Creating your journal can be so important and beneficial to you and your business. Many great entrepreneurs advocate the use of a daily journal so much that many often say that it is impossible to grow or attain further success without it.
“I started writing a journal, and I was learning so much along the way.” Jay Leno
Why is this?
There are so many benefits for all of us to keep a journal and here are some of them:
It tracks your progress as a person
How much can a person change in a year?
In three years? And in three months? Some inside changes happen so gradually that we do not notice them, despite their significance.
A diary is a way to fight this natural obliviousness.
The changes can be seen in the way you write: The subjects you choose, the style of your prose, the thoughts you register, and your fluidity to express them.
It is a good space to unfold your emotions
Being an introvert, I have always found it difficult to share my feelings and ideas with other people. Speaking about things is complicated, for I cannot express myself as clearly as I would wish in that way.
When I was a teen, especially, I went through a hard time. I did not have many things in common with people my age, so I often felt lonely and misunderstood. School was a real torture, for I was surrounded by people who did not understand or cared about me or my interests.
My diary became a powerful tool to fight negative emotions, and gave me a place of freedom to explore what was happening inside of me. At that moment, it was my best friend: I could tell the diary about my frustrations with school, comment on the books and movies I enjoyed, and ramble about my dreams and aspirations for the future without feeling ridiculous or judged. In the process, I learned some things about writing and a lot about myself.
This is what a diary should be: A tool for self-discovery. The world moves so fast that we tend to ignore a lot of things about ourselves. Sometimes we are feeling so much, that it becomes too difficult to make sense of it, and we end up pretending that we do not feel anything at all Humans are full of feeling.
There is no shame in it. Writing can help to understand your own emotions, to explain them, and therefore give you a healthier way to deal with the negative ones and to solve problems.
Your journal should be able to go where you go. The important thing is that you develop this habit of making regular daily entries. You will soon enough begin to see the benefits it makes to your whole life, this cannot be underestimated.
Bear in mind that your journal is very personal to you but should be capable of going everywhere with you. So, if you need to think about a smaller journal to make it more practical for you then great. It’s your journal so, you need to be comfortable and happy with it.
Why use a journal?
There are so many uses for a journal that we could spend all day discussing them. Primarily, it should be able to offer you an effective and even efficient way of working out all problems. You can use it to figure out business problems, people problems or life itself.
There is something special about writing down a problem. It is almost as though as soon as you start writing down the problem you discover ways of solving it. Almost a way of clearing the fog in our heads and allowing us to see the problem a lot clearer. The simple fact that you are writing down the problem in the first place as apposed to pondering this in your head creates a space between you and the problem itself.
Analyse what you have written
It’s important to remember here that when we write out our problems this is only the starting process for our creative problem solving.
The next step is to ensure that we very carefully analyse what exactly we have written down. Try to exam the problem very closely to see the real issues from a wider perspective that the problem may cause.
Key points of analysis
Tell the truth:
Always make sure that you are being honest with yourself. Try not to distort the truth in any way or you will find it much harder to eradicate the problems that you may be facing.
Responsibility:
Take full responsibility for your actions and where you are today.
Don’t look at back at the past and think what might have been or what you should have done. We cannot change the past so, accept where you are and move on.
Expectations:
Don’t expect quick change or even people to change in order for you to solve your problem. Things improve in your life when you improve.
Weaknesses:
If you look closely enough at the problem, you have a greater chance of solving whatever it was. Often, we later realise that just a few minor adjustments are all that is required to fix even major problems.
Write down your observations:
By regularly writing down and recording your observations, you are in essence reviewing and investigating them. This itself will make a huge difference if there is a major or complex problem or issue that you need to solve.
