Hey friends, if you want to make something of your life, this is where you start…with a pen and paper, or a simple notebook app on your phone! Using a journal is not like the writing you had to do in school because there are no grammar rules with your journal! You can write as much or as little as you want. You can write every day, or only when you feel the urge.

You can write in sentences using your favourite pen, or you can doodle, post photos on your app, keep lists, or just write about what is bothering you.

Your journal becomes a record of your important memories and it’s also your private place for personal thoughts, worries and joys. Your journal is yours!! You own it! And no-one is going to grade it!

Your journal is your personal record of your life! It’s also the best tool in your toolkit!

Simply put, a journal is a book or an app on your tablet, where you write about your experiences, thoughts and feelings – all the stuff about your life.

Believe me friends, there are so many reasons why keeping a journal is your best tool. Here are just three reasons! If you want 6 more reasons to keep a journal read here.

1. Journalling helps you to free up brain space

The truth is, if you try to keep everything in your head, you will go slightly crazy! You know how sometimes a song gets stuck in your mind and you hum the same lines over and over. It can drive you mad!

You have to get your thoughts out of your head so that you can have some peace! This is when you turn to your journal! If your ideas only rattle in your head, they just make irritating rattling noises. Doing a ‘brain dump’ on paper lets you empty your head of thoughts.

It’s like finding a way to get more bandwidth for your internet service because it removes the old clutter and gives you headspace for new thoughts. Think of how much faster you could think or how confidently you could make a decision after you download your thoughts into your journal.

Your journal lets you free up your headspace for more important things!

2. Journalling helps you to understand what you really think and who you are

Have you ever had the experience when you started chatting away about something telling everyone your ideas only to find that it sounded lame when you hear it said aloud. Embarrassing isn’t it?

Journalling can help here because you get the chance to see what you think in writing before you speak to someone. Because you write your thoughts out in your journal, you can think things through better. There’s sense to everything you write. Your words are not random thoughts. And if the same things keep coming up week after week, you can pay attention.

There is a good chance that there is a gem of insight, the answer to a problem, or the seed for a new idea in the words you write. When you write thoughts out in your journal, you feel the message that is within you and you can understand yourself better.

 3. Journalling helps you to plan a brilliant future

Have you felt overwhelmed by all you need to do and not known where to begin because you don’t know your priorities and life direction? Journalling is the answer here too! My friends, you can safely dream on paper in your journal!

When you want to know what you should do with your life, start by asking the question every day in your journal. See what comes from your gut, your intuition, your inner spirit.

In your journal you can get serious about the stuff that really matters! You can also write out your dreams and goals and the important tasks you want to accomplish.

In addition, when you write your goals down on paper you give yourself a 37% greater chance of successfully accomplishing your goals!

Your personal and professional plans and dreams take shape in the pages of your journal! Journalling helps you to plan your brilliant future!

A journalling practise is the most useful tool in your ‘life toolbox’ no matter who you are or the circumstances you face!

In summary, journal writing gives you headspace to think more clearly, it helps you to understand your thoughts and to know yourself, and it is a powerful tool for planning.

If you have spent months, years, or a lifetime (!) without a consistent journal practise, there’s not a moment to spare. You have been missing out on so much.

When you keep a journal you prepare yourself to create the life you want!

Invest in a journal today! Read about six more reasons to keep a journal.

In the comments box below don’t forget to jump in and tell me how you use your journal to make your dreams real!