Journaling is something that took me a very long time to get used to and to become comfortable with. It took me a lot of tries and to figure out what worked for me and how I wanted to go about it. It took going through dozens of different notebooks and reading so many different articles to figure out what I should be writing about or what I wanted to be writing about. Until I realized that there isn't a "correct way" to keep a journal, because it doesn't even have to make any sense. Journaling is just supposed to allow you to put your incoherent thoughts into a visual platform, so you can maybe try to make sense of the day's events.
In my last article, "This New Year, Please STOP Doing These 9 Things To Yourself" I mentioned that the average person has about 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day. My jaw dropped to the floor when I found that out. I already knew that I had an overactive mind, with fleeting thoughts day in and day out, but I never really was able to visualize it or realize how much it really affected me.
This is what motivated me to start journaling and keeping a planner, especially for school assignments and deadlines. It took me a few tries, and it's something that I'm slowly, but surely, figuring out.
It's also why I believe that you should start journaling if you don't already.
You see, when you continue to think about something over and over again, it tires out your brain. It's why research suggests no matter how good your memory is, you should write down everything. It clears out your thoughts and makes your mind stronger and healthier.
Writing down your thoughts, affirmations or even just incoherent words will help you sort out all the chaos that is happening behind the scenes - the stuff we don't really even realize we think about regularly. It will also allow you to have peace within your mind because you will be able to look back on the previous days and think: "Hey, that was a problematic thought or action, but I sorted it out. I dealt with it so I have no reason to be worrying about it."
You deserve to be at peace with yourself.
