Today I wanted to talk about the benefits of journaling. 

I’ve been journaling since I was a teenager and I actually have an old diary that I wrote in for 5 years.

It’s kind of sad and kind of fun to read now!

I have other scattered journals that I’ve written throughout the years as well through different phases in my life.

According to Life Hack, “Not only does regular writing make you feel good, it helps you re-live the events you experienced in a safe environment where you can process them without fear or stress”.

Benefits of Journaling:

• Tracks progress and growth which is always fun to see how far you’ve come
• Reduces stress and anxiety
• Great way to process thoughts and emotions, and therapeutic to do a brain dump each night before bed

There are a couple ways to journal, using a pen and paper or online journal app such as Day One.

What’s cool about this online app is that you can use your microphone to journal if your fingers can’t type as fast as you speak. 

You can start by writing anything. 

Talk about what you’re eating, how you’re feeling, ideas you have.

You could write about what you watched on tv recently, something your dog did, anything.

Write for five minutes a day during breakfast or after dinner, it doesn’t matter. 

It’s such a good habit to do at the same time every day even for five minutes.

Personally, I have an online app that I use, and I also use my Notes app because I’m constantly thinking of new ideas! 

You can either write in a personal journal or in different journals, see below:

11 Journal Types!

1. Book Journal – Ideas for reading or maybe outlines or ideas for a book you’re writing
2. Gardening Journal – My next door neighbor told me about this one, she writes when she plants things and I think she even wrote when the day the birds show up in spring.
3. Recipe Journal – This is of course, for recipes and new recipe ideas.
4. Movie Journal – This could be for your favorite movies, what you’d like to see, thoughts about the movies you’ve seen.
5. Gratitude Journal – You could write daily about all the things you’re grateful for.
6. Dream Journal – Write down all of your dreams, and possibly you can write down thoughts about them or do a dream analysis
7. Travel Journal – Write down all the places you’ve traveled and all of the details for each trip, or write down where you’d like to go
8. Project Journal – Write down all the projects you’re wanting to do in your home or for work.
9. Fitness Journal – Write down your exercise journey, or maybe you count steps?
10. Poetry or Music Journal – Write down your poems or songs you’ve written
11. Idea Journal – Mine is kind of like an idea journal, because I write about coaching, podcasting, newsletter and blog ideas.  There’s so much to write about, like marketing ideas, or home decor.

No matter what kind of journals you choose, writing has advantages over thinking, because it creates awareness, which deepens the emotional impact.

You can catch the Kim Chat Live about journaling here:

Amber Brown!  

Bonnie Hunt created a new series called Amber Brown.

It’s about an 11 year old trying to navigate her life through her parents divorce and it’s so good! 

She actually records in a video diary each day, and says something like “I…Amber Brown…am not sure what to do about this situation”. 

She talks a lot about her thoughts and feelings in a video diary.

I sure hope they renew this show for season 2 as I find it very relatable!

I did a video type diary for awhile when I went into peri-menopause and spoke each day’s symptoms into the camera. 

I have no idea where that little gem disappeared to, or what I said except for that I was hot!

Many times I like to journal before bed because I get all my thoughts, concerns, worries out of my head and onto paper which helps me sleep better.

By the way, if you’d like coaching around the subject of people pleasing or boundaries, schedule a call below!

TOPIC: Benefits of Journaling!

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