TBD 74: Dear Diary

📕 Writing reveals big answers

I’ve been journaling since I was a kid. It’s a great tool for me to pin down my thoughts, explore them deeply, and many times find out new things about myself, my emotions and my thinking.

What does this have to do with professional advancement?
Well, so many of my clients struggle with:

• what they actually want from professional life.

• understanding the situations they find themselves in at work.

• understanding their own experience at work. What am I doing and why am I doing it?

• defining their growth edge. Where do they need to build new skills and experience?

After all, it can be extremely frustrating to bump into that difficult coworker without being able to articulate what specifically is going on between the two of you. Journaling can help.

Journaling offers reflection and learning 

As a culture, we aren’t very reflective. We’re ready to move on to whatever is the next urgent issue rather than reflect on what we’ve experienced. But if you’re stumped by big questions waking you up in the night or confounding experiences journaling may be a good tool to explore. 

I have found a few techniques that work for different people depending on your style or preference:

1 / Introspective prompts - a list like this is nice if you don't like to "think of something to write about". Lots of prompts out there and sometimes a prompt is a nice warm-up. Also if you're just starting it helps to get the gears turning. 

2 / "Morning Pages" - as recommended in Julia Cameron's classic book The Artist's Way. One of her bedrock recommendations is waking up and writing three pages everyday - just whatever is on your mind. Many people love this -- working through the weird things that flow through our brains and getting into real revelation. Or entering the day with a clear head. 

3 / Course or support materials - one of my clients just sent me this link to a journaling course they are taking. Lots of great resources and prompts here! Kind of nice to see a community or examples of how people use journaling.

4 / Rage Journaling - my own name and technique for it! 10 minutes of writing about a specific emotional incident including all your truest feelings about it. Then I shred it or burn it. It's the stuff I don't need sitting around if I die unexpectedly. Not precious, move the emotion onto the page and dump it. I write more about it on my blog here.

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Starting to Journal

• Commit to a journaling for maybe 30 days.

• Commit to a time each day that works for you.

• Start with writing for only a few minutes and build up over time. 

• Remember this is only for you. It doesn't need to be perfect.

• It's helpful to start with a prompt - either from resources above or a question you've devised.

[LINK] Studies about Journaling and trauma: Lots of research on how trauma, journaling and benefits from writing down our experiences. 

Have you found journaling or writing useful? I’d love to know your favorite journaling habits and breakthrough prompts.