Today I want to talk about mistakes people make when starting a journal. It all starts with good intentions, but if you don't use a journal to its potential then you are wasting a valuable resource - YOU!

Journaling Is For the Long Term

You could say that having a journal is an investment. Writing in it consistently and then reviewing it at a later date will do you more good than having a journal that collects dust on a shelf. So, you could say that the first mistake of journaling is not keeping up with it.  Some of the best journals are the ones you go back to and coach yourself through your experiences and help your future-self succeed, learn about yourself and reach your goals. Even diary entries can be positive and motivational if you point them that way.

 Not Having Your Journal With You

That's right, if you don't have your journal, you can't use it. And think about all those times you had some wonderful thoughts, moments of inspiration or a spark of understanding but no way to record it. So carry your journal with you everywhere. If it's a digital journal, have access to it as much as possible. The best thoughts happen spontaneously, not when you've scheduled journaling time. So keep regular notes somewhere, be it a notebook or an app on your phone and then relog it in your journal when you can. But, really, keeping your journal with you is the easiest way to record everything that comes to mind when it does.

Making Journaling Feel Like Work

Good intentions are nice, but if you schedule the time to sit down and journal but just aren't feeling it, then it's work. You want to relax and enjoy journaling. It should be fun and beneficial. You should feel better after journaling and look forward to when you've opened your journal to the blank page. Journal through inspiration, not the obligation. Okay, so your Dominant requires that you journal on a regular basis. A lot of submissives have to do that. And it does force you to consider it a task, but it doesn't always have to be.

 Extra: The Worst Way to Journal

Sometimes you feel angry, or frustrated and you just gotta get it off your chest, so journaling is a go to for that, and that part is honestly great. You should express yourself and get your emotions out, but the worst thing you can do with that is not solving the issue. That's right. You don't sit down and work it out to try to find a positive or a solution to your intense emotions or situation.

Your brain dump is key, it's the heart of your journal after all, but it needs solutions. If you are going to learn from your thoughts and experiences you need to ask yourself questions and try to solve the problems and issues that come up. It's not always about expressing yourself. There are benefits to getting it off your chest but you need to make sense of it.

How do you do that? Problem-solving. And this next question is key:

"What advice would I give someone else in my exact same situation?"

Why does this help you? Because it's easier to see solutions if you are putting the situation on someone else and advising them. It distances you from the emotions of it and you can get a lot more viable solutions and coaching tips by giving advice to someone else, hypothetically, about the same issue.

I hope you don't make these mistakes with your journal, but if you do, you'll know how to pick up and carry on. Use your journal and make it useful to you now and in the future. It's the best book you've ever read - as long as you keep writing in it.