How Writing A Journal Can Help You Achieve Your Goals Faster

Long time and no update at my blog. I also now see that it has really been a very long time since I last updated my content here. Where was actually I during this period of hibernation? Yes, I did not show up here on this blog post, and I know those of you who read my posts would be upset, angry or even not bothered!

Yes, I was not at this blog, but let me tell you that the project (Resourceful Life) kept on evolving inside me. Many things have changed for me during this time. Some new way of living has been integrated inside me, and one of them is writing a journal. And that is what I want to talk about in this blog post.

As I have written elsewhere in this blog (I think in this post – Purpose of Life), that I always had difficulty expressing myself through writing (even during my school and college examinations); writing a journal was a very remote event for me. I must have read and heard about its usefulness, but had never implemented it until I came across Rich Schefren’s work. He is an online entrepreneur and helps other entrepreneurs achieve online success by teaching them business and personal growth strategies. He operates in the Online Business Growth niche, but I think he would me as much or even more successful if he starts operating in the Personal Development niche too. He does have a background in hypnosis and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) after all.

You can know more about him at his site: Strategic Profits. I want to come back to my main point of this blog-post and that is Journal Writing.

Rich Schefren has talked about in one of his powerful reports (The Hidden Obstacles To Your Success) that if you can develop and integrate only one critical habit – that is: Journal Writing – into yourself, it’s a big step in achieving the success you want in your life. And I have experienced it personally. I have really felt the power this process of writing has.

For last few weeks, I have been regularly writing into Microsoft Office OneNote (typing, to be very specific!). I have created a Notebook named My Journal (which is password protected!) and I sit down with my laptop, and start typing the stuff going on within me.

This has really made a difference into my life in last few weeks.

First let me tell you how actually I do this process and then I will talk about how it can help you achieve your goals faster.

Why Do I Type Than Write?

As told before, I always had a difficulty in written expression (may be dyslexia or may be lack of practice or ineffective writing habit). I also write slower than average (or that is what I think).

So, I experimented with typing. Initially it was just to see whether I enjoy the process or not. Then I also realized that typing will help me create an instant digital copy of what I want to express. This copy can be modified and used as I want anytime in future. Plus, writing into Microsoft Office OneNote is really an enjoyable experience as you also have options of creating certain drawings, adding audios and videos if you want. Combine use of my keyboard and pen-tablet makes the process more useful. You can even keep your stuff password protected, so no worries that someone will read your very personal stuff. This actually gives me more freedom and truthfulness to what I write into my journal.

Now I am quite comfortable doing it in a typing way!

Asking Questions Triggers The Flow

When I sit down writing into my journal pages, initial few minutes things don’t come easily to me. It takes time for me to come back to myself from my distractions. If I feel that I am not easily getting rid of distractions, I write few questions on the top of my page like:

“What do I really want to say to myself right now?

Am I really moving forward towards my goal?

Did I live my life with integrity in last few days?

What do I really want to have in my life right now?

Am I really on the right track?

Am I really doing things which are essential for me to create a life I want?

After asking questions to myself like above, I get into actual writing mode. Then things flow and my feelings and thoughts start taking shapes of words and sentences. You can see here that my journal writing does not only include what has happened in my life in last few days, I actually trigger the core of my being.

Resistance In Being Myself

I had felt resistance in my initial days of writing a journal. I felt that it was futile and waste of time doing that stuff. I felt that getting to work was more essential. But now I have realized that writing a journal helps me know which work to get on with. It really helps you clarify what you are required to focus on.

Initially I kept on writing circumstantially and was not really touching the core aspect of my being which I think is essential if you want maximum benefits out of your writing exercise. There was something inside me that kept me from connecting with true self of mine.

But as I continued it for few more days, I became better at connecting with the Real Me.

How Can It Help You Achieve Your Goals Faster

Now the actual benefits that you get from writing a journal. I write not only to document what has happened with me, but to ask myself and take me deeper into my being to get more clarity, focus and integrity.

As I wrote above, if you persist with initial resistance, you then dive deeper into yourself and connect with the Real You, which generally remains hidden in our day to day life experiences. And when you meet the Real You, you realize your purpose in life. You come to know which of your actions are essential and are congruent with what you really want to have in life.

You also come to know what words and sentences you generally use in your day to day life. You would pick up some of the words that repeatedly come into your experiences. You have habitually learned to use those words to describe your life events. And If you use an another powerful similar word in place of the original, your experience changes too.

You reflect more consciously on your past experiences. When you had actually experienced an event, you may not have consciously looked at it. But when you later on write about it in your journal, you see things in a more illuminated form. You tend to see which you had not seen before.

You bring clarity into your living. Journal Writing helps removing unwanted thinking and feeling patterns. The conditional way of feeling gratification in the present moment that keeps you from working on your essential action steps comes into light. You realize that some of the actions that you take are not the ones you need to get involved more. They are distractions or immediate pleasure-giving activities that keep you from taking the essential steps.

So in short, you become more conscious about your experiences. Clarity comes into your living. Your actions become more focused. Your words become more powerful. Your feelings get verbalized. And you live more resourcefully.

To your Resourceful Life,
Dr. Sudeep Shroff

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