Journaling is powerful. It is a great tool for personal growth and self-development, and it can also help you be even more successful in business.
The benefits of journaling can be numerous when you do it consistently and continue over time. But don’t just take my word for it. I asked 14 womxn to share how they’ve used journaling for success in their businesses.
These small business owners may approach journaling in different ways, but they all agree that it’s a powerful tool.
“I have a regular reflective practice I do to wrap up every week, sometimes more. It includes assessing my fulfillment in each area of my life/business that I’ve determined are important to me: white space, soul fuel, marketing, clients, family, money and general. After I assess each area, I reflect through journaling. It’s incredible to look back week after week to see if what I say is important to me is getting the proper attention and what adjustments I need to make to be properly in sync.”
“When I need something structured, I use Rachel Hollis’ Start Today Journal format (5 things of gratitude, 10 dreams I made happen, and the one thing I’m focused on achieving first). I also do a business reflection, the CEO Report, every Friday afternoon as an anchor for what I achieved. And at the end of the year, I have 52 qualitative reports of what I experienced. These reports allow me a space to reflect on my business each week and also give me the insight each week that I need to make decisions at the end of the quarter or year.”
“Journaling has helped me to see the themes in the things I worry about, my goals, and about how much time I’ll let go between thinking about what’s important to me and taking action on it. Being aware of that gap has allowed me to be a lot more self-aware, so I see my decision-making process clearly and take action faster than before. I can even look through my journal and see what I don’t reflect on to see what I’m avoiding. I love that I don’t have to be perfectly consistent with it to see results, I just need to keep circling back to it over time.”
“It’s a really great way for me to get all my swirling thoughts and emotions out of my head and in front of me. Sometimes just writing out a fear or limiting belief is enough to look at it and realize how nonsensical it really is. I also love to do big-picture planning. What do I want my life to look like? What would I love to offer in my business? Is it time to let something go? The physical process of transferring my thoughts to paper allows me to see things from above and make better decisions that truly align with my values and deeper desires.”
“Journaling is a key part of what I do as it helps me gain clarity and focus. While journaling, I write out all the thoughts that are scrambling around in my head. Now on paper, I can finally make sense of them. I can organize them. I can take action on them. Journaling also helps me emotionally. I can work through frustrations in my journal. I can yell, scream, cry and get it all out to clear my head. I can document my successes to remind myself of the wins I’ve made. Journaling is therapy. Journaling is eye opening. It’s simple, powerful and the most often overlooked business tool.”
“I use the 5-Minute Journal almost every day to record my gratitudes, goals, and thoughts. I use the prompts they provide but add my own thoughts in the margins. It’s also filled with crayon scribbles from my littles and tea stains from the coffee shop—it’s the off-the-computer part of me that keeps me grounded and focused and I am so thankful for it! I love looking back on the goals I had for my biz that I was able to surpass and also the ones that I didn’t meet but morphed into something else. It’s like a little record book of my inner world.”
“Journaling has provided me the freedom to have peace of mind. When writing, the stream of consciousness allows me to take the big business ideas into consideration and then write them out into tangible steps. Bullet journaling, in particular, allows me to see where I may need specific assistance in making the dream come true.”
“I like to write in my journal when I’m brainstorming new ideas for my business. Using a steno notebook helps me with business planning and making lists. Journaling has also helped me grow my business by allowing me to worth through any mindset blocks keeping me from moving forward in my business.”
“The physical act of writing something down fires your brain differently. It triggers all sorts of places in your brain and it actually creates more ideas, memories, and limits distractions. Also, a journal is a safe space that cannot judge you. It absorbs your thoughts, dreams, stresses, concerns, happiness and more. Journaling to me is one of the best ways to self-develop and become an incredibly better version of yourself.”
“If there’s one thing that journaling has helped me with the most, is calming down my anxiety. There were days when getting out of bed was a struggle because I was letting my anxiety get the better of me. Journaling in the evenings helped me give my days some structure and really be intentional about the next day so I could get out of bed and face it head on. Journaling in the mornings has given me clarity around my goals, and what I want from life in general . It has given me the power to start my day the right way, no matter how busy I am.”
“Journaling provides me with clarity when things are murky. I start my day with ‘morning pages’ where I free-write for 3 pages. I usually start with little idea of where I’ll end up. Most days, a focus area will emerge after a few sentences. I’ll get excited and, usually, end up with a concrete direction or plan to move forward. I’ll go to the same exercise any time throughout the day if I’m feeling lost. It’s such a comforting, physical tool to use when dealing with all the intangibles of life and business.”
“Journaling has been transformational in my business! Every morning I start with a brain dump (there has to be a better word for dump) of how I’m feeling, ideas, or whatever else I have floating around then jump into more intentional journaling. Using prompts, I’ve worked through limiting beliefs, figured out where I’m holding myself back, and also discovered new business ideas to explore.”
“Journaling helps me access my soul where my core, life-changing message lies. When I speak straight from the heart (sometimes even copying my journal entries straight into Facebook), that’s when I magnetize my clients the most. It feels way more amazing than when I sit down at a blank screen to create content. Journaling also continuously reignites my passion for what I do.”
“When I was adolescent I didn’t have many people in my life to turn to. I started writing which made me feel like I was being heard on some sort of level. As I got older it helped me through my darkest times. Once I started creating my business I knew I wanted to help others through journaling. So created self help journals around mental and currently releasing my kid series.”
