7 Unconventional Benefits of Journaling

Journaling is a daily habit that has given me more than I’ve ever expected. It changed my perspective, removed many emotional issues and enriched my life.

If you haven’t started to register your thoughts and experiences yet, I highly recommend starting it soon. Here are the most exciting benefits I found throughout the years of journaling.

1. Fancy squiggles

You’d be surprised that no other human being on the planet has the exact handwriting style like yours! You might not be proud of your squiggles yet, but that’s because they haven’t developed yet.

You get “gooder” with practice. There’s no better place to improve your handwriting style than your journal.

As you’re faithful to write every day with attention and intention to read it later, you’re improving your style. Wait a couple of weeks and you’ll be able to flip a few pages back and notice a change.

2. The vault of canned memories

The experiences we have are fading away as time goes. Only the thoughts we think often become strong enough to stick in our brains. The new events overwhelm the old ones.

If you had one day to live and a hundred to think about it, you’d remember it. Luckily or not, we have daily experiences. We don’t live in the memories but in the reality that brings fresh events every single day. Every thought fights to survive but most of them don’t live long.

It’s great to know that we are able to pick and can the memories before they spoil. Canned memories can stay for a very long time and be enjoyed when fancied.

3. “That was silly of me!”

If you’re in a self-help and improvement business, daily journaling should be motivating for you. It helps to track the development of your personality and see the changes that take place.

The growth of your character and personality is hard to see at the moment if there is nothing to compare it with. When you have your stats now and two months ago you have the ability to notice every change.

When you look at who you were and the decisions you took, you might be embarrassed… On the other hand, there is nothing better than knowing you grew and evolved to be someone better.

I wish to have access to time travel! I need to teach my younger-self some lessons!

4. Secret stats of life for motivation

You’ve seen this coming, didn’t you?

Tracking your growth can be a big source of motivation. It’s like seeing your character in an RPG game developing different skills. You can’t wait to see what kind of reward the next levelling-up will bring!

It’s the same in life. We improve and get stronger. Although, there’s no tab to actually check your stats; your level number is not being “hologrammed” above your head.

That’s where your journal comes in like a superhero to save the day. And motivation!

It’s easy to get out of bed when you know that your daily investment in yourself matters. Someone would argue that you haven’t changed. Ha! You have the written proof!

5. There is a reason for everything

“Dude, why do I have so much gas in my stomach?!” You ask bewildered.

“Look at your journal!” I would reply with way too much confidence.

“Oh, it’s beans! Every time I eat beans…”

Yes! Journaling gives you the power to notice repeating patterns of life. Every action that leads to certain results is registered and at your disposal. It’s easy to track back and see the causes and natural laws in your life when you have written your actions down.

During the reading of my very first journals, I noticed that certain emotions lead me to actions, to situations, to another set of emotions and, in the end, it wasn’t so great… It happened over and over again. Journaling helped me to see these things and to make an appropriate change.

6. Life tells a consistent story

Can you imagine reading a book where you’re the main character?

We live day by day and we can’t zoom out and see the bigger picture easily. It’s just like pixels. You can’t look at a single pixel and describe the picture. The more pixels you see, the clearer picture becomes.

When you zoom out of your day to day pixels and look at hundreds of them, you will start to see the picture.

The more you live, the more you experience, the richer your story becomes. As you read your journal, you’re able to see the natural flow of your life. You’ll be fascinated to discover that the flow is consistent! There is a direction that your daily choices are taking you towards. Journaling will help you to see and redirect it if needed.

7. A priceless gift

What if your grandpa left you all of his journals? A stack of notebooks that tells how life was decades before you were born…

I would be speechless…

It’s not fiction. It’s a reality that someone lived in. It carries the character. There are so many life-lessons!

It would be such a big gift!

Summing-up

Journaling is awesome! The biggest challenge you’ll face is being faithful to it.

It does not mean you have to write a page a day. Don’t push yourself. Sometimes it might be three lines, sometimes three pages. You make up the rules!

Be yourself! It’s your journal! Keep the account of things that you want to remember and track.

Be honest and true! It will help you to value yourself and your life on a deeper level. I can promise that you will see a new perspective of who you truly are.