Journaling? Why Writing Changes Lives.
After 40 years of being in the personal growth industry as an international speaker, counselor, master life coach, and number one best selling author, I can tell you the most powerful tool we have in this industry to help people change their mind and their lives is the act of writing or journaling.
We teach a specific type of journaling technique that’s called the “4 x 4 journal technique” which allows people to journal daily what’s going well in their life and where they are stuck or frustrated.
Then, they journal for weeks on end. The power of it is that they start to see patterns from the positive as well as patterns from challenges they might have in life.
Now, these are things that you could never remember week to week unless you put it in writing but once you put it in writing it’s solid, and you can do a great evaluation of where you’re going regarding your goals.
One client recently came in after just three weeks of following this journaling technique, realizing she was self-sabotaging her weight loss program every day as she looked at what she was doing in the evening that was against the outline we had created for her long-term weight-loss to occur.
Instead of walking her dog she noticed that she was spending more time inside watching television, and then she started seeing a pattern, they could only be realized via the writing exercises, that four out of seven days a week she was back to eating sugary foods at night.
She admitted, that if it wasn’t for the journaling, that she would’ve justified her intake of sweets at night, instead of looking at them in writing and saying “oh my God I am totally off the path!“
We have had clients that when they do the daily journal and will boost their self-confidence and self-esteem because they see they’re actually following their words, they have created action steps to make more money, or lose weight, or drop an addiction to find a lover… And by journaling every day of the positive steps that they’re making it increases their confidence!
Others, like my client above, may find out that they’re wasting more time daily on social media than they need to! Or they may find out that they’re wasting too much time watching television! They may find out that they’re wasting too much time… procrastinating… And because they’re doing the journaling it is now exposed and directly in their face, giving them the option to prove they’re serious about change, or just stay stuck in their bad habits from the past.
I don’t think any of this could be as easily seen through talk therapy as it could be through the combination of talk and written therapy or talk therapy and journaling.
Again, in my opinion, this can only happen if your journaling on a daily basis.
The other powerful thing about journaling is it it is one of the few tools and techniques we have to marry the conscious and the subconscious mind.
When you’re trying to make a lifestyle change with finances, love, addiction recovery, we need tools to show us the reality of life. Not what we want to think, or not what we want to believe is going on… We need to see it in reality in writing.
When the conscious and subconscious mind are united as one, accomplishing goals, letting go of bad habits becomes incredibly easier, and it’s a much more effective way to change your life than to try to do it via talk therapy.
And the greatest way as I mentioned above, to marry the conscious and subconscious mind is through daily journaling, not just journaling the good stuff but also the things that are bothering you, that might be leading to self-sabotage, that might be leading to a decrease in your attitude and action necessary to achieve great goals.
It is definitely worth the time and effort to find a counselor or a life coach who can teach you the power of journaling and the power of writing in order to change your attitude and your life.
If you’re ready to shatter procrastination, drop addictions, go through the pathway of forgiveness, make more money, lose more weight… Whatever the goal is if you need help in creating a proactive and powerful daily writing, journaling practice, contact me directly at talkdavid@aol.com
David Essel‘s work is highly endorsed by individuals like the late Wayne Dyer, and celebrity Jenny Mccarthy says “David Essel is the new leader of the positive thinking movement.“
His work as a counselor and master Life Coach has been verified by organizations such as Psychology Today, and Marriage.com has verified David as one of the top counselors and relationship experts in the world.
To work with David one on one, in his 30-minute jump-start counseling session from anywhere in the world, visit him today at www.davidessel.com
941.266.7676 https://www.davidessel.com
