3 Evolutions My Journal Entries Have Gone Through In 9 Years
I’ve been journaling for almost 10 years now.
Yea, I stuck with the habit since then because it helped me get to where I am today. It helped me either build a new life path or, course-correct to a previous path. It is a “life compass” as opposed to a diary.
Within those years, my journal entries have gone through 4 different iterations.
In the beginning, I used it to declutter the thoughts in my head.
When you write down what you’re worried about, you become aware of why you’re worried about it in the first place.
You realize that they may not be as important as you think. Sometimes, it prompts you to ask questions you have not considered. Other times, it makes you realize the part of your past that influences your actions today. It is my go-to solution to create awareness.
The more aware I am of my actions, the better I can direct my life to go in a certain direction.
But a journal is more than an awareness tool.
Journal became the vacuum that sucks up all the negative emotions I’m feeling.
When I write my thoughts down on paper, whatever emotions (that come with the thought) also go with it.
I’m not so sure why or how that works, but it works! Whenever I feel anxious or worried about something, all I need to do is write my anxiety down on paper. Then I get a better understanding of why or what I’m so worried about.
It works like a therapist who just listens — but instead of you talking, you are writing.
Simply writing my thoughts down in my journal helped me live a life that worries less about stuff that doesn’t really matter. It helped me learn to be happy. That explains why I stuck with the habit.
But that life upgrade also led me to upgrade the way I journal.
I then used it to double down on creating happiness.
I bought the Five Minute Journal to help me achieve that.
Every day I would write down the things I’m thankful for, regardless of how big or small, they are.
I’m gonna repeat what I said earlier, “It’s the little things that count because they add up yada yada”. There is research behind this method explaining why it works. But I wouldn’t go over that.
All I really wanted to point out is that my journal evolves according to where I am in life.
To sum up, I went from “decluttering thoughts” to “creating happiness”. That’s a big jump from where I was 10 years ago. That makes me feel better about dying. It’s the side effect of feeling content and happy with what I already have.
But life doesn’t end there, it’s actually just the beginning.
That led my journal entries to another phase — continuous improvement.
Once you have all your stuff together, you are now set up to take on more challenging pursuits.
That could be finding your purpose in life.
What’s my purpose?
I have no clue. But what I know is that I wouldn’t be able to figure it out by sitting and thinking. What I need is to take action. That could be improving on an existing skill or learning a new skill.
The goal is to do anything to avoid living a repetitive boring life.
When I journal about continuous improvement, I feel like I’m living my life’s purpose: to experience happiness through continuous growth — without harming anybody.
