Journaling Revisited
About nine months ago, I published a newsletter on the concept of journaling and its positive impact on my mental well-being. Now, 16 months into my journaling journey (see what I did there?)
I think it’s time to follow up and see if what I penned nine months ago still holds true.
I’m going to dive straight into the points I discussed last time.
If you need a refresher, please make sure to read the previous letter.
It’s a short one and worth a quick review.
Enhanced Emotional Intelligence
Previously, I stated:
“Reflections on behavior and decision-making have shed clarity on my interactions and reactions. I have learned to pause more before responding, delay responses or decisions when I feel my presence and awareness is not 100%. There is a resilience that I find is new to me.”
How I feel about this now:
The statement I made last time more than holds up. In fact, I can safely say there is a measurable improvement in how I respond. I now find it very easy to separate myself from the task or objective, even in emotionally taxing situations. It’s easier for me to focus on the end goal without letting subtleties, nuances, and “language” affect my judgment.
When documenting my thoughts, I tend to cover how I emotionally feel about the day or any event that might have happened. This daily reflection has given me a lot to think about regarding why I behave the way I do. In this second perspective, I safely recognize that sometimes I am the one at fault and that I need to improve or change my approach. I believe this acceptance of faults or shortcomings is an indication of personal growth.
Don’t you think?
Cognitive Clarity
Previously, I stated:
“Three months into journaling, I started asking questions about my decision-making, behaviors, and ideas. I found it easier to link various bits of knowledge and recall learning when I wrote these questions in my journal. It’s like a search term was presented to my brain, and it did the work over a few days.”
How I feel about this now:
The way I see cognitive clarity now is through the lens of decluttering. I think it’s partly because of how my journaling has evolved over the last nine months.
Practically every other entry
I ask myself one of the following questions:
“Why am I doing this?”
“What event or emotional input caused me to commit to this?”
“Is this a spur-of-the-moment thing, or is this something I am willing to go all the way with?”
“Will this help me achieve my end game, or is it a distraction disguised as momentum?”
My responses to these questions help ground me and refocus my efforts where they are needed most. Seriously, it’s one of the best outcomes of journaling. I’m the kind of person who wants to do it all and will end up leaving things incomplete halfway through, not because I get lazy but because I am overwhelmed.
This is no longer the case.
Stress Reduction and Well-being
Previously, I stated:
“I think it was towards the middle of the second month when I started to ask why I was stressed and explored what the variables were causing it. I developed a series of routines to address them. Working out at a fixed time, sleeping at a fixed time… you start to see a big change in behavior and energy.”
How I feel about it now:
I no longer look at the variables that are causing stress. I now look at where it all started. What were the steps, actions, and decisions I made that led me to being in a stressful situation?
It’s less about stress management and more about ensuring that I am not responsible for creating these situations.
External stress is not in my control
I can only respond to it in an emotionally intelligent way.
What is in my control is ensuring that I do not end up in situations that take away from my well-being.
Documenting my habits, goals, and achievements and being positive about how far I have come, helps me reassess the situation from a different perspective.
What I have learned about myself from these musings is that I tend to get stressed if I do not know how to do something or how I should proceed in accomplishing something.
The answer has always been a very simple one:
“Just start.”
Goal Setting and Self-Improvement
Previously, I stated:
“The night before, I wrote down a list of things I wanted to accomplish the following day on that day’s page. At the end, I address what went right and wrong. You get perfect at planning the day, and you start structuring routines that become like a habit. My goal is to now schedule 5 days in advance with the routine stuff and pre-plan a few items as potential new additions to the routines.”
How I feel about it now:
This approach has changed considerably. I no longer plan my week like I’m in the military. What I do now is ensure there is a significant amount of variation in what I achieve during the week.
I’ve also moved from having shorter breaks to slightly longer ones. I did this because I learned my work is exhausting, and I need more time to recuperate before I switch to another task.
I’m also no longer ambitious with deadlines. I see no reason to be; there’s nowhere I need to be tomorrow. I give myself plenty of time to complete something, and rather than plan a list of things I want to accomplish every night, I instead focus on what I have done during the day.
This guides me toward what I should be doing next.
I find there is better flow going about my day like this.
Planning brings about rigidity.
Makes everything monotonous and daunting.
I like flexibility and creativity more in my days.
The output is much better.
Creative Expression
Previously, I stated:
“You get good at writing and being dramatic at times. Once you get comfortable with your journal, you will find that sometimes you vent, and eventually you get good at expressing your anger and frustration in written words. The unproductive days are the best, because you really get creative with the questioning and reasoning for the lack of productivity.”
How I feel about this now:
I know myself so much better now. I have asked myself many questions about who I am, why I behave a certain way, why I feel a certain way, why I do what I do, and who I want to be. This self-reflection has really opened my eyes and made me confront some difficult truths about myself. It has made me face them and rethink myself as a person.
When I first started journaling, there was a lot of hesitation in confronting the truth. I revisit some of the older pages every now and then, and I can see how I was beating around the bush, refusing to take ownership for things that are in no one else’s control but mine, blaming everyone else, the circumstances, doing everything I could to avoid placing the onus of fault on me.
Today, I have no problem being transparent, using the right words and sentences to accurately capture anger, sadness, joy, faults, successes, ambitions, and desires.
That, to me, is growth.
Conclusion
Journaling is worth the effort and pain, and there will be pain.
Once you get comfortable with the writing
You will confront truths about yourself that will make you weep.
I highly recommend that you start today.
I will revisit this in another 10 months to see how things have evolved.
You made it to the end. That means you liked it or you’re very patient. Either way, subscribe, share, and tell your friends. I need a big network for reasons.
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