- The Improvement letter
- Posts
- I journal everyday and it's the best habit I've had
I journal everyday and it's the best habit I've had
Introspection and reflection is your answer for growth
Imagine sitting alone in a peaceful balcony with birds chirping and the wind inviting you to feel at ease.
But instead of feeling comfortable - you feel stressed and overwhelmed.
You constantly imagine worst case scenarios.
You remember that cringe memory 5 years ago.
You feel stressed for no reason.
But what if there’s another version of you that’s actually calm and peaceful.
The one you control your thoughts and feelings.
That version of you that doesn’t feel shame and anxiety when you’re alone.
This version of you is attainable.
Because years before I started journaling, I was a very stressed and anxious person.
I always imagined someone was going to stab me in public.
My mind would think I’d get run over by a car because I didn’t do X.
All of us have anxiety and stress.
The difference is how you deal with it.
In this letter I’ll introduce to you one of the most effective ways to regulate your emotions and your nervous system.
The human mind is not built to constantly deal with stimulations fast.
It should run slowly and controlled.
The faster you work and do things - the more stressed you’ll feel.
How journaling can save you
The problem with the modern world and why so many people are depressed is because they refuse to confront who they really are.
They make excuses about their personality isn’t x, y and z.
They rationalize mistakes they could’ve learned from instead.
They run away from truth and embrace lies that are slow poisons to life. When you refuse to accept who you are - the world will reject you with much intensity and pain you wish you were someone else.
If you think journaling is girly, you will never experience the delight of writing. Being articulate is one thing. But understanding yourself is another.
Knowing yourself comes from understanding your experiences.
Your past, your emotions and the trauma’s you carry.
When you journal, you open your mind to what hurt you. To what’s been painful. And you allow it to regulate so in the future it doesn’t hold you back. A lot of people are afraid to do this.
So many people do not know how to overcome their fears.
My experience
I started journaling 4 years ago.
When you journal do not think of performing for an audience that doesn’t exist but think about how you can help your future self.
When I write my journals I feel all emotions. I feel the things I’m writing because I’m allowing it to regulate and pass.
People who refuse to journal suck at accepting truths. They suck at understanding life is a process.
You will always make mistakes.
Opportunities will also go away.
You’ll lose momentum.
And you don’t need to beat yourself up for it mentally every time you remember something cringe.
What you need to do is writing down about your life experiences that sucked and how you can learn from them
No need to deny or reject. It makes your feelings worse.
I’m not talking about the raw journaling prompt about how you would want to be a “wizard or a sorcerer”.
I’m talking about writing to understand all your pains and traumas. This is hard journaling. We aren’t here to make delusions but accept reality. Not prompts about “What color of season do I want my life in the year 2026”.
We do “what mistakes have I made from the year 2025 and what can I learn from it?”
You see - most people don’t know how to journal. They do it like a diary about what life could’ve been.
We write the opposite way.
We dissect our inner limiting beliefs and take over.
We overcome insecurities that we haven’t faced for years.
Journaling is a the key to opening a greater life. When you confront what you fear- life becomes more freeing
Why you should journal
Like I said - most people are depressed because they don’t allow themselves to feel and regulate emotions. Journaling helps with this problem.
When you journal- you allow all your buried emotions to surface and feel them properly - you start to let go of what’s holding you back.
Before I journaled I carried a deep sense of anguish and sadness (too much in honesty).
I didn’t understand why I always felt stressed and felt like the world was moving too fast.
Only when I started writing my thoughts I realized - I had a lot of emotions I refused to face.
When I write about the experiences I’ve had - the pains I’ve gone through, somehow doesn’t hurt as bad as it used to be.
As a man it’s not good to show your emotions to others. But it is damn well good to feel your emotions with yourself.
Society has taught men to be weak by showing emotions outwardly. What men need is not outside approval, but approval within himself. And that starts with overcoming the deepest pain and trauma you have.
I as a boy evolved into a man when I realized I alone have the responsibility and hold my future. When I stopped depending and started taking responsibility - that’s when my life changed for the better.
I have labored daily to write.
I have practiced daily to be articulate.
I have taught my self patience comes with results.
And that all started because I taught my self journaling.
Every great man has a journal
Marcus Aurelius a roman emperor wrote meditations as a journal. But because it was too good and useful to be left alone, people published it so the masses can learn from the wisdom of a roman emperor.
Every person you know that is considered great held a notebook and wrote down his thoughts.
Most of it is likely lost.
And the ones we know are the minority that survived.
What happens when you avoid thought
When you distract yourself instead of confronting whatever stressful or painful thought you have - you voluntarily accept stress and confusion.
Because a man unable to confront his feelings end up with a heavy mind.
A mind that’s never clear and sharp. No matter what you do- unless you confront whatever emotions or thought you have - it will always come back stronger and haunt you more.
Thought disappears when acknowledge not dismissed
Something I’ve realized after years of journaling is this; what you avoid to think about becomes stronger the more and more you deny it.
Our minds work in opposites, if you accept a thought early- the less emotional turbulence you’ll experience, but if you deny a thought or feeling- it will not go away but instead come back the next hour, the next day stronger and stronger until the day you accept it.
Denying what is real is true pain.
Most suffering comes from unexamined thoughts
Journaling gives us a way to understand and rationalize our thoughts properly. When you journal about a certain experience- you accept it as truth.
That’s why if you have a cringe memory or did something embarrassing years ago and still feel shame every time you remember it- it’s because you never once tried to acknowledge it’s existence.
The reasons so many people are devoid and stuck with shameful experiences is because they never tried to take accountability and actually acknowledge the truth what they did was something embarrassing.
Once you accept that was an embarrassing experience and not your identity- that’s when you loosen the grip of shame.
Just try it.
Write down about a recent embarrassing moment you’ve experienced.
You will feel bad the moment you write about it- but push through. It gets easier the more you do it.
Then once your done- it doesn’t feel as bad as it used to be.
How to start journaling
To journal all you need is pen, paper and a willingness to do.
Then write down whatever thing is on your mind right now.
This is hard to do at first because nothing will come to mind.
But as you practice and get better at it overtime- you’ll realize you have a lot of ideas stuck in your mind waiting to be written out.
The first time I journaled took me about 20 minutes to write. It’s not something you master by just trying out once. You get to write more and more as you keep writing daily.
To start- I suggest you get a clean notebook and paper. Then everyday write down the date and the topic you want to journal about.
For example today I wrote about how I deal with problematic people (I wrote a letter about this) In my journal it goes like this;
Date: April 13, 2026
Topic: Dealing with sh*theads
Then proceed to write.
I’ve finished about 7-8 notebooks from writing daily.
If you don’t know where to start here’s some questions you can ponder about
“What kind of life do I want to live?”
“Do I like myself now (if not, how can I improve)?”
“What’s something I’ve been avoiding even though I know I should be doing?”
“What life experiences do I have that is worth writing about?”
“If given the chance, what would I change about myself?”
Questions give you clarity. And clarity results to action.
Good luck and see you next time
-Noat
When you’re ready, check out:
Live Intentionally: 90 Day Self-Improvement Program By Harsh Strongman. Over 10k+ sold. Get rid of your bad habits and addiction fast and build discipline in 90 days. A 90 day project which aims to help you control your urges, become more disciplined and replace bad habits with productive habits. I’ve specifically used the tactics described in the e-book in the past to help me work 12 hours everyday. 10k sold and over 400+ 5 star verified ratings.
The Illimitable Men Audiobook (26.5 Hours of Narration) Learn how to become a top tier man that commands respect, understands women and never gets used by other people again. In this Audiobook you will learn how to play social games and win. “If you hate yourself or do not value yourself, it’s because you’ve not given yourself a reason to value yourself. We don’t just disrespect others who are low value, we disrespect ourselves for it too” a quote from the audiobook.
Reply