My friend, Tom Morris, wrote a book called True Success. In it he imparts ancient wisdom from the philosophers of the past and shares his Seven C’s of Success. Tom has been an inspiration and encourager to me. This morning I wanted to give a tribute to him in my Seven C’s of Journaling!
The Power of Journaling
Journaling sparks your CREATIVITY
Whether you believe it or not, you are creative. The human mind is a powerful thing, but we place so many limitations on it that we never experience its true potential.
When you put your ideas on paper, it causes your mind to open up and you find yourself going places you never thought about before. Just start writing. It’s that simple. When ink hits paper, it does something inside of you to spark that creative genius hiding within.
Journaling allows you to CAPTURE subtle WOWs
Journaling allows you to capture the creative thoughts and WOW moments you never knew were there. I wrote earlier that the mind is like the sea with tides coming in and out, washing away our thoughts; some come back and some don’t. If we capture those thoughts, we start to realize the WOW when it comes.
Imagine someone panning for gold. They sift through the garbage to find the nuggets buried beneath. That’s the idea for you. Where are those gold nuggets?
Journaling allows you to simplify CHALLENGES
Inevitably, when you journal, you will write out your fears. For most of us, fear paralyzes our spirit. We freeze or we retreat. I’m learning that fear hates community; it hates to be outed.
It likes to dwell in the dark corners of our minds and from there, do its evil deeds. It’s time to draw fear out. Once you put it down, it begins to lose power. In fact, you’ll find out how trivial some fears are when you see them on paper.
When this happens, the impossible becomes possible. For years in my sales career, I have written out my goals as a way to simplify them; a way to visualize the steps need to accomplish them.
The men and women who have conquered Mt. Everest have all done it one step at a time. Simplify your fears and goals by writing them out.
Journaling allows you to CONNECT the dots
Have you ever dumped one of those big Mt. Rushmore or Grand Canyon puzzles out onto the floor? Isn’t is incredibly ominous? The first step when puzzling is to flip all of the pieces over, then, find the corner pieces.
Journaling is like unravelling the puzzle of your mind. Putting your thoughts on paper is like turning the pieces over and then you find the key ideas, the corner pieces. Once you have a framework, you can begin connecting the dots.
Journaling gives you CLARITY in the now
Connecting the dots is amazing because it yields clarity. Not only clarity in the now, today, you uncover clarity in your past. You start unveiling necessary events in your past that have led you to where you are.
I’ve had this experience a number of times, even in the few weeks I’ve been writing. I hadn’t previously given these events much consideration, but once they were in my journal it was as if the stories were painted on my heart.
I have this vision of a dirty windshield and my journal being the windshield wiper; it helps me see the road ahead.
Journaling gives you CONFIDENCE
The clarity will lead to confidence that is unmatched. Once you see clearly you can confidently walk in that direction knowing it is where you are supposed to go.
Additionally, when you see an event years ago that was purposeful in your life today, you realize that there is a bigger picture here. There is a power over your life, giving you your purpose and protecting you as you go.
When you start to step away from the puzzle and see it come together, it is a powerful thing.
Journaling gives you COURAGE
There are two polar sides of the virtue of courage. There is timidity on one side which is the lack of courage. On the other side, recklessness; courage without reason.
If you simply start acting with recklessness, you are acting, but without discernment or wisdom. This often leads to disappointment and causes you to retreat to the other side of the scale, timidity. Life becomes a ping-pong match bouncing between those two, polar ends.
Journaling provides courage as you walk the line between timidity and recklessness.
Every principle builds off of the one before it, constantly growing and becoming. In this way, life is very similar. Writing it all down helps you place it in a context and harness its power.
Maybe, just maybe, you should start writing.
QUESTION: How are you going to start journaling? How can I help?
MH
Matt, thanks for sharing. You are a true inspiration to all of us. Keep up the good work.
Awesome Gelnn thanks for the feedback!