Journaling

A beginners guide to self discovery

Keeping a journal is a fantastic way to get to know yourself. It reveals your deepest thoughts and feelings, helping you to truly connect with who you are. You’ll discover things about yourself you never knew, and in turn, this can help you to discover what you really want in life.

I started journaling when I was about 9 years old and never truly stopped. I have told the story of my Lisa Frank unicorn diary, and honestly, I never knew what I was doing was journaling. I get it, starting a journal can be pretty daunting. It’s difficult to know where to start and how to use it for self-discovery purposes. If you’re struggling, no worries, there is no right or wrong way to journal.

Writing down your fears and doubts

There are numerous ways you can use a journal for self-discovery purposes. Using it to write down your fears and doubts is one of the best ways you can start. The trouble with fears and doubts is, they can manifest into much bigger problems in your head. When you bottle things up, they can start to feel a whole lot worse than they really are. So, writing them down not only gets them out of your head, but it also gives you the opportunity to see what you can do to resolve them.

You can look at them more clearly once they’re written down in front of you. Explore where these fears and doubts come from, and try to look at them without judgement. You’ll be surprised just how much learn about yourself and your ability to overcome the fears and doubts in your life.

Write about your passions and the things you enjoy

Of course, it’s also important to write positively for self-discovery. If you focus purely on the negative, it’s not going to prove very helpful in the long-term. So, write about your passions and the things you actually enjoy. You can also extend this to include a list of the things you’re grateful for. This helps you to start thinking more positively, which automatically improves your mindset.

Identifying what you’re passionate about will help you discover what makes you tick. Once you know what makes you happy, you can resolve to do more of whatever that may be. You could also write down the things you were passionate about as a child. Getting in touch with your inner child can be a really joyful experience.

It could even be that you’ve neglected the things you’re passionate about. Reigniting your love for something could be just what you need to live a more fulfilled life.

Consider writing in the third person

Ok, so this may sound a little weird, but writing in the third person can actually really help you to come up with solutions to any existing problems you may be having. It distances you from the issue, enabling you to look at it from a totally different perspective.

Often, it’s possible to overcome situations and issues in life when you can see it from different angles. So, why not give it a go – start writing in the third person for any issues you can’t seem to resolve. What advice would you give to someone in the same position? This is a really useful exercise which can help you to identify new solutions to problems you’ve been having.

Use prompts to help you become more self-aware

If you really want to get to know yourself, there’s a few prompts you can use. For example, find one of your favorite inspirational quotes and then create an entire blog page about it.

You can also ask yourself questions such as “what do I feel is missing from my life?”. Any deep questions which require a well-thought-out response will help you to discover more about who you truly are.

Journaling has so many self-discovery benefits. The above are just a small selection of the most effective ways to use a journal for self-discovery purposes. Remember, the more you use the journal, the more you’ll discover about who you are. Do you journal?