Journaling won't solve your problems...

When I was having a hard day growing up,
My mother would tell me to go to bed early.

And I’d scoff -

“Going to bed isn’t going to make my problems go away.”

“You’re right. Sleep isn’t going to solve your problems,” she’d say.
”But it’ll put you in a better place to be able to solve them yourself.”

I’ve come to realize that not only is that true
(Ask my kids! We’ve had the above conversation on repeat!)

But it’s the same with journaling as well.

Often when I talk to people in my life
About challenges and problems they have,

They’re quick to say something like
”You’re not going to tell me to journal about it, are you?
That journaling will fix my problems?”

And I feel very much like my mother when I tell them

“Journaling by itself won’t fix your problems.
But it’ll put you in a better position to be able to fix them.”

Because you signed up to get this email,
I’m pretty sure you’re not actually rolling your eyes,
Though you might be a little skeptical about how.

Let’s talk about what journaling can do for us.

Journaling is an activity which allows us to carve out quiet reflective time for ourselves.

Think about your life.
How much of it do you spend running around,
Busy doing for other people?

What do you do for you?

I’m seriously asking.
How many opportunities do you give yourself each week
To slow down, spend time with yourself,
And truly think about what’s happening in your life?

If I didn’t journal,
I wouldn’t have opportunities like this on the regular.

Journaling gives me a positive reason to stop,
Gives me permission to spend time on myself,
Slows me down long enough to catch up with my racing thoughts.

It’s hard for me to solve my problems
When I’m on the go, doing all the things.

Journaling gives us an “acceptable” reason to focus on ourselves.

We receive so much messaging throughout our lives
About how we’re here to do for other people,
That focusing on ourselves is selfish.

But if we don’t spend some time focusing on ourselves,
How will we ever know ourselves?

Where else can we really focus on what’s happening inside us,
Learning to understand what we think and how we feel

Deciding if we like what we think and how we feel
And have a safe space to think through how things could be different for us.

Spending time with ourselves in a contemplative manner
Helps us to know ourselves and to make choices that align with our values
And be the people we want to be.

Journaling clears away the mental clutter.

Our brains can do a lot of things,
But they can’t do them all at once.

Think of all the information you keep in your brain.

I’m sure at any given moment you can tell me:

• How much laundry detergent you have at home

• What proteins you have in your fridge that you can make for dinner

• When you’ve got to bring the dog to the vet

• The birthdays of the people who matter most to you

• All the office gossip you heard this week

And, and, and…

Keeping all the information in your head
Makes it really hard to think creatively to find answers to your problems.

Taking the time to journal,
To park what doesn’t have to live in our brains on paper

Frees up so much more space to find possible solutions.

Clarity comes faster when we journal - and leaves clues behind.

There’s something magical that happens when I have a pen in my hand.

I can run around the hamster wheel in my mind trying to solve a problem
And just end up tired.

But when I pick up my pen and start to journal
It’s amazing how quickly clarity comes.
How clear solutions become.

Part of it is the attitude, the environment -
Priming ourselves to be still and reflective -

Part of it is also having a safe space just for ourselves
Where we can see the truths we’ve written reflected back at us.

Because that’s the trick, isn’t it? Being completely honest with ourselves.

If we aren’t, we have no hope of getting to the root of what’s happening
And find our way through it.

Our journals not just provide a safe space for us to work through situations,
They provide a record of all the situations we’ve worked through before,

Leaving evidence that we’ve done this before
Giving us confidence that we can do this again.

Do you have a journaling practice that helps you with all of this?
You definitely deserve one if you want it.

Want to talk about what’s possible for you?
Book a quick clarity call today!!

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Journal Prompts

Use these prompts as written or as inspiration to uncover what you need in your life this week. And know that I’m always here to support you and answer questions you have along the way!

• How much information do you hold in your brain at any one time?

• Write out on paper a play by play of all the thoughts you remember thinking today.

• Can you believe how much you have stored in there? What can you leave on the page?

• What is a problem or challenge you’ve been facing?

• Now that your head is a little more clear, brainstorm some possible solutions.

• Do any of them jump out at you as something that’s truly possible?

• How can you test it out to see if it’ll work?

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Journaling Fun and Support

My weekly livestream is back! Join me on Tuesdays at 8pm Eastern as I welcome a series of guests who do interesting, fun things that tie into journaling! This week, I welcome my friend Dan Mott to talk about Pushing Beyond What’s Possible! Tune in on LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook (if you’re my mom!). Missed last week’s session on The Enneagram? Catch it HERE.

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Happy Journaling!