Panache

Have you been thinking of starting to write in a journal lately? You even bought a new notebook but you can’t bring yourself to start writing in it. You may have given yourself a million excuses or none. But you can start a habit that could have changed your life.

I have listed some of the reasons why you haven’t started yet. Check the list below and see if your reasons are listed. And most importantly, how to beat them.

Also Read: How to approach journaling as a newbie?

Fear that someone would read it.

This is one of the biggest reasons you can’t journal regularly. You may think of a thousand excuses but the truth could be once you express your thoughts on the paper, you are scared that people may read it. And your thoughts won’t remain personal anymore.

There is a Japanese proverb that says, Every person has three sides, The first face you show to the world, The second, you show to your friends and family, The third face you never show to anyone and is the truest reflection of who you are.

Every person needs to know and understand all three faces of themselves. Most people practice being the social ones first because that brings them the most validation. However, if you don’t understand your truest form, you will feel shallow and lost.

To maintain an image that is for others, you tend to shy away from your own reflections. And that is not fair. Journaling can help you understand that reflection. It can show what feelings you have and how to process them.

So, make a password-protected digital journal. Or hide your paper journal in lock and key, but make sure you journal regularly to know yourself at every stage of life.

You have bad handwriting.

Many people complain about having bad handwriting and thus they never tend to journal. Others say when they write in their respective journals, their thoughts are so fast that their hands miss them. It becomes an overwhelming process for them and therefore, they leave the habit.

But that is the whole purpose of journaling. It is like meditation. The objective is to tame the flow of thoughts. It must be done in such a way that these thoughts are not like floods that drown you but must be like tidal waves that calmly touch your feet.

Do not be hard on yourself for missing a thought or two in your journal. If it deserves to have a space in your journal, it will come back and you will mention it. Also, don’t worry about your handwriting. Journaling is a personal act and you are never going to show your records to the world. Don’t fret over your writing.

You don’t know what to write.

Many people don’t start journaling because they don’t know what to write. And this becomes one of the biggest challenges for them. If you really want to start it. You can start by writing letters to your pet, or your long-estranged friend.

If you can’t think of anything, just write, “Dear Diary” and mention how your day went. Do not pressurize yourself to write pages on pages initially. Start by writing one sentence, like, “It was a good day.” And that is all.

Remind yourself that it takes time to open up to your new friends and that is what’s going to happen with your journal too.

A similar approach is to write what you could have said in a podcast. Imagine, you are writing a script for your podcast and the topic is how you are feeling right now or how your day went. You will be able to write more words than you could think of before you started.

Also Read: 10 types of journaling you can do this year.

Perfectionism

This one is for those who seek perfection in everything. So, they procrastinate over starting a habit like journaling too. They will do it when they will achieve perfection.

However, the truth is there is no perfect formula for journaling. Every person redefines it in their own way. Since it is such a personal activity, you can never know.

The best advice for any perfectionist is

“just start” and that applies to journaling as well.

You don’t have time.

Many people want to start journaling as a daily habit but can’t because they keep telling themselves they don’t have time. They will keep mulling their thoughts, overthinking, or bed rotting.

But they won’t try to pick a pen and paper and start writing about what they have been feeling. For such people, my best advice is to keep a journaling app on your mobile device. Or you can keep a pocket journal to write whenever you have time.

You will not be alone in doing so. Many people with tight schedules make time to record their thoughts and feelings to process them in a better way. It is important and highly effective.

Don’t want to adopt a new habit.

People are too busy with their lives. They will spend hours in the gym trying to perfect their bodies and another hour in front of the mirror to make sure they look good. However, they won’t spend a minute sorting out what mess has been going on in their heads.

Therefore, journaling is too much on their plate. My kindest advice for such people is that they have yet not experienced the detangled thoughts, healthy emotions, and a loyal friend to open up to. Journaling can offer you the kind of peace that most people long for.

You don’t need validation from others. You need to find the answers in you and journaling can help you with that.

Also Read: How to do gratitude journaling the right way?

Delved in distractions.

According to a study, most Americans have screen time for more than 6 hours a day. They spend most of their time scrolling their life away. It is highly addictive. It offers an escapism from the ugly lives we have been living in the current economy.

But that is not the solution to any problem. Though facing and understanding problems is what you can rather do. Eliminate the factors that are not in your hands and make sure you adjust your emotions and not just drown in distractions.

Journaling may feel like a responsibility initially but once you experience it as a habit, you will find it more peaceful than any other distraction your devices offer you.

Facing emotions is overwhelming.

Journaling is not only difficult because it demands action. It is also difficult because most people don’t want to face the monsters living in their heads. Once they start writing about themselves, their monsters start coming to life. They begin to take shapes in the form of words. And you may not be courageous enough to face them yet.

But it is better to live a life where you are aware of your feelings instead of running away. You have to cross the high tides to see the beautiful skies.

But this is one of the most intimate reasons people don’t want to journal. Or even though they start journaling, they can’t continue with it.

Also Read: How Cognitive Journaling can change your life?

You don’t know how healing it can be.

As the title rightly says, you shy away from journaling because you have still not experienced how healing it can be. All the inner turmoil that you are going through, all the thoughts that have been giving you anxiety can be calmed only if you choose to write about them.

Trust me when I say your monsters are not scary once they are on paper.

You don’t know you won’t need a new friend anymore.

Yes, once you realize that you will never overshare and feel embarrassed about it later. Once you know you won’t have to seek true friends anymore. Once you realize that you won’t have to be left alone in the world with changing friendships every other season. You too will start believing in journaling.

After all, who can know you better than your little notebook?

Also Read: This one journaling exercise can give you closure.