The Power of Journalling for Success & Mental Health: A Beginner’s Guide
“In the journal I do not express myself more openly than I could to any person; I create myself.”
– Susan Sontag
Many of us are fallible to the preconceived notion that journaling is the stuff of girlhood and teenagers. That it is for wimpy, emotional, and ‘woo-woo’ artsy types of people. However, this stereotype clouds the true clarity that writing in a journal, either through your own unique freeform style and expression, or a series of specific guided prompts by experts, can bring.
One of the other false myths about journaling is that, because it takes so much time and effort to do, it isn’t the best thing for us to do when we are tired and overwhelmed. That, if we do work that is already cerebral and mentally challenging throughout our work day, journaling will tire our minds even more. In reality, in journaling there can be as many or as few rules as you please. It’s a safe space for you to braindump whatever is on your plate in an unorganized, stream-of-consciousness way, or for you to dive deep into changing your thought patterns for those days when you do feel up for more of a mental exercise.
It does not matter how old or young you are: it’s not hard to open your notes app or find a piece of pen and paper, making journaling one of the most accessible tools for relieving stress and renewing mental clarity.
Let’s look into how journaling helped one of our guests on Thriving Perspectives, and how it can help you to clear your mind anew when you need to the most.
When Thrive CEO Terry Dubroy spoke with student Nerea Vilas, she cited how her personal struggle as a student who suffered from mental clutter was part of a more universal issue. In our last blog post, we looked into the interplay between pressures from academic expectations and the troubling patterns they induce – self-doubt, loneliness, and harsh inner criticism. Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, seasoned professional, or otherwise, reading this blog post means that you are someone who is inclined to learn. And if you love to learn, I must ask you this: do you ever struggle with having an overactive mind? Moments when the pressures of performing and meeting expectations simply become too much, and you struggle to know what the right outlet can be?
As Nerea suggests in the podcast, “That’s where journalism can transform the way you think, feel, and learn.”
A pattern that begins to emerge when we overthink and find ourselves entrenched in inner conflicts is that of internalization. Our thoughts and feelings become an almost uncontainable whirlwind that we try to contain by keeping them inside. This can lead to imploding or exploding emotionally if we do not have adequate outlets for self-regulation.
One of the core scientific benefits of journaling is that it becomes a medium for externalizing all of that inner tumultuousness. Subsequently, the stress that we feel lowers significantly, and we begin to notice that by simply getting thoughts out on paper, rather than keeping them stuffed inside, we have done something healthy to express them. No harm to ourselves or others has taken place, and we can even begin to find a way to organize these thoughts and emotions after the expression has taken place.
When we try to keep it all inside, there is no opportunity for expression or organization. Research shows that spiralling thoughts without an outlet can keep us awake at night. We’ve all experienced those sleepless nights staring at the ceiling awash in worrisome thoughts, but no longer does this have to be the case. Put warm lighting on, pick up your journal and pen, and purge it all out on the page.
Not only is there research highlighting how journaling is an emotional release, but the intellectual benefits that come even when we are writing about our subjective experience are prominent. This is because journaling allows us to see multiple perspectives and sides of the same issue. All of that internalized chaos is really just your brain’s way of giving you all sides of the same coin to analyze. Once all of the puzzle pieces are on the page, you will have a greater capacity to see the bigger picture and understand the patterns at hand.
Beginner’s Journalling Prompts for Success & Mental Health
View this post as a beginner’s guide to unlocking the power of journaling for your personal success & mental health. It is natural for it to feel uncomfortable or even embarrassing when you journal your thoughts, especially because the idea of writing in a journal has become largely feminized and marketed for youth in Western culture. However, the science shows that the benefits this practice carries do not apply to a pigeonholed portion of people – it works for all of us, whether done on a notes app during a lunch break or in a pretty pink journal by evening lamplight.
If you feel like weaving journaling into your everyday life could be of benefit and are unsure of where to begin, I recommend choosing one of these simple beginner’s prompts:
What’s on my mind right now, and how is it affecting me?
What am I feeling right now, and why?
What do I need to do right now? *note: I would recommend asking this question only after you have answered one of the two above. This question is very problem-solving focused, which is great to switch gears on after you have first expressed and explored your emotions. Emotions are not problems to be solved right away, so treat this question as something to help you get organized and grounded after looking into your inner world first.
