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-

 

 

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

Responding vs. Reacting

July 2016 Insights

 

Though the words respond and react are similar, the difference between the two is quite significant. When you react, you are being controlled by outside circumstances, whether it be a difficult situation or person. When you respond, however, you are in control of yourself, of your emotions. Unfortunately, many people misinterpret what it means to be in emotional control and believe the key to responding vs. reacting is all and only about keeping our feelings in check. Yes, of course the ultimate outcome we want is to manage our emotions to allow us to respond rather than react but not at the cost of spiting ourselves the awareness and understanding of how we feel by brushing our feelings under the rug just to keep ourselves in line. It is actually through a greater awareness and understanding of our feelings that we can then become smarter emotionally, express ourselves more effectively, and lessen the tendency to fall prey to living at the effect of our emotions. (more…)

Go Anti-Hibernation

Go Anti-Hibernation

Resist The Urge To Hibernate

 February 2016 Insights

With dead of the winter upon us and the holiday season no longer luring us out of our homes to keep us busy, the temptation to hibernate heightens for many of us. Like bears we humans experience a state of “winter lethargy”. But unlike bears we humans do not need to preserve our energy stores nor lock ourselves in our caves to beat the elements. In fact, contrary to how hibernation works for a bear’s survival it can be rather counterproductive for us human beings. (more…)

New Beginnings

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Thoughts On Creating New Beginnings

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Spring has sprung! It’s a great time to embrace new beginnings. All around us we witness an awakening of our surroundings, bringing us the perfect climate, literally and figuratively, to create fresh starts and renew our existences. For me spring time screams the inevitability that nothing stays the same. Even though we often feel as if the winter will never end, we suddenly see a budding flower or experience our first warm weather day, reminding us that life is truly cyclical and that all experiences, positive or negative, come to pass. However, unlike the natural ease of the changing seasons, most people don’t strive for new beginnings nor exercise their power to create them. (more…)

Is It Spring Yet?

Is It Spring Yet?

 

 Spring Fever!

 March 2015 Insights

Is it spring yet? It seems many will agree, March is one of the most challenging months of the year. Thirty-one days of yet still cool temps keeping us mostly indoors, bare trees and still less daylight hours, can even get the best of us down. The “winter blues” can hit us particularly hard this time of the year. Hence, it’s no wonder we lose sight of those goals we set forth for ourselves back in January. (more…)