The Power of Journaling (Part 1) - What is Journaling?

What is the new wonder drug "journaling" that everyone is talking about? We want to get to the bottom of these and other questions today

Is a journal not the same as a diary?

One might think that "journaling" is a new German term for "diary writing". That it's simply cooler to say "I'm journaling now" instead of "I'm writing a diary now". But even though this is true for many other terms that have been taken over from English into German, it is not so for the term "journaling" for once. Because journaling describes a certain kind of diary writing. In contrast to the classical variant, journaling (funny word, isn't it? ) focuses mainly on positive thoughts, events or plans

A large part of us has probably already tried to write a diary at some point. I remember, for example, having an orange "My-Girlfriend-Conni" diary with a lock when I was a child. I trusted this book with my deepest secrets and it was well hidden like a treasure. I think I managed to write an entry every day for six days in a row. Then it all became too tiring for me and I only used it sporadically. I admire my girlfriend, who was already writing her diary back then and now has at least six fully written diaries next to each other on the shelf. She can now look back on how she spent her days as a primary school child, which boys she found "cool", and of course, which classmates were "just sucky". Oh, what a wonderful memory..

What is the aim of the journaling?

But seriously, for many, writing a diary seems to have a cleansing effect. And that is exactly the aim of journaling. Only that it is less about writing down the course of the last day with its beautiful and less beautiful moments. In journaling one wants to concentrate on the important and positive things. It is about consciously dealing with one's own thoughts and feelings and thus promoting one's own personality development. Of course, not everything has to be "peace, joy, pancakes" - after all, you don't want to lie to yourself when things aren't going so well. But you don't want to nibble on the negative things, but reflect on them and - if possible - transform them into something positive

The journal should be a book that you like to open. It should reflect your strengths and successes. At the same time, goals can be manifested and plans put into words. Your journal is like your lucky book; your daily portion of inspiration, filled with love

And what does that mean in concrete terms?

With journaling, thoughts can be steered in a certain direction. Because as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "You become what you think about all day long." ("You become what you think about all day long") The Journal gives you the opportunity to start each day with a completely new energy, so that it becomes more and more established in you and in your everyday life. You spend time with yourself and your thoughts and change your perspective to the positive. You can also order your thoughts and get more clarity about what you want. This makes it a very powerful tool for me.
So it is already thought of as a daily or regular use of the journal. But how exactly you do this is up to you (- more about this in the next blog post).

What has the journaling changed for me?

Since I have had a fairly extensive morning routine for a long time already, it seemed impossible at first to schedule another 15 minutes or more for journalism in the morning. So I started with the 6-minute-diary. For me, this was the best access to journaling, as it compactly reflects the essence of what journaling stands for. After about one week I did not want to miss the journaling anymore. It gives you clarity and focus. Right after I got up I started to deal with positive things and focused my attention on the abundance in my life. That gave me a lot of strength. It helped me to start the day motivated and to approach everything with a "can-do" mindset. In the evening you reflect on the day and end it positively.

Little by little I felt the desire to freely write down my goals and plans in order to manifest them. So I extended the journaling for myself and combined the impulses of the 6-minute-diary with my request to my very personal journaling-"method". Meanwhile I use a simple notebook, which I design and fill as I please

Since I have firmly implemented journaling into my morning routine, I am more grateful and less irritable. I deal with critical situations much more optimistically and I am more aware that I am the creator of my own life..

You can find out more about what you need for journalism, what you write about and how to journalise "properly" here.

If you want to learn more about mindfulness, healthy eating or sustainability, take a look here over.