1. It’s precious memorabilia. A good motivation for keeping a journal is that you can pass it along to future generations who may need your insight in the future.

2. It helps you clear your head. We have friends and family, but I don’t think it’s practical to take up their time for every time we are bothered with something. These nuances in our head can even happen every day – like several times a day. I find it that sometimes, I only need to pour my thoughts onto paper to see how I can resolve an issue and decide which of those I really need help with.

3. It reframes your mind. There is a different perspective that comes from reading what’s going on in your mind. When your thoughts are staring right back at you like a friend who echoes and recaps what you just said, it helps you think differently – it helps you hear the things you are saying and sometimes, this is all you need to see things in a different light.  

4. It helps you make better decisions. If you are in a habit of keeping a journal, you would know that not everything you think as right is right in all its aspects. It teaches you the wisdom of creating a space between a trigger and how you would react to it. It teaches you to balance things out and come up with the right solution.

5. It improves writing. It’s a practice and any habit you practice a lot makes a skill. There’s no such thing as a writer’s block in keeping a journal. There’s no judgment here, you only need to write something, and this may even aid your procrastination. Once you start writing, you’ll be encouraged to write some more.

6. It’s a reflection buddy. A non-judgmental company, that’s what your journal is. If a book makes you listen, writing makes you talk and I’m sure you have a lot to say. Instead of telling your life story to a stranger just because you have this undying need to be listened to, why not keep a journal? With all the benefits I’ve already mentioned, you can even be a good person to talk to. You won’t need to bore people out with all the things you have to say because your journal already took care of that. Now if you must speak, you have a good amount of practice and can decide which story is practical for others to hear.

7. It freezes moments. People change. Your thoughts, realizations, beliefs, and skills change. Even your body change every second. We are an ongoing change factory. Whatever we think about now can change tomorrow. Whatever wonderful experience we had today may not be repeated in the future. The things we feel for a person may become quite the opposite after a few years. If you’d like to get a better memory of what you were doing, feeling, thinking and experiencing at a time, keeping a journal is the answer.  

8. It’s a good reference. Events can happen that may need more than just our guesses. It can be a lawsuit, business transactions, medical references or recommendations to make. The information stored in our journals can someday be an immense help for us and others.

9. It will lift you up. Life is a journey of ups and downs and your existence means you are still going. Journal is a time capsule of achievements, heart-warming memories, and inspiring feats of rising strong. surviving through it all. With the right attitude, your journal can pick you up during the hard times and keep you grounded during the good times.

10. It makes you insightful. Reacting is one thing- we can all do that- but it’s another thing to have an insightful response to what was said and done. If you can make journaling a habit, it will nurture your ability to think and would encourage you to seek insight first. After all, we all need the understanding as evident to the unfiltered thoughts in our journal entries.