#93 Your Pen, Your Power: Harnessing Journaling for Emotional Health
Oct 26, 2023
The Focus Cast
📖 Unlock the Power of Focus and Journaling 🖋️
Are you seeking a simple yet transformative tool to boost your mental wellbeing and conquer life's challenges? Join us as we unravel the magic of journaling and its profound impact on mental health and personal growth.
📚 Expressive Writing for Mental Health 📚
Discover the fascinating findings from a Psychology Science study that highlights the role of expressive writing in curbing anxiety and enhancing mental health. We'll show you how journaling can become your own emotional health advocate, one page at a time.
🌟 Journaling for Creativity and Self-Compassion 🌟
Learn how journaling can stimulate your creative juices and cultivate self-compassion. Drawing from research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, we'll explore how this practice can trigger cognitive resilience and superior problem-solving skills, all while replacing self-criticism with a nurturing narrative.
🔍 The Art of Self-Reflection 🔍
Uncover the potency of journaling in sparking self-reflection and helping you distinguish feelings from facts. We'll provide practical tips on how to make journaling a regular habit, the benefits of a bedside journal, and why it's essential to approach this practice without expectations.
🌱 Writing Your Path to Mental Wellness 🌱
Learn how this simple yet powerful practice can lead to a life lived with intention and purpose, fostering a positive habit of self-reflection. Join us for an inspiring discussion, and start writing your journey to a healthier mental state today. 🖋️🌞 #Focus #Journaling #MentalWellness #SelfReflection
Are you seeking a simple yet transformative tool to boost your mental wellbeing and conquer life's challenges? Join us as we unravel the magic of journaling and its profound impact on mental health and personal growth.
📚 Expressive Writing for Mental Health 📚
Discover the fascinating findings from a Psychology Science study that highlights the role of expressive writing in curbing anxiety and enhancing mental health. We'll show you how journaling can become your own emotional health advocate, one page at a time.
🌟 Journaling for Creativity and Self-Compassion 🌟
Learn how journaling can stimulate your creative juices and cultivate self-compassion. Drawing from research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, we'll explore how this practice can trigger cognitive resilience and superior problem-solving skills, all while replacing self-criticism with a nurturing narrative.
🔍 The Art of Self-Reflection 🔍
Uncover the potency of journaling in sparking self-reflection and helping you distinguish feelings from facts. We'll provide practical tips on how to make journaling a regular habit, the benefits of a bedside journal, and why it's essential to approach this practice without expectations.
🌱 Writing Your Path to Mental Wellness 🌱
Learn how this simple yet powerful practice can lead to a life lived with intention and purpose, fostering a positive habit of self-reflection. Join us for an inspiring discussion, and start writing your journey to a healthier mental state today. 🖋️🌞 #Focus #Journaling #MentalWellness #SelfReflection
Speaker 1:
Jonathan Brian Noel. I believe that habits that drive introspection can be some of the greatest habits you can form to increase focus and reduce mental health issues.
Speaker 2:
I think that makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So you're not walking through like a forest in the dark, running into trees, blind yeah.
Speaker 1:
Like in word.
Speaker 2:
Maybe you can actually learn about yourself.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and what's one habit that helps drive introspection the most?
Speaker 2:
I think journaling does pretty good.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
And in fact I think it's so effective we should talk about it, because we've got four, four Amazing, that's right.
Speaker 1:
Reasons Journaling will change your life.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And what I love about journaling is it's probably one of the most accessible forms of clarity and helping with mental health. All you need is a pencil and a piece of paper.
Speaker 2:
You mean pen and paper is cheaper than pill and therapist. Yes, very much so I dig that for sure. Yeah, Sweet let's hop in.
Speaker 1:
Let's do it.
Speaker 2:
I'm Jonathan Noel.
Speaker 1:
And I'm Brian Noel. This is the Focus Cast, where we help you remove distractions, increase focus so you can live a life with intention. Bro, today we're covering four ways journaling will change your life.
Speaker 2:
Okay.
Speaker 1:
So let's jump in. What's the first?
Speaker 2:
Journaling provides a structured way to release pent up emotions.
Speaker 1:
You mean, we got pent up emotions?
Speaker 2:
I mean, you know, maybe you know a couple of enlightened gurus.
Speaker 1:
That have no stress.
Speaker 2:
No emotion because they have no attachments to anything but most people do have attachments.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
And they have emotions.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
People typically can grapple with stress, anxiety and emotional turmoil.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, from whatever work, life, family relationships, circumstances illnesses and all the above.
Speaker 2:
Yep, it's usually a combination of quite a few factors, yeah.
Speaker 1:
And what we can conclude is that life is no walk in the park.
Speaker 2:
Right? Well, at least not right now.
Speaker 1:
No, I don't know if it ever has been. I don't know either. I think the struggles are just always pretty different but yeah, depending on the time period.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I don't know. Though you see, on those travel channels were like the old dudes in the highlands of Greece or something, or Sardinia. They're just out there picking their wild grapes and olives, chilling, eating goat sheep. I mean goat sheep, goat cheese. Yeah, fuck, man, that looks like a nice life.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, but do they prune the vines and get up early and tend to the goats? Oh yeah, goats are pretty low maintenance. That's different, though. Grass is always greener, bro. That farm life is no joke. The fence is always breaking, that's true. The goats are always. Yeah, I don't know what the fuck goats do, but whatever, the goats are always Bleeding.
Speaker 2:
What are they Anyway? Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
I've never done it so I can't say, if it's easier, yeah, solution. Yeah, I mean we've got stress, anxiety, emotional turmoil Yep, let's write it down. Write it down, release it, get it out Yep, you know, journaling provides a structured way to release pent up emotions and reduce stress, stress.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I love this. A study published in psychology science found that expressive writing, such as journaling, can reduce anxiety, improve overall mental health, well-being right, so it's like physically Writing it down. The same thing is writing down your goals right. I mean, we talked about in that episode of goals that writing down your goals increases the likelihood that you'll accomplish those goals by like. It was something crazy. I think it was like 80%, I don't know something wild if you write it down every day.
Speaker 1:
But just imagine, like, if you write down your stress every day I didn't find this in this, in the research and but what percentage does your anxiety go down if you write down those anxieties every day?
Speaker 2:
I don't know, and how do you quantify that?
Speaker 1:
but? But according to this study, it does say that it reduces anxiety, improves overall mental health. That's what they found.
Speaker 2:
Well, I think that's enough reason to do it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I mean, I think one of the biggest components there is just you take all this abstract, random Anxiety and you take the time to articulate it. Yeah why are you anxious, why are you stressed? I think just that alone being able to articulate it and then, obviously, writing it down. But that forces you to be able to put it in sentence form exactly because when you're journaling, let's say you're feeling, whatever it may be.
Speaker 2:
Yeah a concoction of emotions. Yeah, and you're sitting there. I'm not just gonna open up my journal and write I feel like, and start making squiggles.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you know, even that's, even if that's what you feel.
Speaker 2:
Like yeah, it makes you. Yeah, put it down in sentences, yeah, you know, in a way that you can understand it. Yeah, because you're not just gonna write. I feel like blah, fuck it and then close it when you're done.
Speaker 1:
Right, I mean, I don't do that.
Speaker 2:
No, like, I feel like this I think it's because of this, maybe it's not, but yeah, you get it out. It makes you articulate it.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I think it's pretty neat release those pin-up emotions. How long have you been journaling? You know I've journaled off and on. I can't sit here and say I've journaled religiously religiously every day for a decade. I was, um, I Was reading a book by Tim Ferriss, mm-hmm. And he said this is amazing. Now he also is like a goat. But he said I've journaled how I feel physically every day for decades, Wow. And he can go back and and see how did I feel when I was 27 and see exactly what he was eating and his sleep habits and his exercise habits.
Speaker 1:
It's pretty wild. But yeah, I've journaled off and on for for years years and years. Sometimes I go hardcore into it and then out. You know a couple months will go by, but yeah, so I would say off and on for 10 years. Hmm, nice, I mean, I journaled a lot when I was in middle school and I was super depressed in the form of, uh, anger poetry. Nice, those are great lyrics. I have like 300 of those.
Speaker 2:
I really do. You should sell them as, like, a ghost writer for punk bands.
Speaker 1:
I mean, they're pretty. I'm not still great at grammar, but the grammar is just like.
Speaker 2:
Well, you'll prove freedom Anyway, all right. So number one we provided it provides a structured way to release pent-up energy. What's number two?
Speaker 1:
bro, journaling encourages self-reflection. So, like I said in the intro, I believe habits that drive introspection, so just thinking about who we are right. So the problem is it's common to feel overwhelmed and like clarity about one's emotions and thoughts, like sometimes we're just so overwhelmed we don't even know why you know there's so much happening. It's like we're just blaming one thing. You know.
Speaker 2:
It's like my boss sucks or my spouse is obnoxious, and a lot of times you end up frustrated or angry about something that's not actually what it's about.
Speaker 1:
Right, you know we've talked about this. Yeah, it's something way deeper, it's?
Speaker 2:
like we're going to go that way back when you know one of your siblings pushed you down the stairs and you felt betrayed. Yes, some shit like that.
Speaker 1:
Some shit like that. When your spouse is like, hey, you forgot to take out the trash again and you punch a hole in the wall, it might be something deeper Right, and if you write it down enough times and you might realize, oh, I'm not actually mad that you know my order came out wrong at the taco restaurant.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, or you know, Right. And if you stubbed your toe and you smashed your whole garage, it might be something else. But if you sit down and write it enough times, it hopefully will become clear to you that it's something deeper. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And that's the goal right, because journaling encourages self-reflection and helps individuals gain clarity about who they are. Those experiences and those emotions, and it's like, it's funny, you know we talk about like. You know it's classic in our culture, like men are sad or mad or glad, you know. But if you kind of think about like there's a difference between like hopelessness and what's it called when someone dies, you grieve.
Speaker 1:
There's a difference between hopelessness and grieving? Yeah, for sure there's a very two different forms of sad. You're like understanding, you know, maybe you, you know a parent died last year and you, just, you were busy and you had to, you know, clear their estate and sell their house and sell their car and argue with the siblings, and a year goes by and you just didn't even get to be, you didn't even get to grieve. And so all of a sudden you're just like why am I so? Quote sad and it's like, well, you're finally just getting to grieve. You know 100%, but sitting down, that's a very real world example. Exactly Writing that. Or another example is you had a really promising job, you love that job, and you got fired and then you had to go get a new job and new environment and you had to work through that with your family and it was very stressful and you weren't sure.
Speaker 1:
And then a year goes by and this new job, and you never really got to grieve, you know, or just process the emotions of being fired, yeah, and your body's like finally like you're at a place of safety.
Speaker 2:
Exactly.
Speaker 1:
So then you're out of fighter flight Yep.
Speaker 2:
So then you can actually start releasing.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and a lot of times that never it usually doesn't occur, because a lot of times traumatic events cause action which then put us in a fight or flight state that can last months. So generally just allows us to process those things, articulate those things, be self-reflective and write that shit down.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I've had a couple of journals.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
We're here to talk, boss, that's gone. That's just an old laptop that got stolen, actually. And then I started another one. That one's gone because it was digital, and now I have my first hard copy, one where I physically write it, and it's only been a couple months and it's funny we're doing this episode. I didn't know we were doing this episode a couple months ago when I started it. But yes, you get the chronological things too. You can see where you were where you're at and you just get to write it down. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I love it. What's number three, bro, of our four ways? Journaling can change your life. Oh my gosh, what's the?
Speaker 2:
third, four journaling hacks. Journaling can stimulate creative thinking.
Speaker 1:
All right, all right.
Speaker 2:
So when facing challenges, people often struggle to find effective solutions.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, because it's so funny Stress puts you in the amygdala, not the prefrontal cortex, which then makes you not as creative.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so regular journaling can stimulate creative thinking and problem solving by allowing individuals to brainstorm and analyze issues. Oh yeah, and here's the reference A study from a study in the journal, a study from Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests that writing about problems can lead to increased cognitive flexibility and improved problem solving skills. Well, klein and Bowles, nice, 2001. Which makes sense all right, yeah.
Speaker 2:
You've got a bunch of shit swirling around in your head, it's hard to be creative. Yeah, you know if you're super stressed out and I say, bro, write a song, write a song.
Speaker 1:
I'm so stressed out On guitar. Yeah, it might be the song.
Speaker 2:
Was that Jack Black yeah?
Speaker 1:
I'm really pissed off.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
I don't pay my rent today.
Speaker 2:
And now I'm really pissed off. So you know it's hard to be creative when all the shit's swirling around your head.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you know it's different sections of the brain too. Right, because you've got part of the brain stores memories. Other parts of the brain is like logical and processing. That's why I love, as a strategist, what I'm in sessions. The first thing we do is we just extract and put it on different color sticky notes and put it in categories and then we start looking at processes, because then Then you can look at it all on the wall and you can be like, oh okay, I Can see how these things relate. So you start looking for patterns and then you can be creative around those very specific categories. So I think journaling is the same way. Right? Yeah, you have all this information, even if you're trying to start a business and you're just, you just got ideas. You know I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. You just start writing it down.
Speaker 1:
Yeah write it all out and then in your journal you say, okay, cool, let me cluster these things. And then you look at them and you say what should I do first? Well, these things I'm really good at. Why should probably do those things first? Yeah, right, but all that's gonna happen. It's really hard to do all that in your head.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's the thing and keep track of your bills and your day job and your everything else going on.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So that's why it's nice to write it down.
Speaker 1:
It is so nice to write it down. Journaling increases creativity. Fourth but not last and importance, journaling can interrupt the internal critical.
Speaker 2:
Internal critic yes it can in.
Speaker 1:
It can interrupt the internal critic and increase self compassion. So the problem is negative thought patterns and room rumination can contribute to mental health issues. Many individuals struggle with self criticism and lack self-compassion. So Journaling helps because you can get that shit out of your head. You can get the critical critic out of your head and write that bitch down, submitting that critic to the paper. You're literally forcing that critics mouth. Onto the paper onto the paper and then your brain has space for the self-compassion, compassion voice to come in and say you know what?
Speaker 2:
you ain't that bad, you know. You ain't too bad for a honky.
Speaker 1:
So the solution is journaling can interrupt negative thought cycles and reduce rumination right, obviously, but that's been researched. This this article, adams 2008. Journaling with non-judgmental attitudes foster self compassion and self esteem. So Pretty interesting Routine here. Yeah, as it relates to journaling, there's obviously a lot of different journal systems and you can look them up and follow Whatever systems you want. Yeah, you can try your own. Sometimes it is nice, literally just a vomit.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, just whatever's in your head, write it out. I know for me, especially before I went through my major rounds of therapy and struggled with disassociation and the manager screaming at me all the time in my disassociation which I did, a whole episode on disassociation. So if that made no sense, you go listen to that episode. But, um, if I Needed to take a fucking mental break or if I needed to go to sleep, there was a Period of time where the only way I could really rest the mind was just to write out every single thought, phrase, idea, voice, statement down. Just write it down was it even coherent?
Speaker 2:
just one after the other, and it didn't even matter.
Speaker 1:
It didn't even matter. It didn't even matter what yeah like, and I Started keeping a piece of paper and a pencil by the bed. Hmm, because if I sit down and I forgot about it, I forgot something that I was supposed to do, or Just something popped to my head. I just write it down and it makes my sleep a million times better. Nice, so, just always having that right next to the bed, and sometimes I don't write anything down, I just go to sleep. But other times it's like oh man, I forgot to do that. You know, instead of opening my phone and Set in a task, or getting blasted by the blue light and waking up again.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and then go on to Instagram. Yeah, 45 minutes Looking at stupid shit.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
I just roll over, write it down and then bam, it's out, bro, it's gone. So nice.
Speaker 2:
I Think I've never like the self-compassion piece.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Maybe some people write negative things about themselves in their journal.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I don't, yeah, I don't think.
Speaker 2:
I ever have, because that's like almost solidifying it even more. That sounds difficult to do from like if I you know what, does that make sense?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah so I think I'm Writing a statement like I feel Like I'm not good enough right is different than writing down like in your head.
Speaker 2:
You are not good enough. In your head you might be saying I'm a piece of shit, yeah, but are you actually gonna write that in the journal?
Speaker 1:
Maybe some people are when I was in middle school, I would write things like that down. Hmm, I'm just thinking out loud, no, I agree with you but as an adult I think being intentional around Again that difference between I feel like shit.
Speaker 2:
Not, I am a piece of shit.
Speaker 1:
I feel like I'm not good enough versus.
Speaker 2:
I'm not good enough. Yes.
Speaker 1:
Because then you can. You can, you can write down. Why do I not feel good enough? Exactly why do I feel like I'm not enough? Who am I not enough to?
Speaker 2:
yeah.
Speaker 1:
How long have I felt like I'm not good enough?
Speaker 2:
exactly when did this start? Yeah, what did this come from? Yeah, what happened why?
Speaker 1:
And I think with anything else right. It's our intention, if your intention of journaling is to solidify the critic and Be as depressed as possible. That's true too, Then you can write down I'm a piece of shit, yeah. Over and over again. You can. You can spray paint it on the walls and read it every morning when you wake up.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I guess I was just legitimately thinking out loud.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, no, I agree with like like, but if your intention is, you want to right.
Speaker 2:
Your intention is why do I feel this way? Not, I am this. Where did this come from? Why, basically, why, why, why. But I think it's great. I've had a couple of In my entries you know it's only been a couple months but that were just like you said. You just kind of start going, yeah, she got, get it out in. Some are more intentional, yeah, and. But it's great to go back and look yeah, okay, I've already grown. You know I've already learned this. I've already Mm-hmm. My perspective has already changed this much. I've already grown this much in clarity. When you're in it, it might feel like nothing's happening. That's the thing about it gets your life. It feels slow.
Speaker 2:
It feels like nothing's going on. But then you go look at your journal and you're like oh, it's only four months ago that I was whatever, I hated my job or I didn't do this. And now I'm over here.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So you need a little reminder. Yeah, it's good, it's nice to have reminders that you're moving forward.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, having smart goals and then celebrating the wins. So we don't celebrate the wins? Yeah, and I think, last but not least, just we talked about reducing procrastination, the last episode, and you brought up the quote from the podcast. We heard, like, just start with floss and one tooth, even if it's literally just writing down a phrase today I learned this, or I'm going to start journaling today.
Speaker 2:
Today I felt pretty good yeah.
Speaker 1:
I'm going to start journaling, even if the next day is I'm still going to journal. I'm still going to journal Because, back to that point, you're just creating that habit of at some point during the day you're going to write something down. So it's just, you don't have to. You know the times that I first started journaling and I would start and stop. You know it'd be like all right, I'm going to have a journal system and I'm going to write down my mood and the weather and all this kind of stuff and we do a goal progress check and all that kind of stuff is like seven pages. Yeah, like two weeks later I stopped doing it, versus, just like I'm going to write whatever the fuck I want to write and if it's two sentences or if it's three pages, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1:
I'm just going to write today.
Speaker 2:
I do like, though, every day hopping in and just writing. I'm going to journal today, yeah, Because maybe some stuff will come out of you that you weren't expecting. Maybe not no expectations. It doesn't have to be. Some amazing people are going to write books about me when they find my journal and the ashes kind of journal.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
You know, that's not really.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
But giving yourself more opportunities to get it out.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I think that's good.
Speaker 2:
It's easy to same thing like before with procrastinating or just not making it a habit. It's easy for like three months to go by.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So there you go. Tonight I'm going to write my journal. I'm journaling today. Maybe I'll write more, maybe I won't, depends on how I'm feeling.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Boom, boom, sweet bro. I think that's it, let's roll. So go to our link and buy our patented journal experience. The FocusCash Journal. The Focus Journal. My name is.
