The story is all too familiar: you buy a journal, a really pretty one as if its aesthetic appeal will actually encourage you to write more. You sit down and begin to write. If you think of anything to put down, you stick with it for a week, if that. In a short matter of time, the empty book will just lay on your shelf collecting dust. It’s not because you can’t write. You can maintain a journal, and you should. You’re just doing it wrong.

There are proven psychological benefits to regularly writing in a journal. Writing things down helps organization, improves communication skills, and allows for self-expression. But, more than anything, the benefits of writing things down revolve around mindfulness and self-reflection. To be able to put the thoughts and feelings spiraling around your head into words makes them more tangible in a way that allows one to express, reflect, interpret, and move forward.

You don’t have to be a gifted writer to express yourself through writing. Anyone and everyone will benefit from keeping a journal. It can help you feel more grateful, positive, and confident in your daily life, rather than overwhelmed or out of control. This is especially so when you go above and beyond just writing down what happens to you each day.

Do a little experiment for yourself. At the end of each day for the next 14 days, write down your answer to the corresponding question below. If you miss a day, stick with it. Answer the question you missed the following day.

See the benefits for yourself. Notice the way you think about things, feel about things, and process those things. Notice how writing them down helps. Take 10 minutes and write every day for 14 days. Are you up for the challenge?

1. Write about anything and everything going on in your head and your life at this moment.

2. What opportunities, big or small, long term or short term, are available to you right now? Explain reasons why you should take advantage of each opportunity.

3. List 10 things you love about yourself.

4. Explain something you know how to do well, know a lot about, or are very passionate about in as much detail as possible. Explain it as if you were talking to someone who knows absolutely nothing about it.

5. What does support look like to you?

6. Write a letter to your 16-year-old self.

7. What is currently making you feel sad, anxious, or uncomfortable in some way? Why?... Now, go back. Circle all you wrote that you know is actually happening. Underline anything based off worries, imagined scenarios, interpretations, or things that may not ever happen. It’s important to differentiate between reality and interpretations.

8. What is a personality trait that you have that you don’t always like or makes you insecure? Under what circumstances may this trait come in handy? How does having this personality trait benefit yourself and those around you?

9. What is your biggest regret? How has this regret played a positive role in helping you become the person you are now?

10. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?

11. List five things that always make you smile, no matter what.

12. When do you feel the most confident? What contributes to this confidence? Is it how you look, how you feel, where you are, who you’re with, what you’re doing?...

13. Write down as many things as you can think of that you are grateful for.

14. Write about anything and everything going on in your head and your life at this moment. Have you noticed any changes over the last two weeks? Did you discover anything about yourself? Write down your observations.

Now, go write.