Journaling.
What are the benefits of journaling?
Why is journaling important?
Self-awareness is a basis for emotional intelligence and without knowing who you are and what's going on inside of you it's really hard to understand what's going on.
So how can we build self-awareness?
One of the easy methods to build self-awareness is journaling.
Journaling opens up an alternate way into our consciousness by bypassing the normal communication that we are so used to.
Normally we are communicating from one person to another or from one person to many.
We are talking so our tongue is doing the work and our brain is primed to communicate that way.
At the same time talking means that we are talking to another person and that requires us to bring up lots and lots of social filters that are sitting right between us and what we want to say.
So we start thinking about subconsciously about things like am I allowed to say that?
How do I look like if I say it like that?
What will the other person think about what I'm saying?
So we start to put up all these social filters,
All these things that might make us look awful,
That make us look funny and we put it in the middle and make sure that everything we are communicating is filtered.
Journaling allows you to remove these filters.
Journaling is going through a different path.
Journaling means we are writing.
We put down our pen and we write and we do not stop.
And by writing we only write for us.
We are sure it's a safe space.
This journal in front of you,
This piece of paper,
This empty one,
Is a sacred space that nobody else will ever read.
It's only you having access to it.
Nobody else will ever have to take a look at it.
You can scrap it,
You can burn it,
You can do whatever you want with it.
You never have to show it to anyone.
So whatever you are journaling can be honest,
Brutally honest.
You can write anything you would ever wanted to say to anyone without any filters,
Without anything.
Just write it.
So journaling allows you to really dump all the thoughts that are going on in your brain in a very slow and well-paced way.
Sometimes our thoughts are faster than our speaking.
And while journaling we are slowing down our thoughts because our pen is even slower than our tongue.
So we have to think through things.
But it's not about getting the right grammar,
It's not about writing mistakes,
It's not about wrong words at the wrong spot.
It's about bringing your consciousness to paper and seeing what you are writing and reflecting about it and thinking,
Is this really what's going on inside of me?
So journaling is about being brutally honest to yourself,
Putting down the pen and be brave.
Be surprised what might be coming up and don't shy away from what you are reading because it reflects what's inside of you.
So give it a try.
Put down your pen on your empty piece of paper and start considering the following prompt.
My biggest challenges are.
.
.
Please start writing and do not stop.
You have one more minute.
So come to an end with this prompt and start considering the following next prompt.
My biggest frustration is.
.
.
My biggest frustration is.
.
.
Put down your pen and write and keep writing.
And if you might run out of ideas just continue writing things like I don't know what to write until new thoughts might be coming up.
My biggest frustration is.
.
.
You have one more minute.
So bring your thought to an end and consider the next prompt.
Things that make me feel alive are.
.
.
Things that make me feel alive are.
.
.
Please put down your pen and write about this one.
You have one more minute.
Bring your thought to an end and consider the last prompt.
When I'm at my best I.
.
.
When I am at my best I.
.
.
Please put on your pen and write about this for a moment.
Do not stop writing.
You have one more minute.
Thank you so much for following me through this little exercise on journaling.
I hope it helped you to get to new insights about yourself.
You can use this for any other prompt that you would like to come up with.
You might also use it to better understand your relationship with others,
The challenges you are facing or other things that are on your mind.
Journaling is a super powerful tool to get a better understanding of what is going on inside of you without social filters,
Without any biases.
So please try it out.
Thanks so much for your time and I recommend you to spend another minute or so to review what you have written in those eight minutes before.
Thanks so much for your time.
My name is Ingo Kusch.
I'm a trainer here on InsideTimer.
Please have a look at the other tracks that I'm posting here.
Thanks so much and bye.
