Why You Need To Journal Daily

As some of you may have noticed we love exploring things that can help us improve on the inside in order to reach the big goals we have for ourselves.  We’ve learned that there’s a lot of inside work that has to be done first to really do what we’re wanting to do.  Recently we found the positive impact journaling could have on us. There are so many reasons someone would journal and we’re laying out a few of them right here!

You Feel Disconnected From You

As we grow up there always seems to be this idea of who we should be.  Whether that’s something impressed upon us by our parents, peers, society, whoever.  It’s so easy to be disconnected from our true selves being all these things we think we should be instead of just being.  Journaling is a great way of reconnecting with yourself and being completely honest about things.  You don’t have to filter your thoughts in your writing, just let it flow.

You Feel Stuck in a Rut

Have you ever felt like you wanted to change something you do but have the hardest time making the change?  It could be the fact that you procrastinate or maybe you want to be someone that works out and eats mostly healthy, but you struggle changing your existing habits.  The reason for this is that your brain has created these neural pathways (essentially ingrained habits).  The term stuck in a rut could be used here, because those pathways have been dug so deep you probably feel stuck in them by now.  Thankfully for neuroplasticity though, we can create new neural pathways but it does take time and a major effort.

From the book Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness, Sam Chase said it really well that “part of the reason change seems harder as we age is that each new thought and action has to penetrate progressively deeper and denser neural pathways accumulated over our lifetime, which means more time and repetition is required to make an impression that lasts.”  

A huge reason we’re stuck in these ruts and can’t get out is because we aren’t being completely honest with ourselves on a real level.  Like I said earlier, we have this idea of who we should be and get disconnected from who we actually are.  Writing out why you want to change something and being completely honest and true to yourself about it is a great first step in letting go of old habits and creating new ones.

You’ve Experienced Some Form of Trauma

We just listened to The Sunny Show podcast episode called Healing Trauma to Get Unstuck in Life, Love and Business with Mastin Kipp.  In the podcast Mastin discusses that even things that seem small can cause trauma.  I’d definitely listen to the podcast, because more of us have experienced some form of trauma than not.  It’s super important to address those traumas and work through them rather than continuing to shove them under the rug.  Journaling can be a good place to start telling your true story.  I 100% believe in talking to someone as well, but if this is where you need to start, then do it!  We definitely are hoping to dig into Mastin Kipp’s book called Claim Your Power.

Resources For Journaling

A really great journaling resource I found recently is the book called Let it Out by Katie Dalebout.  She talks about how our thoughts are often stuck on repeat and are clogging up our minds which is what keeps us stuck.  In the book she has 55 Tool Kits which are journal prompts to get you to “let it out” and become unstuck.  

Another tool we found which is a more comical way to go about journaling is the journal called Zen As F*ck and Let That Sh*t Go.  I’m telling you, you have to look at some of the prompt pages on Amazon because these look great lol.  

The Happier Mind Journal is another great resource for journaling.  They have several resources available on their website that you can print off for free as well to try it out.  

You also just need a journal to write in and these are some of my faves that I found online 🙂

Tips For Journaling Success

The challenge with journaling is that the only way it’s going to work, is if you get completely honest with yourself.  Be YOU and not who you think you should be.  Write like YOU not how you think you should write.  Just write and just be.  Those are my tips for you in being successful in journaling.

Do you journal?  Journaling is one of those things I wish I’d have always done so I could look back on things and see where I’ve grown.  I plan to do this from now on though so I have them for years to come.