5 Reasons Journaling Will Enhance Your Personal Growth

By: Alex Halenda

Journaling can be done in many ways. Some people write down the exact details of their day, others write their emotions and thoughts, some just write stream-of-consciousness off the top of their heads. Whatever the case, it has been said that journaling can help improve your memory, your relationship to yourself and others, and even help you become more effective in your business endeavors. With that in mind let's look at more great benefits of keeping a journal:

1. 
   You Can Look Back On Your Growth and See Changes
   There is nothing like looking back at your own words. I've reflected on my journals and vividly felt the emotions of that moment, while other times I've looked back and felt nothing. Its fun to see how you react to what you once felt was noteworthy. Looking back can be just as powerful as writing in the first place.
   
   2. Writing Your Goals and Intentions Makes Them More Real
   (A goal is in the future, an intention is immediate)
   Putting your goals, dreams, and intentions on paper is one of the first steps towards manifesting them in the physical world. Once it's down on paper for the world to see, for you to remember you have more motivation to act upon them. Rather than just having a thought float around in your head, you might even write a list or set a deadline for yourself. Put it in a sacred place, and even write more about what the goal means to you, speak in positive ways about it, as if there were naturally no other option than to accomplish it.
   
   3. When You Read Your Thoughts it is Easier to See them Objectively
   Another benefit, this one perhaps for your sanity, is that seeing your thoughts on paper can help you see them as something outside of yourself. Realizing your thoughts are something you keep, or you can give away, and let go of forever. When we keep our thoughts inside, especially the challenging or self-depreciating ones, it's easy to get lost thinking we aren't separate from them, but we are! Write them down in the third person if you have to, maybe even throw in positive affirmations if it resonates with you, "Alex feels so strange in her body today. She knows it is an interesting feeling, and she believes she can learn from it."
   
   4. Your Experience Can Be Inspirational
   Whether it evolves into a creative work, a lecture, or a powerful teaching memory, your experience is something worth processing. It might sound crazy but you never know what kind of epiphany may come later in life from observing the older versions of yourself. Documenting your own growth can even act as a road map with all the caring moments and cautions as loving guides. The memories and stories of our elders often act in this way, maybe that is one of the common human traditions all over the world. Tell your story, and contribute to collective consciousness!
   
   5. A Daily or Regular Practice Builds Discipline
   If discipline has some funny connotations in your memory, let it go. It simply means to have the ability to train yourself, to view and adjust your reactions with grace and poise. Self-discipline is one of the most powerful skills you can build in your toolbox. If you're able to journal daily, even if it's only for 1 word, or 1 minute, you will strengthen your self-confidence as you follow through for yourself. To set a commitment just for yourself and then live up to it builds self-trust. When you trust and believe in yourself, anything is possible.
   
   Go get 'em tiger! Pen and paper handy!
   Journaling might just be the best step you can make starting NOW towards your groovy dreams.