One Habit That Will Change Your Life - The Power of Journaling
I first heard of journaling in 2009 on a best performance mindset course that I was sent on.
The course – Rogen Si: Breakthrough to Peak Performance. The facilitator could not emphasise enough the power that journaling can bring – composure, awareness, presence, happiness, best-performance, rapid learning, better expression, reduced anxiety, clarity of thought… the list went on and on. Plus – the number of amazing humans that have been known to journal – Richard Branson, Robin Sharma, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Watson, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci and all the way back to the Roman Emperor – Marcus Aurelius. All were using journaling in some shape or form to connect with themselves more deeply, process an event, self development and ultimately move towards becoming a better version of themselves.
However, at the time all of that context went in one ear and out the other. My goal on the course was to get through the day and get to the bar with my colleagues. The thought of writing about my day, being vulnerable and honest about how I’m feeling simply didn’t land. I was focused on crushing sales goals, earning more money, buying more things, getting promoted, being liked. How does writing in a diary help? Nup. No way. I don’t have time. Not for me. Towards the end of that year I started hitting walls in just about every facet of my life. I was passed over for promotions, my relationships both personal and professional were lacking and all of the externalities I chased either didn’t come off or didn’t bring me any happiness. The harder I tried the worse the outcome and nothing made sense. If there was a gold medal from operating solely from a place of ego and fear – I was wearing it!
Around that time I had a check in with the facilitator from the course and instead of starting with how well I was going… I told the truth. I was confused and desperately unhappy. Amongst a number of powerful pieces of advice he mentioned taking stock through a simple reflection sequence of writing about my Win, Learn and Change. On January 1, 2010 – I started writing about my Win, Learn and Change and I haven’t stopped.
As I write this blog, it’s March 7, 2023 and I’ve just completed my 4,810th journaling session. Journaling has been the single most powerful habit I’ve formed. Every day regardless of where I am, what mood I’m in, what state of health or what I have going on in my life, I think and then write about my Wins, Learns and Changes. This helps me stay present, aware and has been my greatest source of peace and freedom. More on that to come.
"Every day regardless of where I am, what mood I’m in, what state of health or what I have going on in my life, I think and then write… this helps me stay present, aware and has been my greatest source of peace and freedom.”
This morning started like every other weekday morning for me. I woke up at 4:30am, made myself a double espresso and went straight to my study. I read for about 10-15 minutes and then commence writing about my Win, Learn and Change from yesterday – Monday, March 6 2023. When I take the time to think and write about the day I find that quite a lot went on.
My ‘Win’ from March 6, 2023
“Thinking my way through a few different scenarios that were starting to overwhelm me. I was clear headed, aware of the unproductive self talk and pushed forward.”
My ‘Learn’ from March 6, 2023
“Draw energy and happiness from what I can control – mindset, work ethic, awareness, getting things done. Be weary of seeking external validation as that may not come. Seek from within.”
My ‘Change’ from March 6, 2023
“Don’t tell myself stories. Live in what’s real.”
Journaling releases a powerful cocktail of chemicals within your brain – dopamine (the reward chemical), oxytocin (the love hormone), serotonin (the mood stabliser) and endorphins (the pain killer). The sense of accomplishment, connection and understanding once you complete a journal entry is real. Especially when you write about what you are learning. Stuff like understanding emotions, building your self awareness, connecting with your values and identifying the person you want to be – becomes so much more vivid. You move from surviving to thriving. Stuff that used to bother you and elicited an intense reaction – you can now step back from and get curious about as you pose the questions: a) Is this in my control? and b) Can I do something about it?
When I’m asked what’s the number 1 reason why I journal, my answer is that it keeps me present. Fear, shame, and anxiety reside in the past and future, and you have no control over those variables. However, you can exert control over the present, where you can find immense stability, peace, and happiness. The present is the ‘place’ where journaling takes and keeps you as you crystallise your purpose. And when you have a period of time where you backslide away from your values and your purpose – that’s OK. There’s always that sense of the next journal entry where you can come back to your purpose and values. This has been a huge breakthrough – showing up from a place of self love and listening to your inner fan and not your inner critic.
“Fear, shame, and anxiety reside in the past and future, and you have no control over those variables. However, you can exert control over the present, where you can find immense stability, peace, and happiness.”
I recently listened to a two part episode of The Imperfects podcast that featured Ben Crowe. One of the many takeaways from the episode was “that the people winning at life have redefined success for themselves from an extrinsic to an intrinsic perspective”. No longer judging their success on money, corporate status, size of house, perceived attractiveness… basically all externalities that are largely out of their control. The people winning at life were focused on being human – finding what truly lights them up, and forming relationships horizontally from a sense of belonging and acceptance as they embrace their imperfections. Journaling is a great mechanism to help you move from extrinsic motivations to intrinsic, and therefore a place of peace and ultimately freedom. Taking that time to write out your wins from the day, your learnings and something you will change is a real intrinsic activity that will help you prioritise what ultimately drives happiness, worthiness and belonging.
“The people winning at life were focused on being human - finding what truly lights them up, and forming relationships horizontally from a sense of belonging and acceptance as they embrace their imperfections.”
At the very commencement of each Authentic Leaders Group Immersion is a values setting and journaling session that participants do on their own. We see this as the fundamental first step to establishing belonging and acceptance from a ‘self’ perspective. This is such a powerful couple of hours and the overwhelming feedback we get is that participants have never taken the time to work on themselves and find those intrinsic values that really light them up. Once that self connection to belonging and acceptance is established we witness remarkable transformations within teams as everyone shows up full of energy and alive for themselves and their teammates.
I want to leave you with some tips to help get you started:
Write. Don’t type.
The visceral feeling of putting pen to paper releases dopamine. Also, it’s great to see your edits and imperfections as a moment in time and accept them.Start somewhere and don’t be critical.
Procrastination will want to win here, so to beat it just write something regardless of how it reads or looks. A helpful sequence is writing about your Wins, Learns and Changes.Purchase a quality journal.
I’ve always used a Moleskine. There’s something about opening the leather cover to a fresh page that makes you want to write.Find the time of day that works best for you.
There’s a lot of evidence that supports journaling at night to help you wrap up the day and sleep deeply. Equally writing first up when the day is at its quietest has its benefits. I’ve experimented with both and found early mornings work best for me.Keep iterating.
I’ve had years where I’ve written out top 5 goals and then broken them down into monthly milestones. Now I focus on my routines that help me operate at my best and not so much on goals. I’ve also had years where I have kept mementos – plane tickets, cards from people, gallery passes… you name it.
And finally, there’s no need to share or even revisit your work. Honestly. The true purpose is the action of doing it and the habit of doing it daily. Good luck!
