Journaling can be thought of as a way of:

• Writing down your thoughts and feelings for the purpose of self-reflection, self-analysis and self-discovery.
• Improving yourself by improving your perspective of your world, and your place within it.

Journaling is one of the oldest forms of self-help. When journaling, you can:

• Develop more understanding of self and self-compassion.
• Adopt a solution-oriented approach to your issues and challenges.
• Deal fearlessly with your traumas.
• Reflect in a non-judgemental way.
• Tap into your intuition and how you truly feel.
• Have fun with it and enjoy the process.

When journaling, you should:

• Set a regular time each day for journaling and keep to it.
• Ask questions about how you are feeling and write these down with your answers.
• Write down your very deepest thoughts and feelings.
• Avoid attaching any blame or guilt to anything that comes up for you.
• Avoid any self-justification. Don’t create excuses in your mind or on paper.
• Avoid becoming self-absorbed. Avoid self-pity. Be neither judge, nor apologist.
• Give yourself permission to just feel how you do and write that down.
• Keep your journal private and secure. Show it to no-one, neither family, best friend, or coach.