How to keep a well-being journal

A well-being journal is an easy, simple and rewarding way to record and track your spiritual, emotional and physical journey.

by Doreene Clement — 

Within the pages of a well-being journal or diary, you can record and track what serves and provides for you, and what does not. Whether you already keep a journal or want to start a well-being journal, it is an amazing, supportive tool you can give yourself.

A well-being journal is an easy, simple and rewarding way to record and track your spiritual, emotional and physical journey. It has been proven that keeping a journal provides support in many ways (see below).

For your well-being journal, you can use a notebook, blank book, journal or your computer, to record either your daily or weekly thoughts. If you already keep a journal, you can add this idea to your current journaling.

To start, date the entry, then ask yourself how you felt today. What was the most important feeling for you today? The key is to answer that question with only one word — i.e., happy, sad, angry, confused, joyful, excited, anxious, worried, sick, numb, afraid, lost, grateful, lonely, peaceful, etc. After you have identified your word for the day, write that word in your journal. Then, with a different colored pen write your answer to the question, “Why?”

For example, if you choose the word angry to describe your feeling for the day, ask yourself, “Why do I feel angry?” Then, journal the answer. On some days, you may experience more than one feeling to journal, so journal about each one separately.

Next, in a third color pen, journal what you learned from your experience. What did that experience give you? What did that experience teach you? What lesson did you learn?

Remember to set your journal where you will see it every day — on your kitchen table or desk, in your briefcase or on your night stand. Also, skipping a day or days is OK and often is part of keeping a journal.

Remember to tell yourself the truth. This is your well-being journal and it is a relative reflection of your experiences. Whatever you write is perfect and will support your well-being.

Benefits of keeping a journal

• Reduces stress
• Organizes and helps focus
• Helps set and maintain goals and resolutions
• Makes time for you by setting a routine
• Helps to better understand and accept yourself and others
• Compares and explores the different times of your life
• Creates a good personal reminder
• Provides personal growth and freedom
• Records and tracks business, personal or financial events
• Becomes a treasured keepsake, a written scrapbook

The late Doreene Clement was a journaling expert, cancer victor and victum, and author of The 5 Year Journal. www.the5yearjournal.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 24, Number 6, December 2005/January 2006.