How often do you take a step back from the day-to-day hustle and actually reflect on your vision, goals and personal progress?
As entrepreneurs or anyone living with a dream unfulfilled, it is too easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of day-to-day life and lose sight of the bigger picture.
I’m sure you know the feeling… you get busy, problems happen, you lose sleep, you fail, you lose more sleep, you have an idea, you get excited, you change track, you have a better idea.
This is all completely normal.
However a defining influence for anyone who reaches a heightened level of success is their ability to keep their ultimate goals front of mind, in the midst of that hustle.
This is how the ritual of journaling can help you.
The power to express and order our thoughts while surrounded by the noise of the day-to-day is a valuable and empowering gift.
As entrepreneurs, we walk an unbeaten path towards the actualisation of our vision, carrying the weight of a dream not yet realised. Journaling gives us the ability to clear the clouds from our mind and reconnect, rejuvenate and steer ourselves back toward the path we might have strayed from.
No matter which area of your life you want to improve, the habit of keeping a reflective journal will help you see situations in a new light. Through the process of journaling, we practice how to explore ourselves, be our own counsellor, set goals and reflect on progress.
Becoming more in tune with your inner self will not only enable you to become a better communicator, but also cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness, build confidence and learn how to re-evaluate challenging experiences. These skills are all absolutely fundamental if you want to reach a heightened level of success in any area of your life.
Personally, journaling has been the pillar of my success. Every three months, I retreat to the Blue Mountains, or another secluded spot, with my journal and a head filled with a frantic clutter of ideas. Within the ink-filled pages of my journal, I’m able to conceive the perfect solution to challenges that I’ve been carrying and ‘thinking’ about for months.
The answer was always there; I just needed to create the space to hear it.
When I initially started in business this ritual was particularly useful. The first company I launched was a B2B call centre. Like many first businesses, it went terribly. My partners and I made every mistake in the book. At the time, I was working harder than anybody else I knew, I wasn’t making any visible progress, I was losing money and I was spending money I didn’t have.
Ultimately I came to realise that failure and adversity are all part of the game of entrepreneurship. Retaining rituals that allowed me to reflect on these challenges empowered me to overcome them and go on to reach success in proceeding businesses.
What the research tells us…
A journal can do more than harness your creativity and explore the depths of your soul, though. The therapeutic benefits of journaling are just as great as the creative ones, with a University of Iowa study revealing that people who journal about stressful events are often those who overcome adversity more successfully.
The Advances in Psychiatric Treatment journal discovered similar results in their 2005 report. The London-based publication found that those who recorded their thoughts were better equipped to deal with stressful and emotional situations.
Simply by telling your story, you can unlock the closed doors in the depths of your consciousness and enable yourself to grow into and out of your best self. The creation of that intense mindfulness has the amazing power to call a wandering mind to attention and galvanise you to actively engage your thoughts.
The importance of committing your goals to paper cannot be understated. Journaling subconsciously encourages you to think about the whys and the hows, giving you the opportunity to clearly define the path you need to create in order to achieve your life’s best work.
Whenever I put down the pen, I feel clear, centered, aligned and empowered. In a world where there is so much noise, to give time and space to your own voice is one of the most beautifully empowering experiences I have found.
Awesome post Jack. I have recently come across the concept of Journaling as part of my regular business habits. You are so right about how keeping a journal helps you cope with adversity. 16 yrs ago my son had a near tragic motorbike accident. During his time in in a coma and the following months in hospital I kept a journal where I wrote what I was feeling and thinking about each day. It was the best thing I could have done at the time to help me cope. I was coping so well, I think the medical staff were concerned that I was in denial because they would remind me that his prognosis was not good. Without writing the full story, I also did research on living with someone who has brain injury .
Point is I don’t think I would have not have coped anywhere near as well with that crisis in my life without that journal.
Recently commenced writing a journal in relation to my business and it is making a difference to my clarity and focus.
Thank you Jack!
I recently started carrying around a note pad and pen in order to jot down my thoughts & ideas and have noticed how much clearer my mind is to allow room for all of the new thoughts & ideas flooding in! I hadn’t thought to actually keep a journal for reflection though, so I am very much looking forward to the launch of the Purpose Journal. Thank you for taking the time to help young entrepreneurs realise new ways to grow!
Putting thoughts to paper is massive and certainly makes your world better!