Three Reasons Why You Should Be Journaling

Tim recently completed some neuroscience executive education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with Dr Tara Swart. And guess one of the things that came up on the course? The importance of journaling!

Here are the three reasons why you should be journaling.

#1: Journaling helps you to ‘debrief your life’

Henry Ford famously once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re probably right”. Journaling is about making the unconscious, conscious. It’s about reflecting on things that have gone well, and also those elements of our lives that have not gone so well. The best performing people on the planet debrief their life. They identify and learn from their mistakes, while also reinforcing the learnings from successes. Harvard Business Review have written about why outstanding leaders journal here. And then again from HBR, on why the more senior you are, the more you need a journal. See here.

#2: Journaling has proven physiological benefits

Psychologist James Pennebaker has researched and written extensively on how journaling improves our immune function and our mood. If you are not feeling so great – well, get journalling! See more here.

#3 Journaling helps you to achieve your goals

Dr Gail Matthews, also a psychologist, researched ‘goal focused behaviours’ in the workplace. And guess what? Those people that wrote down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve those compared to those that did not write down their goals. If they shared their goals, they were 70% more likely to achieve them.

How to Use The Resilience Journal

If you use our Resilience Journal to debrief your life, you can head straight to page 38 for this guide. Otherwise, keep reading. Even if you don’t have a structured journal, you can easily implement these practices in your own journaling routine.

Each Month

Each month will start with an option for you to review your quarterly goals and update your Resilience Action Plan with the tasks, time and tools for the week that will take you closer to your quarterly goals. A monthly planner will enable you to insert key activities and tasks to map a plan for the month. Insert things like your family dinner, your bush walk with friends, the fun run you plan to do and your yoga retreat.

Each Week

Each Week Each week will start with a Weekly Challenge that you commit to completing in your planner. Aim for something unique and different that you might not ordinarily try. This is about experimentation and ultimately contributes to your ability to adapt to confront any problem or stressor. The Weekly Challenge gives you your first micro goal for the week ahead. Then revise your habit planner, incorporating lessons learned from the previous week, to ensure routine is maintained each day.

Remember:

• Habit + habit + habit + ….. = Routine
• Routine + routine + routine = Consistency
• And: Consistency is the cornerstone for improvement towards excellence.

Each Day

Each day will offer a journal on two pages, the morning on the left page and the evening on the right. Mark how you feel in the morning and list your daily micro goals and the tasks required to achieve them. Reflect on the day’s quote or mini challenge. In the evening you will debrief your life. How did the day go? What went well that you want to sustain? What went wrong and could be improved tomorrow? Make notes on each day as this Journal could one day be the architecture for your memoir!

Each Hour

You have a habits planner to set your day up for success. A series of habits equals your routine. So set your habits first, and don’t worry if you drop one or two. Just reset and go again tomorrow.

Accountability and commitment are great outcomes from journaling. Write down your goals. Read them out loud, hear them as read and reflect often on the sorts of things that you journal about,and also your ability to convert those goals into reality. More on goal setting in Forbes here.

So get journalling and Build Your Shield!

PS: A reminder about our Resilience Retreat on the Gold Coast Hinterland between 24-27 October 2024. It is an all ability course, where we will give you an unfair advantage on the subject of resilience.

Meet our special guests and rocking facilitators. It’s all inclusive so don’t miss out. Our last Retreat sold out. Reach out to retreat@resilienceshield.com to find out more.