What Should I Write in a Journal?
Apr 06, 2022When it comes to journaling, people may ask themselves, "what should I write about?" The answer to this question depends on what you want to get out of journaling. Some people like to write about their day-to-day activities, while others prefer to delve into their thoughts and feelings. If you're unsure where to start, here are some ideas for things you can write about in your journal.
Journaling ideas to write about
Keeping a journal and writing about many things can provide many benefits to your life. For example, journaling can help reduce your stress by letting out your feelings by writing and allows you to keep track of events and things that happen in your life. In addition, a journal can tell your life story and provide a good way of revisiting how you are doing and feeling in the past. If you haven't started incorporating journal writing in your life, you should try making it a habit. However, you might wonder what to write in your journal when you are only starting to do it. We list the following great ideas that you can write about in your journal.
1. Daily events in your life
Events and things that happen in your daily life are good journal ideas. Write about anything significant that happens to you daily, whether they are good or bad. You might want to separate the good and bad happenings so as not to make you feel down upon opening and reading your journal. Nevertheless, it's a good journaling idea to write about these things to see what's exactly happening to your life. Then, you can remember that such a thing happened in your life when you look back. If nothing significant happens within a day, try writing what you did for that day, even if it's the same as the previous days. It might indicate that you need to spice things up in your life to see anything significant happen.
2. Accomplishments
You can write what you have accomplished for the day in your journal. Any significant amount of work will do. Writing your accomplishments can help boost your self-esteem by knowing you can get something done every day. Also, if you are trying to achieve a goal, your written accomplishments can serve as a good way of tracking your progress.
3. Things you need to do
A journal can be a good reminder of what you have to do each day. You can make it a journaling habit to write the things you have to do for the next day at the end of each day. Your daily tasks can include the actions you have to make to meet your larger goals in life. Once you are done with your workday, tick off every task you accomplished and start preparing new to-do lists for the next day.
4. Things to be thankful for
Being grateful for our things helps us be more content and appreciate what we have instead of focusing on what we lack. You can turn your journal into a gratitude journal by creating a daily journal entry consisting of the things you are thankful for having each day. It can be simple as being alive every day to have still your job or enough food to eat each day.
5. Future goals and projects
Your goals and projects for personal development are good things to write about in a journal. These entries don't have to be written every day, but you can note them somewhere, such as at the beginning or end of your journal, to remind you of what you have to accomplish in the long term. Writing these things will remind you of what you need to do for your future self to stay focused and know which direction to take.
6. Your feelings
A journal can act as an emotional outlet whenever you feel stressed, and your emotional state seems to be in the dumps. You can write how you are feeling in your journal at the end of the day and how you react emotionally towards events and situations that occur in your life. Sometimes, it can be difficult to let out your emotions with another person so a journal can do the trick. Write on it your feelings as if you are talking to somebody. Writing about your feelings will help you see how you react toward things so that you can adjust and improve your emotional state for personal growth.
7. Quotes
Quotes can give you inspiration, hope, and motivation. If you are fond of reading quotes for positivity, you can try writing your favorite quotes in your journal. Write them somewhere where you can easily read them, such as at the top of a page or on a separate page where all your quotes are there. When you need some positive energy, flick to the page where you list your quotes for some daily dose of inspiration.
8. Failures and mistakes
You might wonder why you might like to write about your failures and mistakes in your journal. They are not there to make you grieve and destroy your mood whenever you read about them. They are there to remind you of your errors and that such things happened in your life so you can learn from them and improve yourself not to commit the same mistakes again. You can see what didn't work before and try new things to help you move forward.
9. People
Your journal can become a reference list of people that are important to you. Write down the names and contact info of your friends, family members, relatives, and peers. People who can give you support in your various undertakings are a significant consideration. Writing down the names of such people will help you get in touch with them whenever you need help or just someone to talk to about things.
Journal writing is good for you.
When you write a journal, it's like chronicling your life in written form. If leaving a legacy in this world matters to you, your journal can testify to your existence. We can't possibly remember all of the things that occur in our lives, so a journal can help us do this. We can remember details of our lives and recall how things are back then. All the things that make us who we are can be visibly seen in a journal. You can write about many things in a journal, and what matters is that you write about something that you value. It will be good to have something to look back on when you achieve success and go farther in your life.