The Power Of Journaling, And How You Can Use It Effectively
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
There are very few things that can have the same universal understanding for so many of us. You know when you see a warm smile or a gentle soul that you’re being greeted with kindness. In the same pattern of process, the weight of empathy that’s carried when we see our loved one’s hurt greets us with the same level of understanding. It’s beautiful and oddly complex that our emotions and feelings are really a language that everybody can speak with and we can all understand. They are a reflection of who you are; especially at your lowest. Having trouble understanding your own thought process and emotions are an even more complex beast of its own at times. How do you explain your thoughts that only you understand? The answer really is as simple as it sounds: you tell yourself how you feel, then you start to understand. Pen and paper hold an immeasurable value when it comes to your journaling, which is exactly why you should do it.
I’ve journaled on and off for the past three years now and it wasn’t until this year is when I became the most consitent with it. When I started learning more and more about Stotic philosiphy from reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is when I realized there was much more weight in gold with journaling. If you’re unfamiliar with it, here’s it in a nutshell along with Marcus’ life (though, I highly recommend reading the book if you have not.)
Marcus Aurelius was the last of the five good emperors of Rome. After his dad died at early age, Marcus was raised by his grandfather and was home schooled, where his early learnings of Stoicism began. The third great Emperor, Hadrian, saw something in Marcus and wisdom beyond his years. He knew there was a special potential in him. During those times in Rome, if you did not have a son, you must adopt a son to teach him the things you wished you had learned in order to create a better future of leaders and strong men. Before the rule of Antonious Pius, the fourth great Emperor, Hadrian told Antonious that he had to adopt Marcus and become a leader and teacher to him and that he will become the next emperor after his passing. And so, he did. Expecting that Antonious was only to lead for possibly five years, he actually led for over twenty-three years. So Marcus Aurelius ended up having a twenty-three year apprenticeship before he ruled.
You might be wondering why that random piece of history was important or where it’s going pertaining to the book of Meditations. The simple reason is, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations were NOT written for other people like all books (and this article) are. Meditations was his journal, and his thoughts and what he felt and how to overcome them as well as the importance of everything he did. This man was the last of the great leaders of Rome. He faced many hardships between war between other countries during his reign, the death of his people, the mental battles and hardships of his own thoughts, and struggled with health issues for a while before his death. He battled with an economic crisis, an imploding government, the loss of his wife of thirty five years and lost EIGHT children. Eight. Any parent should never outlive their child and nobody should ever have to face that obstacle. And he had to battle this eight times.
He battled the hardest obstacles for a leader to face, in one of the highest positions of power, and that only makes it more remarkable that he also there’s no note of him ever abusing his power or taking advantage of his people. In fact, there’s only the opposite. When he saw Rome being affected by the plague and his people dying, he gave a speech to the city and CRIED with them with words of encouragment and hope for the future. And in his meditations, he talks about all the feelings of pain and struggle he feels but the importance of writing it down and getting it out, as well as seeing the detail of his emotions and how he could overcome them. And in all of his hardships, he wrote incredibly valuable things like “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts” “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment” and “Accept the things to which fate bigs you, and love the people whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
What can we learn from this? And how can we tap into this wisdom that granted Marcus Aurelius the ability to lead and not be corrupted or overcome with the burdens of his life? Simple, start journaling, and then you can start to see the steady improvements made upon yourself, for yourself.
There are many ways to journal, and here’s another big pro: there’s no wrong way to start.
When I started, it was intitally just small goals I was setting. Initially just “Today I will improve my thoughts by taking time and being mindful of myself and others'' and coming back to reflect on it at the end of the day, what I did to be mindful,or what situation I was in and able to remember what to do and how I redirected it. Or, even just like “I am going to learn one new thing towards something I love.” After that, I would give myself the validation and self-encouragement of improving. Over time, it started evolving into writing down small daily goals, writing how I feel right now in the morning and what I can do to better improve my feelings and thoughts for the day. Now, I can’t go a day without having time to journal. The best part, it doesn’t have to take up all your time or even very much. I only do 20 minutes in the morning, and maybe 5-10 minutes before bed just to recap and reflect on my character and feel the effects of self-praise and love towards growth.
I think it should also be noted, though I do everything to be positive and praise it, don’t deny the negative thoughts, because those are the thoughts that urgently need out of your mental space. I’ve had many moons where I felt like crap or was pissed off at someone or something, but being able to write it down, I was able to uncover WHY I felt like I did. I really have put a lot of work in sounding professional to myself, but I’m not lying when I say I’ve had to write moments like “I know this situation is here to aid me, but *this specific coworker* is really being an absolute *insert hilarious and creative insults here* and all I’m saying is…”
But, by the end of it, I can break down the purpose of those thoughts and come to a peaceful conclusion where I can say “though my thoughts and beliefs don’t align with this person, I will continute to give them respect and appreciate where they thrive, but I don’t want to be around it.” and let me tell you, that feeling is absolutley liberating. You don’t have to sound like a professional, you just need to express yourself how you express yourself.
Here’s what you can do to start journaling and start making those big changes in yourself.
A notebook, a pen, and your complete attention and honesty: That is the most crucial step. When it comes to the big picture, you need to do it with pen and paper. It’s slower than typing on your phone, but here’s the thing, when you’re writting this down on pen and paper versus typing it, you’re seeing your thoughts in your handwritting. Not only does it make the whole experience more personal, but it also helps process the information presented while your brain is starting to filter itself out. You begin to process your own internal emotions, which in turn, helps you process external emotions and navigating your ability to react. Physically, this will also help improve your memory, blood pressure and stress hormone levels, which in turn your sleep, weight control, overall mood and relationships.
An intention that will progress your character forward: Now, this one has a broad net I’m happy to explain. I and many other people use it as a way to write, break down and achieve goals pertaining to self and spirit. I have four main journals I use: one for writing down my affirmations as well as daily goals, one to write down how I feel and reflect on myself and experiences of that day that I did well and could do better on, one for open thoughts (which is anything that could pop up that I couldn’t control. Like the coworker situation above, a good idea, something I could help others on, any thing whatsoever I feel needs to be expressed in detail) and now one for Still Here, Still Breathing, and what I want to achieve out of it and what message I want to lead out of it. But for you, this doesn’t HAVE to be that if that doesn’t sound appealing to you. If you have a hobby or passion in life that getting better at helps you grows and could pour over to your day to day, you can do that! Do you like poetry, writing stories or something artsy? You could do that as well! As long it’s something that you do with positive intention that helps you move forward in your own way, do it!
A dedicated space or enviorment, with a dedicated amount of time: This is the last step, but make no mistakes, just as important as the other two. Me personally, I journal as soon as I wake up. I wake up at 5 a.m, immediatley get out of bed and down a bottle of water, and get in my office and start journaling until my second alarm at 5:20 a.m goes off. For me, it is important to start setting my intentions and how I feel as soon as I wake up so I can immediatley gain control of my emotions and thoughts, then about another 5-10 before so I can head to bed with my concious mind being aware of all progress made and set up the routine of looking forward to winning in tomorrow’s obstacles. Do you have to do the exact same? Not if you don’t want to. If you need more time to mentally wake up before you need to journal, that’s perfectly fine too. If you feel like doing so on a lunch break or in between daily tasks when you feel like you mentally start to feel the stresses of your life starting to tap on your shoulder, that’s an amazing time as well! The important thing is you block out a dedicated amount of time to do so, in a dedicated enviorment to write with no distractions. For me, that time is 20 minutes in the morning in my office, and 5-10 and night. If you need 30 minutes and journal from your bed, totally. If you need your whole lunch break in your car, absolutely! An hour in a Waffle House parking lot after a knife fight with a small army of homeless men known as Pee Stained Steve and The Smelly Boys? May be an odd time to express yourself, but if that’s the best time for you to do so freely with no distractions, absolutely! (P.S, I hope you’re not actually getting in knife fights with homeless gangs, just as an example.)
The purpose of all this is, being conciously aware of your thoughts, behavior and reactions play the ultimate role for you and your direction in life. Rather we are doing amazing or going through the motions on the lower end of life, we can all benefit dramatically from journaling the same way Marcus Aurelius did to not be corrupted and lead with positive intent. There will even be days where it may be absolute hard work to journal, and from experience, I can adamantly say that THOSE are the days that matter the most. When you can learn to seperate your conciousness from your ego, see who’s really in control, is when you can begin the breakthrough process of evolving towards your inner peace. And what a blessing it is that tools that can help you start to uncover this, are only a notebook, a pen, a place and time away.
Even with all the recommendations, for my people that do love structure and need to be given a starting point, here’s a simple one to start. Simply write out each of these questions, along with the date, and let your mind begin a new process of development and taking control of your life. It’s important to write down the questions as well, because even though it seems lengthy, it’ll also help us think more clearly and process the information we present ourselves with a more clear objective. So, for this, write, ask and answer:
How are you feeling today? (To break down and understand your mood)
What could you do to make the most of today? (To establish your progression towards improvement and self-growth)
What are three goals you would like to accomplish? (Realistic, and achieveable goals, personal or professional, to set something to stride towards as well as validate when they’re achieved.)
How are you going to accomplish those goals? (To encourage your train of thoughts to lead you in a problem solving mindset, as well as focus on improvement)
What message would you like to give yourself today, that you would tell your best friend or family member? (So you know how to talk to yourself with uplifted spirits and love)
How can I express gratitude with my day today? (To know that regardless of your position, you can find happiness in where you are, at all times, and be content with the individual steps you take, instead of running towards the goal at the top of the staircase and expecting fulfillment there. Feel fulfilled each day, not in x amount of time when goal is achieved.)
No matter the person, the age, or position, we can all benefit from this. And with all the noise in everybody’s year, and each news outlet selling you the next big panic before the commercial break, that makes being certain of what’s in your life and your being that much more crucial.
You know when the two best times to plant a tree are? The best time was twenty years ago. The second best time is right now. It’s never too late to start the routine that leads towards being who you’re meant to be. From a Roman emperor, to a utility worker in East Texas, to the reader of the article, journaling is for everybody.
May you find your inner power and peace through this article. Thank you for being here.
