About one year ago, I started writing in my diary daily. This simple task of writing daily has yielded exponential dividends in my life. It is a ‘keystone habit’ that seems to have improved almost every other aspect of my life.
Here is how:
You want to get healthy.
You want to write that book.
You want to be more present with your loved ones.
You want to start that business.
You want to learn another language.
You want to be more patient and happy.
You want to be more organized.
You’re going to be a better friend.
You want to overcome bad habits.
We want to be all these things in our life. But the problem is: Doing these are hard. You’ve been telling yourself for a long time “Today is the day!” only to fall into old ways before the day — or if you’re lucky, the week — is spent. When there’s a gap between who you are and who you intend to be, you become regretful and unhappy.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”– Mahatma Gandhi
When I started journaling every day- I noticed this harmony getting back in my life. The pages I wrote with my hands was a brain-dump of all my thinking. My thoughts were put into exact words. When I vividly wrote down what I want in my life, what I don’t, what are my dreams, aspirations, hopes- my actions followed accordingly. My journal became my accountability partner.
Remember a time when you were so anxious about some event in your life and you called your best friend and talked about this problem to him/her. And you felt a lot lighter and calmer after the call. Just the act of stating your problem to someone seemed to resolve most of your panic, right?
Similarly, just the act of writing out my problems, my fears, my weaknesses in my diary works as a panic-reliever to me. It has given me some astronomical cognitive clarity and mental harmony.
Most people live their lives on other people’s terms. Their days are spent achieving other people’s goals and submitting to other people’s agendas.
Their lives have not been consciously organized in such a way that they command every waking, and sleeping moment of their life. Most of us ‘sleep-walk’ our way towards the end of our life. Our ‘autopilot’ mode takes over our life. Very seldom we step back, think through and take control of what is happening in our life. We are seldom ‘present’ in our day to day lives. As Eckhart Tolle writes:
“If you are not living this moment, you are not really living.”
But when I write, I am forced to think about what is happening in my life, what is it that I want- from a ‘conscious/aware’ perspective.
So why do our brain becomes suddenly conscious while writing?
By default, Information in our brain is stored in a very chaotic form. It’s very easy for my brain to get overwhelmed by this clusterfuck jungle of information. But, when I sit down and write, my brain is forced to think and organize all the thoughts to write it down. I get a vivid description in words, what is it that needs to be included, or removed in my life. What are my hopes, fears, strengths, and weaknesses? Writing in my journal is my daily dosage of ‘self-discovery’ or ‘Zen’. This helps me actively take control of my life.
when i talk to myself in my journal about my goals it helps me to gain some clarity on what it is that I want to accomplish. Journaling helps you to discover your feelings about the goal. It won’t work if you decide on a goal that you don’t care about or that doesn’t align with your values.
When you are clear on what you’d like to accomplish, you are more likely to reach the goal. Keeping the end in mind helps all the pieces come together. Writing about what you’d like to achieve helps you to get emotionally engaged with that ultimate goal.
As I read and re-write my bigger goals daily, they become forged into your subconscious mind. Eventually, my dreams and vision consume my inner world and it becomes really easy to take action.
It is really easy to get overwhelmed by large goals. Writing and journaling allow me to break large goals into smaller actionable steps and then track those steps.
Tracking things helps keep you accountable. The best example of this is self-monitoring what you eat when trying to lose weight. If you write down every morsel you eat, you will know exactly what you did.
Journaling is the best habit i picked up in 2019. Since then, I am in the best shape of my life. My soul is at peace. I relax more. I look healthier and happier.My relationships with my loved ones haven’t been any sweeter.
Most importantly. I design the life I want to live. I am in control .