5 Reasons You Need to Start a Journal Now

It only seems fitting for my first ever blog post to be about journaling, considering it’s the main thing that led me to start this blog.

As mentioned in my about page, I’ve been a massive journaling lover since I was probably 8; meaning that I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, and my life (and I) would have turned out to be way different if it wasn’t for that.

I can’t really remember what it was exactly that got me into it; one day, I just decided to grab a notebook and start dumping down my thoughts. It was my way of processing my emotions and navigating through life as a young girl living in a not-so-stable household.

To this day, journaling is still the first coping skill that I resort to whenever I’m feeling any kind of emotion, and I can guarantee that a diary will always be my main and closest companion.

So let’s dive into how journaling can change your life (as it changed mine), and why you need to start writing now!

1. It helps you get your thoughts straight

I’m the type of person whose mind can sometimes be a chaos of thoughts all tangled in each other. You can tell by the way I speak when I’m trying to get a point across (I might need to work a bit on my communication skills for that).

Whenever I’m thinking about something and I can’t process my thoughts properly, I’ll grab my journal, which I always keep on my bedside table, and I’ll start transforming my thoughts into words.

It takes some effort sometimes, but as I’ve listened to someone say once: “the best way to teach people critical thinking is to teach them to write”, as there’s no difference between that and thinking. In case you’re wondering, I’m quoting Dr Jordan B Peterson, who’s one of my favorite role models, and a strong advocate of writing and communication skills in general.

I cannot tell you how good and relaxed I feel after a long journaling session; it’s similar to the feeling you get after a tough workout, when you’re exhausted but you feel so good at the same time because of all the endorphins released in your body. I’d also liken it to spending hours untangling a yarn barf and you get so frustrated but then you get it done and it feels like such a relief!

2. It’s one of the best ways, if not THE best way, to understand your feelings precisely

Humans are complicated creatures. Everyone is fighting their own battle, and our sorrows can get the best of us sometimes.

For this reason, we must have some sort of stress-management skill to help us get through tough times; however, the first step in processing difficult emotions is becoming aware of them and of the specific events that triggered these feelings in the first place, which will then lead us to uncover deeper, unresolved issues within us.

I feel down quite often, as I’m sure a lot of you do as well; and most of the times, I struggle to pinpoint exactly what it is that’s bothering me so much.

What I do is I’ll grab my diary, I’ll start by describing what happened prior to me getting that feeling, I’ll then express my exact emotions and I’ll try to determine what it is about that event that could have resulted in me feeling this way.

This process has led me to discover more internal problems than you can imagine, which brings me to my next point:

3. It’s amazing assistance on your journey to self-discovery

When I say that I journal, I’m talking between 3 and 6 hours of writing each session.

Yes, you read that right. I know, it can be a hassle, to the point where I have to mentally prepare myself for it sometimes!

I usually dedicate half a day for it, but I journal once every 2 to 3 weeks depending on how much is happening in my life and how I’ve been feeling at that time, so I can manage that.

Of course, you don’t have to journal for that long too; there are plenty of ways to write so you have to find what works best for you. I have a friend who journals as a form of poetry, expressing her feelings and events that have affected her; and it barely takes her any time.

Having said that, if one of your goals is to discover and understand yourself more deeply, I recommend that you give it as much time as you feel that it needs.

A healing journey is a long road, and in order to truly get to know yourself, you must sit with your thoughts and explore them thoroughly; but as I mentioned before, transforming these thoughts into words is the best way to do it.

I definitely do not recommend just sitting there with a million thoughts in your head because it could very well drive you crazy!

Furthermore, having regular chats with my diary has made me discover way more than traumas and negative beliefs; it has also made me learn more about the things I love, character traits I have that I’m proud of, what works best for me in terms of routines and habits, my ideal self…

The point I’m trying to get across is that when I talk about self-exploration, I’m not just talking about the negative parts; journaling will increase your confidence and self-awareness, and it’ll help you understand what you really want out of life.

4. You practice your writing skills and you expand your vocabulary

As a person whose primary language is not English, keeping a diary is one of the best tools that has aided me in perfecting my English skills.

I for one would probably not have the competency to be starting a blog, or even writing this one essay alone for that matter, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve been writing in a notebook for years now.

I mean yes, I did take English in school, but let’s be real; do we actually learn anything of much importance in there?

Even if English is in fact your first language, that alone does not make you a good writer; and let me tell you a little secret: being able to write will take you places in life.

Whether you’re still in school or you’ve already entered the corporate world, those writing skills will come in handy from time to time, or maybe even most of the time, depending on what domain you’re in. You’ll use them for academic work, in exams, for writing job application letters, for communication in the workplace, and for a lot of other tasks as well.

Mind you, I’m talking about the English language exclusively, just because it’s the universal language, but you can (and should) write in other languages too.

My mother tongue is Arabic, and I’ve also learnt French since I was little, but sadly I’ve lost my writing skills in both languages, as I switched to English in almost everything: journaling, speaking, watching movies, reading books… I literally do everything in English except speak Lebanese in my day-to-day life which isn’t even the same as Standard Arabic. However, a goal of mine this year is to go back to reading and writing in both languages, in hopes of gaining them back.

Here you go, that’s another benefit of journaling: you can practice and learn new languages. The benefits are endless, aren’t they?

5. You will gain the motivation to get started on your goals, and it’ll keep you accountable as well

I like to write about every single thing that crosses my mind, every thought, every emotion, every dream, just literally everything; and we all have goals in life, don’t we?

But the first step in achieving these goals is to know exactly what it is that you want and why you want it.

I do this in my diary, I start by imagining and describing what I want my life to look like a year or more from now, and I transform that vision into a plan by brainstorming ideas and steps I’d have to take to get to that point, then I write about the goals I have, the reasons behind each one and how exactly I plan to reach them, as well as the best routines and habits that will assist me in that journey.

This process can be incredibly encouraging, as you’re basically transforming an abstract goal to a plan with actual steps that will get you to where you want to be, so it doesn’t just remain as a dream in your mind, but then you’ll know exactly what you have to do and so you’ll gain incredible motivation from that.

I’d also recommend keeping track of the whole process with each journaling session, which will keep you accountable and bring you more self-awareness into what might be hindering you in that journey and how you can change your approach to succeed better and faster.

So now that you’ve read and learned about how awesome and beneficial journaling is, the only thing left for you to do is to get a diary, whether it be one of those cute ones with the designs and everything or a basic notebook, and get writing!

Then pay me a visit to this post again in a few months and you’ll see how much more you’ll understand what I’m talking about, and how relatable my experience is.

And in case you’re already a writer like me, I’d love to hear what you have to say about the topic in the comments down below!