Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday

by.” Then he would go to bed, finding that “the sleep which follows
this self-examination” was particularly sweet. Anyone who reads him
today can feel him reaching for stillness in these nightly writings.
Michel Foucault talked of the ancient genre of hupomnemata
(notes to oneself). He called the journal a “weapon for spiritual
combat,” a way to practice philosophy and purge the mind of
agitation and foolishness and to overcome difficulty. To silence the
barking dogs in your head. To prepare for the day ahead. To reflect
on the day that has passed. Take note of insights you’ve heard. Take
the time to feel wisdom flow through your fingertips and onto the
page.
This is what the best journals look like. They aren’t for the reader.
They are for the writer. To slow the mind down. To wage peace with
oneself.
Journaling is a way to ask tough questions: Where am I standing
in my own way? What’s the smallest step I can take toward a big
thing today? Why am I so worked up about this? What blessings can
I count right now? Why do I care so much about impressing people?
What is the harder choice I’m avoiding? Do I rule my fears, or do
they rule me? How will today’s difficulties reveal my character?*
While there are plenty of people who will anecdotally swear to the
benefits of journaling, the research is compelling too. According to
one study, journaling helps improve well-being after traumatic and
stressful events. Similarly, a University of Arizona study showed that
people were able to better recover from divorce and move forward if
they journaled on the experience. Keeping a journal is a common
recommendation from psychologists as well, because it helps
patients stop obsessing and allows them to make sense of the many
inputs—emotional, external, psychological—that would otherwise
overwhelm them.
That’s really the idea. Instead of carrying that baggage around in
our heads or hearts, we put it down on paper. Instead of letting
racing thoughts run unchecked or leaving half-baked assumptions
unquestioned, we force ourselves to write and examine them. Putting
your own thinking down on paper lets you see it from a distance. It
gives you objectivity that is so often missing when anxiety and fears
and frustrations flood your mind.