Could You Spare 15 Minutes To Improve Your Life?

Could You Spare 15 Minutes To Improve Your Life?

The Value Of Keeping A Journal

Daily journaling — either on paper or a computer screen — has the power to make a real difference in ones life. Writing down your thoughts can be a powerful tool for solving problems, relieving stress and locking in greater success and happiness. Though I know the idea of adding one more thing to your daily routine feels daunting, this is one task everyone owes to themselves to seriously commit to. The benefits are endless, just read on to see why.

Journaling….

  • Accelerates Abilities To Manifest Our Goals-consider building a house without a blueprint. Once words and images hit paper, thoughts or ideas will crystallize. We not only use pen to paper to strategize action steps required to create what we want but it also signals to our brains that this is important becoming forged into our subconscious mind. Your reticular activating system (RAS) then flags relevant opportunities and tools to achieve those goals (NLP Institute of California 2017 study).
  • Enhances Our Emotional Intelligence-emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive and manage our emotions, and that of others.Your journal has the potential to be both a “therapist” and a dear friend who listens without judging or interrupting and is open 24 hours a day. By serving as an outlet to process emotions, writing our thoughts and feelings down allows for a release and greater self-awareness. In turn we become more understanding of the range of emotions humans experience, encouraging us to be more empathetic with others.
  • Sparks Creativity and Inspiration-your journal is a place to write down anything  that comes to mind. The crazier the idea, the better. Let your imagination wander to the farthest parts of your mind. The more you practice experimenting with  possibilities and opportunities, the more inspiration you will find.
  • Solve problems more effectively-typically we problem solve from a left-brained, analytical perspective. But sometimes the answer can only be found by engaging right-brained creativity and intuition. Writing unlocks these other capabilities, and  affords the opportunity for unexpected solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems.
  • Boosts Memory and Comprehension-the composition of thoughts and ideas causes the mind to compose or re-compose these ideas while journaling. In other words, when your hand engages in writing, your brain engages in cognitive recall.  Your learning ability is strengthened and your memory improved.
  • Promotes healing-expressive writing has been linked to improved immune function, lower anxiety and stress levels, and better sleep. Dr. James Pennebaker, author of Writing to Heal explains “when we translate an experience into language we essentially make the experience graspable.” And in doing so, we free ourselves from the web of confusion that so often keeps us emotionally and psychologically bound to any trauma, drama, disappointment, regret, or long-held belief.
  • Supports Self Confidence-journaling about positive experiences allows your brain to relive it. And reaffirms your abilities when the ugly head of self-doubt appears. Keeping a journal becomes a story upon which you can reflect; it is not only a place to dump our inner thoughts and feelings but a catalog of personal achievements,  positive experiences, triumphs over negative experiences, and a testament to how far you’ve come.
  • Stimulates Self Discipline, Productivity, & Accountability-committing to daily journal writing is an act of discipline. Like with everything else, consistency and repetition breeds success. And good habits formed in one area of our lives have a tendency to have a ripple effect on others. Additionally, as we script our journey, we can find accountability and likely heighten our levels of productivity. Knowing that at the end of the day (or beginning) you will be sitting down to reflect on thoughts, desires, and challenges will assuredly serve as a daily reminder and motivator to get busy living life with greater purpose.  

And the benefits of journal writing don’t stop there. For me, I also found that writing in a journal daily has vastly improved my relationships both within my personal and professional life. By writing  down my thoughts and experiences as well as progress towards desired outcomes I simply just have become that much more present and engaged in my life. Discover for yourself the benefits of journal writing, it doesn’t have to be a big orchestrated event, start today jotting down what went well and what didn’t. From there feelings and emotions will be expressed and goals revealed. Love to hear your discoveries!

Wishing You Always The Best Of Success

-Holly-

 

 

Empowering Your Relationships

Empowering Your Relationships

The Third Entity

February 2018 Insights

In honor of Valentines Day, I’d like to take February’s newsletter to reflect upon enhancing our relationships. Agreeably, Valentines Day has now become a holiday that tends to be more of an excuse to generate maximum profit of flowers/candy/jewelry while often spotlighting for many of us what’s not working so well in some of our relationships. However, with all that being said, none of us live in a bubble, relationships are all around us. Think about your life at home and at work. In virtually every moment of our lives, we are in relationship with significant others, co-workers, friends, family and moreover ourselves. Our lives are a web of connecting relationships. Nurturing and growing positive relationships while effectively managing draining, negative relationships are undeniably a vital aspect that needs to be addressed to ensure greater well-being and success in all areas of our lives. (more…)

Dynamic Communication-Part II

Dynamic Communication-Part II

Hearing vs. Listening

 August 2015 Insights

In last month’s Keys to Success Insights I shared one of my favorite go to life coaching tools….creating a core message. Though the value in taking the time to establish this is a key element to enhanced communication, the skill of listening is truly the most important part of effective communication. Let’s face it, if we fail to understand what others are expressing to us, we will also fail in providing a meaningful response. (more…)

Dynamic Communication

Dynamic Communication

How Do You Want To Show Up?

 July 2015 Insights

We all are familiar with the proverbial saying, “It is not what you say but it is how you say it that counts most.” Conversations take place at all levels of energy, we either are inspired and bought in or turned off and drained by them. Though effective communication seems like an ability that comes easy to some people it is actually a learned skill, that with cultivation can be acquired by anyone. So how do we go from maybe just being an ordinary communicator to a dynamic communicator? (more…)

Relationships

Relationships

 

Relationships

Are they lifting your spirits up or dragging you down?

February 2014 Insights

What better month to write about the importance of cultivating healthy relationships than February, the month we celebrate Valentines Day. The quality of our personal relationships has an enormous impact on our mental, emotional and physical well-being. Think about it, unless you are shipwrecked on a deserted island, most of us are involved in numerous types of relationships. These relationships may include romantic, friends, parents, children, siblings, coworkers, neighbors, mentors/teachers and of course the often forgotten about relationship with ourselves.

How we chose to experience our relationships can determine our level of happiness. Yet many of us never stop to consider whether as a whole our relationships lift our spirits up or drag us down. I’d like to take some time in this Month’s Key’s to Success Insights and identify those qualities that typically make up a healthy relationship while also make some suggestions on how to better manage those relationships that drain us. (more…)