Three Things to Write About in Your Journal

Note: This article is by Darius Foroux, who talks about 3 things you can write about in your journal.

Journaling is one of the best self-improvement tools out there. When I talk to my friends or when I coach people, I always ask if they have a journal. This probably won't surprise you, but the answer is always "no."

The strange thing is that everyone knows they should have a journal, and there are a lot of things we should do, but we don't. Why? This is because we have no idea how to do it, like back in school days. Remember all those times you had a question but didn't ask it? You may have said to yourself, “The teacher will think I am stupid.”

This is exactly what happens. We all think keeping a diary is easy. So we don't bother asking how to do it, but it's not easy, but it's not impossible either. Most people overcomplicate the process of blogging, and as writer Ernest Hemingway said, “My goal is to write what I see and feel in the best and simplest way.” But how do you do that?

Determine the reason that prompted you to keep your diary

There is only one reason for journaling for me, which is to manage myself, which is the only practical reason I can think of; otherwise, why would you keep a diary? It's not that my life is so important that I could sell it as a diary. I'm not the writer John Krakauer or the poet Maya Angelou. Rather, I see diaries as a tool for self-improvement.

Most of us still see blogging as a hobby or something we do for fun or relaxation. These reasons may be true for some of us, but for most people, there is only one reason: self-improvement. So how can you expect to improve yourself if you do not know yourself? You can recognize the quality of your ideas when you write them down.

• Do you think you are a good thinker?
• Are your decisions logical?
• How do you make your decisions?
• Why do you do what you do?
• When will you be productive?
• When are you unproductive?

You can answer all of these questions by reading your journal.

3 Ideas to write about in your journal

1. Blogging about your activities

Write down what you did during your day, and you can do it either in the morning or in the evening. It doesn't matter when you do it. Just try writing about what you did in the last 24 hours. When I write in my diary about my activities, I record when I went to bed, when I got up, what I did, who did I talk to, what book did I read, etc.

When I lack inspiration or motivation, I look back in my journal and see when I was excited, energized, or motivated, and then replay those times. Here are some questions you can answer in your journal to get started:

• When did you wake up today?
• What was the first thing you did?
• What did you have for breakfast?
• How did you feel in the morning?
• What did you do today? How did it go?
• What book did you read? And what do you think of it?

These are all straightforward questions we can all ask ourselves; writing about these activities will get you started, and this is one of the most important things about journaling.

"Don't trust your memory. When you hear anything of value, write it down. When you come across something important, write it down." Businessman Jim Rohn.

2. Blogging about what scares you

There is no better way to address your fears than by writing about them. If you are worried about something, it sounds much worse in your head. When you start writing down what you are worried about, you can begin to think about how to solve the problem that is causing you stress in the first place. I've been writing about my fears in my diary for a long time, and it's been really helpful. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• What is the thing you think about all the time?
• Why does this thing make you feel uncomfortable?
• What worries you today?
• What can you do to address your concerns?

The point of journaling about what scares you is to get your thoughts onto paper. We often worry about things that we have no control over, and when we just think about them, we don't realize that we are wasting our time. However, when we write about what worries us, it becomes very clear. In the end, a plan must be developed to address our fears. Suppose you are worried regarding your financial situation. Think of all the ways you can make extra income, put all your ideas on paper, and then start applying them.

"Writing is discovering what you believe."

Playwright David Hare.

3. Journaling about your decisions

Use your journal as a way to get feedback from yourself and reflect on your decisions. Because making decisions is difficult, ask yourself these questions, for example:

• "Should I quit my job?"
• "Should I accept this job?"
• "Should I end my relationship?"

These are examples of big decisions, but you can also use your journal for all of life's smaller decisions.

• "Should I go out tonight, or should I work?"
• "Is my design for this table appropriate or not?"

As we know deep inside, the answers are somewhat there, but we do not look deeply enough. Ask yourself a question and try to answer it through logical thinking from multiple aspects, such as: What are the positives? What are the negatives? What are the results? The questions you can ask yourself are endless.

In conclusion

Keeping a diary is not complicated. A diary is a versatile tool that helps you understand and improve yourself. If you are serious about improving yourself, journaling is a must.

All you have to do is open a new page in your diary or a document in your digital diary and write, “Today is the first day of my new daily habit of writing diaries.”

The strange thing is that when you write down your thoughts, they turn into reality, so start writing your diary and try it yourself.