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3 Ways Journaling Makes You a Better Writer · The Daily Writer

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome to episode one hundred and twenty six of the Smart Business Writing Podcast.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Kent Sanders, and this is the show dedicated to helping you share your message, increase your impact, and grow your business through the power of writing.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get into this episode, I want to ask a very small favor.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've created a survey to discover what my readers and listeners most need when it comes to their writing skills.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: And this survey will help me to develop podcast content, books, articles, courses, and other material that I've got planned for this year.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd really love to have your input with this.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is a very simple 60-second one question survey, and you can access it by going to KentSanders.net slash survey.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'd really be grateful if you would take just a couple moments to do this.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: It really helps me out.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And again, you can do that by going to Kent Sanders.net slash survey.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: When I was a college freshman all the way back in the year 1992, so almost 30 years ago, I started the practice of journaling.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't give you the exact reason that I started the habit.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Probably it had something to do with the fact that I've always been a writer at heart.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: But there was also a good chance that one of my college profs suggested it as a spiritual practice.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So no matter where the impulse came from, I've always been a journaler.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And just a few weeks ago, over Christmas break, I decided to go back and read some of those journal entries.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now keep in mind there's 28 years worth of journals.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Some years I journaled a lot, some years I didn't journal that much, but nevertheless, there's a lot of journals there, just thousands upon thousands of pages.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it would take a long time to go back and read everything that I've written over those 28 years of journaling.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: But since we were starting a new decade, I thought it would be fun to go back and read my journals from around 2010.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I did that, and I also read my journal entries from the last year and a half.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And this was an enlightening experience for a whole bunch of reasons.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: But the biggest lesson that I took away from rereading my journals from those two periods was simply the value of journaling itself.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: And over the last few months, I'd say the last six months or so, I've actually doubled down on my journaling habit.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Rather than giving it up or gravitating towards something else, I've actually decided this is such a valuable practice that again, I really want to double down on this.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: So almost every day, I take out my notebook and pen sometime in the morning, and I write anywhere from one to three handwritten pages.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I follow the practice that's called morning pages, which is outlined by Julia Cameron in her really excellent book called The Artist's Way.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, the practice goes like this you write three longhand pages each day, preferably first thing in the morning.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason you do it by hand is that when you write by hand, it's a whole different experience.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say it's a more intimate and thoughtful experience versus just typing on your phone or typing into a computer.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I sit down to do these morning pages, I don't typically have any agenda for what I'm writing about.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: I write about simply whatever comes to mind.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Usually I'm talking about my feelings, maybe something that's happening in my life, or I'm sorting out some kind of problem that I need to solve.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: For example, the other day when I was doing my morning pages, I was actually at a local coffee shop and I spent a few paragraphs writing about a guy who was talking really loudly, and he obviously had no social awareness at all.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And as I was writing this, you know, I spent probably three or four minutes writing about this and sort of complaining about it because I was a little irritated at this guy, to be honest with you.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: But as I was doing this, I began to realize that I was being really judgmental.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And as a result of writing about what I was observing, I immediately became more aware of my tendency to judge people based on only seeing this tiny snippet of their life.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And as a result of that, I'm I just had the realization that I need to be more empathetic and compassionate in my heart toward people.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it's these kinds of observations and learning points that I really love about journaling.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe that when you stop and pay attention to what's happening in your life, and when you pause long enough to write those observations down, you get some really great insights that you wouldn't get any other way.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: However, those aren't the only benefits of journaling.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So on this episode today, I want to talk briefly about three amazing benefits of journaling and why this practice makes you a better writer, including making you a better writer in a business context.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So let's jump in.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Benefit number one is you develop the habit of writing every day.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going to be successful on any level as a writer, then regular writing is something that you simply have to do.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Writing is one of those things where the more that you do it, the better you're probably going to get.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if you're writing books, blog posts, articles, social media posts, podcast content, copywriting, or any other type of writing.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Writing is just like working a muscle.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: It takes time to get better, but again, the more that you do it, the better you're going to get at it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not just a matter of getting better and increasing your skill.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's also a matter of getting faster.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: And when you develop that habit of writing every day, you're going to get better at not just writing better content, but you're going to be able to do it faster.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And those two skills, writing faster and writing better, are transferable to pretty much any field or any type of work.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that is a huge benefit of journaling is that you develop the habit of writing every day.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Benefit number two, you release your creativity through the act of writing.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I believe that the simple act of sitting down and writing sets your creative juices in motion.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Almost every time that I sit down to journal, it generates thoughts or ideas or memories about something that I would not have access to otherwise.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And this creativity spills out into other areas of your life, including your business writing.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, creativity is closely tied to observation, I believe.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you can take a look at your life and you can process the things happening around you and process the things that are happening within you, it helps you take a step back and see what's really going on, not just in yourself, but within the world as a whole.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: We live in such a fast-paced world that it's really critical to slow down and just observe for a few moments, to be able to process what's going on and take in the things that are happening around you.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: And journaling, especially when you do it by hand, it goes a long way toward giving you this ability to slow down and observe and realize what's happening around you and also within you.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: I think that you're a better artist and you're a better creative person, and you're a better thinker and a writer whenever you can critically observe both yourself and the world around you.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that's benefit number two.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: You release your creativity through the act of writing.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, benefit number three of journaling, you have a written record of your life.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: One of my most prized possessions is a notebook from the 1970s that contains handwritten poems that my grandmother wrote.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: My grandmother Louise, and this is my dad's mom I'm talking about, she died in the year 1977 when I was three years old.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Louise was a fantastic poet and a fantastic writer, and oh how I wish that she had kept a journal.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I would very much love to see the things that she would have recorded had she kept a journal.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm a lot like her in the way that I think and create and process the world.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: So if she would have written a journal, I would that would be one of my most treasured possessions of all time.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you keep a journal, even if you don't write every single day, but you write on a regular basis, whenever you keep a journal, you have a record of your thoughts and ideas.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can look back and see your progress and how you've changed and hopefully grown.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Or in some cases, you can look back at your old journals and see all the things about yourself that you wish you would have changed by now.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Either way, there's a lot of value in recording your thoughts and ideas.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: It benefits you in the here and now, but even more so, it benefits your future self.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Journaling also helps you become a better writer for your business, your company, or your organization.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I cannot begin to tell you how much this very simple habit of daily journaling has impacted my life.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of those keystone habits that impacts a lot of other areas of your life.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like drinking water or exercise or reading the Bible or reading or praying or reading great literature or personal development books.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's one of those things where if you do it every day or you do it on a regular basis, it improves every other area of your life.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've never done journaling, I encourage you to start small with just a few minutes a day or even just writing a half page a day for a week.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: So give it a try and see what you think.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hey, those are my thoughts, but I would love to hear what you think about what I've shared in this episode.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you keep a journal?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, how has that habit helped you to become a better writer?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can let me know your thoughts by heading over to Kent Sanders.net slash one two six and leaving a comment on this episode, and that's also where you'll find the show notes.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Again, that's KentSanders.net slash one two six.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what's coming up in the next couple of episodes.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: On Friday's episode, my good friend Jim Woods will be our guest, and he's going to be talking about the topic why every problem is a story problem.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to be a fascinating episode.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then next Monday on episode 128, I want us to think about why we should be thankful for our critics.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: That'll be sort of a counterintuitive episode, but I hope you'll stick around for that one because it'll definitely give you some things to think about when it comes to people who don't support your goals or your writing.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, once again, before I sign off, this is a reminder to complete the writing survey.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: It only takes 60 seconds and it will definitely help me to help you when it comes to creating content this year.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can go to KentSanders.net slash survey to complete that.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thank you so much for listening.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you taking time to join me on this episode.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that your writing has the power to change people's lives.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you in the next episode.