Don’t Write to Record Your Life! Write to Change It!
Change your writing habit, and it will help change your life.
What I published here for the month of August were old pieces I wrote on Medium. But since last week, I have been back to my usual writing routine, publishing three times a week. I write about self-development mostly, and I enjoy telling motivational stories that you may not have heard before.
Today I have no motivational story to tell, though I would like to write about my own writing journey and hopefully shed some guiding light for your journey as well.
Do you have a habit of writing journals?
These days, I don’t find many people with this journaling habit, and most of those who keep a diary are using it to record trivial matters and their daily emotions. That is not wrong, it was how I learned to write my journals when I was young. Sentences like “What happened today is happy (or angry)” or something along this line of writing.
My earlier journal entries were simply an attempt to record my days on paper. It can be interesting to pick up and read in the future, as it reveals my emotions and pain that a picture alone cannot represent. But if you are like me, who wants to grow and strengthen your mind, you must change what you write and how you write it.
So how can you improve yourself by writing?
Writing is a tool for reflection
Turn your journal into a tool for reflection, and your life will be different. You will no longer dwell in the dark days of your past.
Jot down the motivational encounters you experienced every day, whether it is joy or sadness; as long as it makes you feel touched, go ahead and write it down. You can briefly describe what happened, I do this via the notepad on my phone, and whenever I am free, I would take it out to review, analyze, and finally make a point or an improvement.
Make it clear how this joy or grief came about and how to reproduce or avoid it.
By jotting down the little moments in life, you will begin to pay attention to the little things and help you feel the littlest joy happening around you or avoid those griefs that constantly lurk in the shadows. You will notice details that others tend to miss, and you will feel the joy that others cannot feel.
Shouldn't that be considered progress when your life is full of joy and your unhappiness becomes lesser?
The good aspect of this little habit would be attaining a higher level of self-awareness. For example, if you said something wrong today and embarrassed the other party, you can review why you said that. Was it intentional? In the future, think twice before speaking, and don't blush. If you heard something that made you unhappy today, can you analyze whether the other party did it on purpose?
If it were intentional, you would know that the other party has done wrong, and he will bear the cause and effect, but you must not be angry. Otherwise, you will be affected by it.
An analysis like this is of great benefit to your life. Reviewing this diary at a later date will still yield spiritual gain and personal growth, not just the nostalgic ups and downs of past emotions.
If you only write about your emotions, future reading on your diary can only follow the happy or sad emotions as captured in your words. You don’t learn from the experience, and you will still be clueless about how to sustain the joy or avoid the pain.
Such a record is also a way to not let time go to waste. For example, you accidentally see or think of a truth, but you don't write it down, causing it to flow through your mind and into the abyss, no longer remembered. Only to recall the next time you saw it! The blank period in the middle becomes a waste, and the sudden realisation wouldn’t be of much help if nothing were done in between.
If you have written it down, it will be different. When you write, you can strengthen your memory and review it whenever you need to. It will be there waiting for you.
The way to write
You don't have to write every day. If you are forced to write every day, you will be discouraged if you miss writing it one day. This is your agreement with yourself. It is OK to have a break in between to allow room for the thinking part to take place and for the mood to develop. Don't be so rigourous. Otherwise, it will become unnecessarily challenging to write.
As long as you feel like it, you can jot it down either on a notebook or a mobile phone. If you write with digital device, it will be convenient to retrieve for future reference, but handwriting also has its benefits, as written words deliver a more powerful message.
You can write about whatever you like. The most important thing is to start writing!
Takeaways
Writing is a form of training to improve your ability to express yourself. If you think you are not good at expressing your thoughts, you should write more! After all, finding someone to talk to and practice with at your convenience is not easy.
Don’t write to record your dull life. Write to unleash it, release the energy, make your life eventful, and develop new habits, new vision and a new lifestyle.
Change your writing habit, and it will help change your life. Like me, someone who has fallen many times yet is still filled with so much hope and dreams, constantly smiling wherever I go.
People say my positive vibes have a great influence on them. I don’t know if that is true, but I do believe my writing has given me the vibes that make me smile every day. I do hope it will bring a smile to your face too.
Thanks for spending your moment reading my writing. I am deeply appreciative.
You are an inspiration, Winston. I love your writing as always.
This here makes a lot of sense, Winston. We often thought of journaling as a means to put down our emotions and that's it. Reviewing what happened during that moment and what we got out of that incident is a great way to yield spiritual growth and personal gain. Thanks so much for the tips! ⭐️