

Journaling can also focus the mind, like keeping a Gratitude journal or a Personal Plan journal.

A Gratitude Journal is a journal in which you write about the areas of your life in which you are grateful for. This is highly effective in releasing emotions and create a more positive impact in your life. The nice thing about this is you can reflect back to it when you are feeling down. Keeping a record of all the grateful experiences, people, or events in your life will keep the mind focus on the pleasant things in life and assist you in navigating through the shadow sides of life.

A Personal Plan Journal keeps track of all the things in your life that need to be monitored. Here you would write the day to day task you need to accomplish, the goals you have, and all the things you wish not to forget. This is great for those who are trying to create more organization in their life and prevent mental clutter block from forming. Keeping your tasks organized will relieve stress and create a better sense of well-being.

There are so many other forms of journaling, like keeping a dream journal or a emotional release journal. There is no ‘perfect cut’ formula for journaling. This is your journal; it can look and be whatever you’d like. That’s the fun in it. I purchase Composition notebooks and decorate them with stickers, concert ticket stubs, and small visual reminders of what I want the future to look like.

If you find yourself not keeping a regular schedule with journaling, that’s okay! You can resume at any time. You don't have to journal every day in order for it to work, you can write a few times a week and you will still get all the beautiful benefits. If you had a journaling habit and stopped because life got in the way, that’s fine. I get it, life can be challenging at times and pull our attention away. Remember—any day is a good day to get back into the habit!

If you have any questions about journaling or would like assistance, please reach out to use and we would be happy to assist you in your journaling journey!

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