Why Journaling & Daily Reflection are Important – Alongside Creations is: Somewhere on the Water

Reflecting helps you to develop your skills and review their effectiveness, rather than just carry on doing things as you have always done them.

What is a daily reflection journal?

It could be any notebook you have in the house. A simple notebook that you always carry with you.

There are plenty available for sale just about anywhere you shop. Some come with daily prompts, motivational quotes, etc.

Which one is the best?

Whichever one you pick is the best. Just pick one so you can simply sit down and start writing. Whenever and wherever you are.

You can do it digitally, of course, but there is a special connection between paper, pen, your hand, and your brain.

My suggestion is that you get yourself a notebook you like, a pen that feels comfortable to write with, and start.

Why is daily reflection important?

The main goal of reflection is to ask yourself thought-provoking questions so that you can develop a deeper level of understanding of yourself and your actions, your environment, and the patterns of your relationships.

It allows you to question, in a positive way, what you do and why you do it and then deciding whether there is a better, or more efficient, way of doing it in the future.

More specifically:

It allows you to:

Learn from your mistakes so you are not doomed to repeat them. Figure out what you did wrong and how you can turn your mistakes into successes.

Brainstorm. It is amazing how once your brain goes into overdrive the ideas you come up with. Write them down.

You will see on my ‘2-page daily calendar’ that I have a place to write down things that “just popped into my head.”

When my brain is in its “storming mode,” I have to write that shit down or I will forget it. Some of my best ideas come from this page! Click the link here for a printable daily calendar.

The only way to keep your creative muscle strong is to regularly brainstorm ideas. If you do it every day, the creative part of your brain will be fit and strong.

It helps you help others. By reflecting on your day you can see what went well, what didn’t.

It will make you a better parent by reflecting on how you engaged with the kids that day. Were you proud of how you handled a particular situation, or if the same situation presents itself again, how would you handle it differently?

Same with your work relationships, your spouse, friends, etc.

It gives you perspective. If you get caught up in the troubles or busy-ness of your day, or a huge high-pressure project at work it can become overwhelming. If you take a minute to step back and reflect you can gain perspective and get a better view of the grand scheme of things.

Regularly reflecting on why you do certain things, analyze how efficiently you are doing them, and most importantly, you are constantly evaluating where your actions are leading you.

Just to reiterate: The main goal of reflection is to ask yourself thought-provoking questions so that you can develop a deeper level of understanding of yourself and your actions, your environment, and the patterns of your relationships.

One of the biggest values of reflection is that you can change how you see yourself, how you feel about certain situations, and, in the end, how you act.

Regular journaling enables new thoughts which leads to new emotions and consequently to new actions.

If you document the things you did right that allows you to celebrate success. It allows you to realize how much good you’ve done in your life. Without journaling, it’s easy to forget these things and focus instead on our failures.