Did you know there’s robust research showing that writing a journal helps us let go of difficult emotions, cuts down on over-thinking and procrastination and leaves us calmer, clearer and less stressed?
The research shows a journal habit:
helps your brain regulate your emotions (less shouting at the kids/your spouse/the TV)
gives you an outlet for your full range of emotions (yes, it is healthy to feel anger, fear, jealousy, envy, no it is not healthy to bottle them up or throw them on your nearest and dearest)
boosts your ability to cope with change and adversity (and who doesn’t need that right now?)
strengthens your sense of identity and feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence (vital for people not working whose identity has been entwined with what they do)
build your self-awareness and emotional intelligence (which will stop you being replaced at work by a robot – yes seriously)
I encourage all my executive coaching clients to keep a journal
After all, coaching is a change process; one that requires reflection, un-learning and experimenting with new ways of doing things. The process of change will throw up the full range of emotions and will challenge us to think differently about ourselves. So, look again at those research findings above to see how keeping a journal can be an important part of the coaching process.
As I write this, I realise that coaching is an act of creation; generating new insights, opening up new possibilities and choices.
And there you go. Sitting down and writing has allowed that new thinking to emerge for me.
But I’m going to be honest, most of my clients don’t end up keeping a journal
For some of them it seems a bit “woo” and for some of them it seems so hard to get started. There are few things more intimidating than a blank page and a sense that this is an extravagant indulgence when you are so busy (and perhaps also stressed).
Getting started with journaling is HARD and it CAN seem a bit well, woo.
So let’s start with a few common myths:
Myth #1 Writing a diary and a journal are the same thing
They’re not. A diary tends to be a record of things that you’ve done or plans that you have. What I call “out-there stuff”. Journaling is “in here stuff”; thoughts, feelings, reactions, hopes and dreams. There can be an overlap between the two, but writing a journal is a structured form of brain dumping. Or what we call in psychology “letting go”.
Myth #2 Writing a journal is about neat handwriting, good grammar and having something important to say