This post is part of a series on the blog called Guys and Journaling, which profiles several men for whom journaling plays an important role in their lives. This piece was adapted from an interview.
I began journaling in 1975, when I was 13 years old. I believe I was in 7th grade at the time. I began simply writing down my experiences so that I would not forget them, in a style similar to what we would call a diary. But I quickly realized journaling is so much more than a daily to-do or a daily I-did list. My journals became places that I could try out ideas, imagine different scenarios, and, as I got older, to self-differentiate.
Over the last almost 35 years I have journaled in many ways. I have written in spiral notebooks and fancy store-bought journals. I have typed my thoughts into a password protected Word document. I have used a tape recorder during my commute. Recently I have also used voice recognition software to dictate my thoughts into my laptop. I will say that I believe something magical happens when pen touches paper that doesn’t happen with the other methods, but any method is acceptable. Right now I’m using a journal I received from CreateWriteNow. It’s handy and easy to use.
I don’t have a particular routine, although there are times I text myself “headlines” and then go back and write about the event later. I try to write for a few minutes everyday, but at times that becomes impossible. To be honest, over the last 35 years, there have been years that only have 5 or 10 entries. I find that journaling is like that. We write when we need it, and the more we write the more we know we need it.
I have purchased journaling books in the past which included exercises. Spiritual journaling books, or sometimes I just Google “journaling prompts” and see what comes up.
First and foremost I put (in my journal) the 5 things I am most grateful for. This has truly changed my perspective and my life. I find myself looking for things to be grateful for. I also write about any special meetings or events that happen. When I write it all out I can recall much more and I can record my feelings and impressions alongside the basic facts. It brings the right and left hemispheres of the brain together and promotes thinking, feeling and memory. If it is a business meeting, the information is there to review prior to the next meeting.
Prior to starting my business, LifeSpan Medical Personnel, Inc., I journaled many, many issues. I wrote everything down and processed it. I basically thought out every possible outcome and asked myself how I would respond. That took about 9 months prior to our opening. Thankfully the vast majority of those scenarios never materialized, but if they had, we would have been ready.
There have been times that I needed to process interactions with colleagues (or family members). The journal is a powerful tool that can give insight to allow me to accept responsibility for my part and to forgive others.
There have been times over the years that I have dealt with depression. The journal has always been a safe place to explore those feelings, to reframe the past and to create a new future.
I find the thought (that journaling is just for women) hilarious. I mean, even Capt. James T. Kirk (from “Star Trek”) keeps a starlog. I read journals of great men like Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton during his trip across Antarctica. I read journals of missionaries, strong men, often in dire circumstances.
But the journal with which I am most fascinated is the one created by Leonardo DaVinci. Leonardo had one of the greatest minds in history. He was able to make connections that others were not able to make because he wrote everything down. He saw patterns that others missed. Journaling gives men the power to see patterns, to highlight answers that are right in front of us, but we are missing because there is so much interference in our lives. Great men have always journaled. Maybe that’s part of how they became great men. Today business leaders strongly advocate the use of a journal. It can give new meaning to your life.
Jim Rohn, RN, and his wife, Julia, and are the owners of LifeSpan Medical Personnel, Inc., a nurse staffing agency that provides RNs, LPNs, and CNAs to hospitals, long term care facilities, residential facilities, and mental health facilities. He works as an RN in these facilities, spends time with his wife and their five children, and is active in his church and the nursing community. He lives in Reading, PA.