Top 10 Miraculous Benefits of Keeping a Personal Journal

In earlier generations it was common to keep a diary or personal journal. Today few people do it, and very few recognize the value and astonishing power of keeping a journal. If you can read and write, you have access to the most amazing source of personal power and magic! Try it for 30 days and watch it transform your life! Clients periodically tell me they couldn't possibly find the time. I ask them to try it for 30 days. Then clients often tell me they couldn't possibly live without the power of their journals. The following are my list of the top 10 reasons to keep a journal.

1. A journal will clarify your goals. As you write a few thoughts each day, your ideas about what is important, what is worthy of your life and your time will become much clearer. You'll automatically discover what you really want in life.

2. A journal will simplify your life. Spending as little as 10 minutes with pen and paper describing your values, noting your achievements and giving thanks for the joys of life, will make you less tolerant of life's distractions. Things become much simpler when you write them down.

3. A journal will strengthen your relationships. It will give you time and the words to express your feelings, it will help you understand and be patient with your loved one's peccadilloes, and it will teach you to love more powerfully.

4. A journal will make you more attractive. Socrates said, "Know thyself." Keeping a journal will help you know yourself and express yourself more clearly, and that is amazingly attractive!

5. A journal will empower you. Thinking with pen and paper forces you to eliminate fuzzy or confusing images and "laser" in on precisely the right word, the most powerful image to express yourself. Keeping a journal will make you more a better communicator, and that can make you rich!

6. A journal will eliminate temptation. Some ideas sounds great in our imagination, but when written on paper they just aren't the same! It's easy to blurt out "I hate my job!", but writing about what it means to quit, change careers and start over will quickly result in one of two things: The temptation will go away, or you'll start generating actual plans to make your life better. Either way, you win!

7. A journal affirms the reality of your life. Writing about life adds meaning and power. Journal your child's first steps or first tooth, starting school, her first date and high school graduation adds substance to these things. A friend of mine just became a grandfather for the first time and gave his son, the proud father, a fat 3-ring binder of notes he'd written as he'd watched his baby boy grow 25 years ago. Together they cried and laughed at the reality that life is a sacred, wonderful thing.

8. A journal helps you be quiet. Journalizing has been called a form of meditation. It has a similar power to quiet the mind and focus your thoughts. It even has the power to turn off the TV! It can heal anxiety, change your breathing and make you smile. What more could you ask?

9. A journal helps you speak out. Many of my articles, letters to the local paper, and letters to friends began as notes in my journal. A journal helps ideas become words, and it provides a nursery for words to grow into sentences and paragraphs, until finally they need a stage on which to express themselves. Sometimes that "stage" is a candle-lit dinner, other times it's a protest sign or a letter to an old friend. Whatever form it takes, many of those messages would never have been born without the safety of a journal in which to grow.

10. Finally, a journal just feels good! Using quality paper and a fountain pen or other beautiful instrument with just the right "heft" and feel is a wonderfully sensuous, delightful experience. It will cheer you up, reduce your stress, make you smile and add to your life. Who knows, it may even improve your sex life or make you more patient with the kids! (Well, it might!)

© Copyright 2003 by Philip E. Humbert. All Rights Reserved. This article may be copied and used in your own newsletter or on your website as long as you include the following information: "Written by Dr. Philip E. Humbert, writer, speaker and success coach. Dr. Humbert has over 300 free articles, tools and resources for your success, including a great newsletter! It's all on his website at: http://www.philiphumbert.com

---

All Life Wishes to Reward Its Benefactors

(Excerpted from the 1999 Weekend Seminar audio/CD series)Parents, leaders, employers,... Read More

Adaptability as a Key to Success

Do you ever stop to consider how much we change... Read More

Top 5 Sources of Energy Drain

Along with time and money, energy is one of your... Read More

The Failure Misconception

Most dictionary entries would define failure as the simple lack... Read More

Five Principals for Prosperity

Many years ago, forty to be exact, I started my... Read More

Great Success Story

Ok, let me tell you what I mean.As some of... Read More

Affirm, Visualize, and Receive - Is Planning Really Necessary?

"Don't get caught up in the how of things. If... Read More

The Most Under Rated Method To Achieve Success!

The most under rated method to achieve success is: The... Read More

Dont Listen To Successful People

Do you know what the problem is with asking successful... Read More

Success Achievement Secrets

You can achieve whatever you want by incorporating the following... Read More

Simple Money Spells

Magic doesn't have to be complicated. Here are some very... Read More

Potholes On The Road To Success

Howdy folks, today I would like to speak to you... Read More

Reading-The Best 15 minutes Youll Ever Invest

I recently was made aware of two comparative statistics that... Read More

Filling Your Bucket - How Negativity Can Make Or Break Your Business and Personal Success!

I received an advanced copy of a book called How... Read More

Success: 10 Tips to Make Failure Work for You

1)Failure is normal.Everyone has faced failure. Some people talk about... Read More

The Art of Adapting to Change

One of the main reasons that may hinder us from... Read More

Living A Life Without Limits

The starting point of all great success and achievement is... Read More

Discover Your Path to Success - Part 3

If you have read this far, we both know you... Read More

Changing Your Luck

In this week's New Age Notebook, I am going to... Read More

How to Lose Your Money, Fake Your Destiny with Great Success

Everyone talks about how to be successful through hard work... Read More

Preventing Setbacks: Compulsive Eating, Binge Eating, And Eating Addictions

On your journey to moving past using food to cope... Read More

Bring on the Boosters!

Nobody becomes a success alone, period. There is no such... Read More

Attitude Is The Key To Success

We all want success in life. We want success in... Read More

Of Courage and Greatness

Courage is something that is reflected and reciprocated, and is... Read More

Thinking for Success

Thoughts are very powerful. An intention held long and hard... Read More

Your Focus is the KEY to YOUR Success

Why do you need to know your focus when joining... Read More

Create A Realistic Plan For Your Success

Success is the most desired ambition of the human beings.... Read More

Looking for Harvey Weinstein - The Book and the Business

Two Immigrants Live The American DreamSome may call it a... Read More

Reach Your Goals - Create A Soundtrack

Choose a personal theme song and soundtrack that stirs you... Read More

You Are What You Believe

The most important quality you can ever develop is having... Read More

Success Lessons From Boxing

Sugar Ray Leonard and Sylvester Stallone recently opened an academy... Read More

Success Lessons From A Gym Wall And From The Rematch

Recently, I have been riveted by the amazing reality show... Read More

Success; So Close, Yet So Far Away!

Have you ever had this feeling? You're standing in front... Read More