journal writing Archives - Holly Boxenhorn

Could You Spare 15 Minutes To Improve Your Life?

by Holly Boxenhorn | Aug 1, 2019 | Blog

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-

Top 10 Hit List

by Holly Boxenhorn | Mar 1, 2019 | Blog

Life Changing Habits

Seventy-six newsletters later I’m thinking it’s time for a top 10 hit list of those suggestions most celebrated and proven when practiced to make a significant impact on clients lives. Though clearly what works for one person won’t work for all, this month I’m taking my 77th newsletter to highlight those insights I’ve shared over the years standing the test of time and reported to be game changers in MOST peoples lives.

Ten Habits That Will Dramatically Change Your Life For The Better

1. Live Life Authentically
Express yourself-style and your gifts-in all that you do. Operating from a place of greatest authenticity, frees us up, allowing us not to be so focused on being something or someone else we are not. Better enabling us to put our energy into more effective and productive actions that enhance the way we show up in life.

2. Surround Yourself With Positive People Align yourself with people who inspire, motivate, and support. Positive relationships nurture and influence us to greatness simply because they allow us to be at our very best.

3. Pick Three Things to Do Each Day
Staying on top of our personal and professional lives can be overwhelming. Pick 3 things to do each day and get to those three things first, and then wherever the rest of the day takes you, you know at least you’re progressing and accomplishing what you need to.

4. Unplug From Your Phone/Computer
Unplugging from the digital world is a great way to reduce the stress that being “on” can bring into our lives. Keeping up with email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. 24/7 is simply not good for our brains, resulting in overstimulation that takes away from our levels of productivity and presence within our relationships. Developing new protocols to lessen, “unplug” from time to time should be apart of everyone’s daily routine.

5. Maintain A Balance Approach To Life
I call it the ripple effect. When we attend to all valued aspects of our lives it makes each aspect of our lives better. When I go to the gym, have a great “date” with my husband, participate in a community event, or just read a good book all by myself, the following day I’m all that more productive and engaged at work. Then when at work and finding a great groove it empowers me to be a better coach, parent, wife, colleague, sister, friend, and daughter. It’s not so much the amount of time one commits to the varied valued aspects of their lives but more importantly that they do.

6. Cultivate a Mastery Mindset
A mastery mindset is the desire to continually develop into the best we can be. It is an approach to life that embraces constant self-expansion with the understanding that setbacks and disappoint do not define our realities but rather are the building blocks from where our greater success comes from. As it is through life’s trials and tribulations where we gain valuable knowledge about what we need to attend to in order to acquire what it is we want in and for our lives. Consider yourself, your life a work in progress. Strive for mastery, not perfection. Simply ask yourself each day what can you do to support a better version of yourself than the day before.

7. Practice Gratitude
Consider the possibility that your life is already filled with overflowing abundance and start seeking evidence to support this. Research shows that those who practice gratitude daily by taking time to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems. It’s a great way to shift the focus off the negative and help drown out the cynical mindset that holds us back from experiencing greater happiness in our lives (see below for more on that).

8. Reframe Negative Self-Talk & Thoughts
Our thoughts can make or break our success and well-being. Deliberate, positive self-talk is the fastest and most effective way to replace the negative “mind chatter” that holds us back. The practice of reframing our negative self-talk into more constructive and optimistic perspectives and language enables us to better move on from situations where we may feel stuck, confused, frustrated, and or angered. Though in the beginning reframing may feel as if you’re faking it, research proves, in time this consistent interruption and change of thought patterns will generate more proactive responses and actually begin to retrain your brain to embrace positivity.

9. Take Care of Your Body
A strong body makes for a strong mind. When our bodies are functioning optimally, we have the physical energy to work, play, study, and think. In other words, we have the energy to do the things that bring us success, in however we measure that. This not only includes the obvious like sleep, nutrition, and exercise but attending to doctor/dental appts, rest & relaxation, use of supplements, drugs, and alcohol as well as stress management. The more proactive we are about taking care of our physical self, the more energy will be present where and when it needs to be in use…which is pretty much always even when we are sleeping.

10. Deprioritize Whatever Doesn’t Honor Your Goals Learn to say no. If you want to achieve your goals, becoming more selective in how you allocate your time will be a must. Ask yourself how much of what you’re doing in your day promotes your objectives. Say no to anything that is not in alignment with what you want in and for your life.

So here’s my suggestion, since experts say it takes up to 21 days for a new habit to form, pick one of the above-suggested habits each month for the rest of the year (coincidentally there are 10 months left to this year) and by years end you too will experience for yourself the dramatic impact these empowering habits will have on your life.