It is no secret that reflecting on events help us to deal with what is happening around us, help us cope with issues, inspire us, advice us and help us to overall have freedom and joy.

I can vividly remember life-changing moments in my journal. There were times a just wrote and wrote and suddenly something shifted. Other times I remember having mental blocks and not realising it until out of nowhere I start to write it down. I received the ability to recognise what I like and dislike in my life and could start to work on changing it.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about I suggest you try it out.

Journaling options

There are multiple journaling options, below I’ll give you my three favourites:

• Write everything down on a paper or digitally. (I use Trello but there are great journaling apps out there, one of my favourites is Journey.)
• Having set questions that you ask yourself every time you journal. (If you prefer digital I can recommend CustomJournal.)
• If you’re not a fan of writing, you can reflect with set questions and tick the correct option. (Daylio is a great app for this.)
• To create a memory book or album with all the experiences and events in your life.

What is the purpose of journaling?

The biggest reason why I will always encourage people to journal is to put what is subconsciously in your mind, out in the open. Once you moved it into the conscious, you can make better sense of it, see things you previously overlooked and deal with it more objectively. You can really call journaling your personal (and free) life coach!

Get rid of the weed

We have no control of the things that happen to us, but we sure do have control of what we do with that. If the things that happen to you stay unresolved, it builds up, or, the weed takes over. Have you ever experienced someone being plain harsh without reason, someone not wanting to open up about how they feel, someone unreluctant to say how they feel about something, or maybe experienced someone losing complete control over their emotions – also known as acting completely out of character? Maybe that person is you and you don’t know why.

Dealing with these issues is like dealing with weed in your garden, you have to keep your hand on it or it will take over.

How I recommend tackling this;

Take a piece of paper or note-taking app and make notes on the following:

1) Objective viewpoint
Look at your problem from an outside perspective. What is the problem?

2) Subjective viewpoint
What is your perception of the problem and how does it make you feel?

3) Summarise
Put together one sentence to define your problem.

4) Write and find
Write everything you think regarding this problem. Whatever comes to mind, write it down. Sometimes I tend to stop and think because of a realisation – don’t stop, write it down. The purpose is not to make sense, the purpose is to get it out. If you find yourself wanting to write the same thing again, try digging deeper. Write and write until you find a solution to the problem you wrote in number 3.

Reflect

To reflect merely means to think back on past events and to analyse or examine it more carefully. You can reflect on your day, week, month, quarter, year, etc. In all these cases I recommend you take a specific process, guided by your intentions of the process.

1) To better yourself
If the purpose of your journaling is to better yourself, you can ask yourself questions like;

• What am I proud of that happened today (this week, etc.).
• What would I like to handle better next time?
• What made today great?

2) To be present
Life quickly passes us by if we do not take it in and make notes of what matters most to us. You can ask questions like;

• What am I grateful for?
• What stood out today (this week, etc.)?
• One thing I’d like to do tomorrow (next week, etc.)

3) To plan
Planning for your day, week, month, etc. can also be a journaling process. Digging deep and finding out what’s really important is a great way to make sure you don’t just fill your days with things that don’t really matter. Questions you can ask yourself;

• If I can accomplish only one thing tomorrow (this week, etc.), what would it be?
• How much time will I dedicate to different tasks?
• What steals most of my time?

4) To learn
If we have questions, we are very quick to “quickly Google it”, but we rarely ask ourselves what we think. By asking ourselves questions we get to know ourselves better, see where we need to make adjustments in our belief system, and the best part, we remember what we learned and are more likely to apply it instead of just getting the answer from Google and be satisfied. Questions you can ask yourself is;

• What is my purpose on earth?
• How can I get more things done in less time?
• What should I focus on first thing every day?
• What is most important to me?

God’s Word

There’s something about reading the Bible. You can know a piece by heart but reading that same piece in different time-spaces can have a completely different meaning to you.

Our past is more a view of what we are experiencing now, apart from what actually happened then. So, how you interpret the past is about what you know now.

What do I mean?

Remember the story in the Bible of the people who gave large amounts of money as an offering and the woman who only gave two small copper coins? (Mark 12:41-44) If you didn’t finish the story and only saw the first perspective you would reason this woman didn’t care about giving, or, her money couldn’t have made an impact. Reading the rest of the story you now know that the people gave out of their riches, but she gave everything she had.

What changed with the second perspective? The new knowledge you gained.

If you read a certain piece in the Bible, it might mean something completely different to you now as what it meant to you a year ago. You can even notice parts that you haven’t noticed before.

So when I say, let God’s Word shape you, I mean, let His Word infiltrate your current life and help you adjust your viewpoint. After all, His Word is the best view-adjuster out there.

The SOAP Method

This is my favourite Bible journaling method. After you read your Bible piece or plan, take a piece of paper (or your digital alternative) and make notes on it.

•  Scripture
  What part meant the most to you or stood out?
• Observation
  What do you notice about this part, what is the objective viewpoint of it? What is your subjective viewpoint?
• Application
  How can you apply this to your life? What impact or change should it bring and how can you use it? Remember, you cannot instantly change the world, but you can start with you.
• Prayer
  Putting your prayer in words has a great impact on your life. I like to extend this part to more than just what I learned in this method, but to tell God what I’m grateful for, what areas in my life I need Him more, and things I want to tell Him in general. This is also a fantastic place to let go of hurt, unforgiveness and resentment.

What are you waiting for?

The best advice I can give you is, just start. You can always learn along the way and adjust your methods. See the change it brings and experience the bliss of consciousness and the freedom it brings.