How to Use a Journal for More Clarity

Journaling is a very impactful activity and should be a part of your morning or evening ritual! I use my journal to write my thoughts, ideas and answers to some questions I find meaningful. Some books provide some questions the reader should answer in order to clarify the mind on a certain topic and so, I use my journal to answer those.

Tim Ferriss journals to relieve anxiety and feel more positive about his life, and he does it every morning by writing 3 pages with his thoughts. Because I struggle with anxiety too, I use the journal to write the things I'm struggling with, to see that there’s nothing to worry about! I deconstruct some of my fears in order to understand why I really feel that way and how can I get through that.

Sometimes, I write 10 ideas on “how to survive the fear of …” You can use a blank journal or a random notebook to start journaling or you can buy some journals that already have a structure to follow, which might be easier for you to start. You can try the “Five Minute Journal” or “The Daily Stoic Journal”.

There’s something magical about writing your thoughts, problems or ideas into a journal. It makes everything clearer! And when you include this practice in your morning ritual, you go through the day with more ease. Sometimes, I find myself writing about a very complicated problem. But when I actually read it, again and again, after a few hours or days, from a distant perspective, I understand that I can handle it! And that’s when I write ideas on what I can do to overcome it.

While journaling, you might also spot some of your weaknesses, such as blaming others for your own problems or expecting them to change! But as Jim Rohn said:

“Things get better when you get better”.
— Jim Rohn

Sometimes, I struggle with writing in my journal every day, because it seems that there’s nothing to write in there. So, I have some short entries that simply say: “just a new day”. But it’s ok. The key is to build a new habit!

I also have written 3 or 4 pages on other days, because of the need to empty my mind. It’s very important to review your journal once a week or once a month. Put that on your calendar and don’t skip it. By reviewing your journal, you will find your strengths and weaknesses and you can come up with a plan on how to improve some aspects of your own life! We forget we can change what’s not going very well.

We forget that we are the authors of our own lives! And so, we have the power, the opportunity, and the choice to change whatever we want to! So, we should come up with new plans, new routines, and new habits in order to improve ourselves, every day. And a journal comes very handily on this task! You can also use your journal to record ideas, things you found interesting or book notes. But it’s very important that you actually write them! If not, you will probably forget.

“The simple act of writing an idea makes it firmer in the conscious mind”
— Jim Rohn

Keep an index of your ideas like: “financial ideas on page 20 and 32". But don’t forget to implement some of those! Start something and commit yourself to that!

“I’ve got an idea, and I’m going to start working on it tomorrow. It won’t take a lot of time and it won’t cost a lot of money, and I think it’s going to work.”
— Seth Godin

How to Use a Journal for More Clarity

Filipa Canelas