Journaling: My Experience and Tips for effective journaling.

I saw a post on Instagram by CassieDaves about one Journal brand that basically rips of other peoples designs..  I realized how much of a market journaling is.
Yes o…  It’s trendy to make and sell journals now.

At 4000-6000 Naira a book, it is definitely a lucrative business, ill admit It crossed my mind to do something similar at some point, but I knew God was not in the idea and I moved on to other business ventures sharp sharp.

I have been journaling since I can remember.  Do you remember those days of “slumbooks” in Nigerian secondary schools?  If you cant relate, a slum book is a personalized class journal owned by everyone in the class… Basically, everyone got a notebook, designed it as much as permissible, put in questions like “who was your best friend” or “First Kiss” or “Secret Crush” etc. Lol… These books were usually hidden from teachers and kept away from uncool people… The coolest people had the best and most exclusive answers in theirs…  Its usually done by students graduating from the school soon and its a way to keep your high school memories alive….

But i digress… Lol.

I had a very interesting English teacher in senior secondary school. she made English so much fun for us and I started journaling because of her…

I remember there was a summer break, when we were required to journal every week or every two weeks. she made everyone by an 80 leaves notebook and gave us a list of topics to write about every week. “just write” she said, your story doesn’t have to be true. I remember writing  about My fist heartbreak, my annoying cousin and the time my parents fought me..  Lol.. I used to exaggerate a lot cos we were scored on how interesting our stories were.

I don’t remember if this project was finally graded because creative writing is not really part of WAEC curriculum but I took those assignments very very seriously. I was a science student but I would ignore biology assignments to do my English journaling assignments like my life depended on it… lol.. Thank God for good teachers…

I had always loved creative writing, but that teacher added fuel to it.. even after secondary school, I would keep a book every year and write about my most interesting days. One thing was I didn’t like was people reading what I wrote cos I didn’t want  opinions. I would go lengths to hide my Journal/Diary ..lol.

I also had an experience during my Nysc where I wrote down everything thing I wanted to achieve that year, my 5-year plan, vision, mission, etc., I went to a Christain private university where we were hounded about vision and mission and all the shenanigans and I could define them in my sleep but I didn’t take any of the teachings seriously.  I didn’t believe in speaking or writing things into existence. I was so much of a sceptic and I only wrote my mission and vision outta boredom. My goals seemed ambitious and I didn’t believe any would come to pass in 10 years… but..   I kid you not I had a list where I wrote 20 things before 20 and I achieved everything on that list including getting a job in an IT multinational.

I was super shocked when I actually realised what had happened!!!!  I didn’t do anything extraordinary or pray or work extra harder than anybody else for these things but they happened….. I wrote stuff down and GOD read them!!!! Y’all it was life-changing… I went from being on the brink of free-thinking and a purposeless life to really believing that there’s a God out there and even though it doesn’t seem like it all the time, he’s actually rooting for us…

Making all your dreams come true is not why there’s God or even why you should believe in him but sometimes, you just need a small sign, nudge, action, person, etc to change your beliefs. I need to do a separate post on this experience cos it was life-changing. Since then I have been journaling everything… Goals, fiction, prayers o… everything. I don’t know if you have ever searched for a sign to prove Gods existence in your life and you still haven’t gotten one.. Ask and You will be given… If you are not convinced, please get a book, write it down and put the book away for a while…

If you have please share your experience in the comment section below..

Anyways that’s my story about journaling

At every point in time, I have more than 5 journals.. both ebooks and physical. I use Onenote a lot and I have a review up soon.

I also create my own personal journals when I’m in the mood and ill do a post on how to do that to save you some money.

My tips on Journaling are:

• don’t force yourself. if it’s not coming just doodle or draw a caricature. nobody will beat you. it’s your book.
• date your posts: it helps to track
• draw a calendar
• if this is your first time. take baby steps. write small small
• Journal early in the morning/evening. when you have time
• Use a nice book.
• if you want to use apps, ensure you backup often,
• have fun.

Benefits of Journaling:

• it can make you a better writer
• you can vent to your self
• its amazing company for introverts or people who don’t like to talk
• it could improve your handwriting
• it could serve as a reminder for your goals and dreams and keep you focused.
• A place to develop your ideas.

Let me know what you think about journaling in the comment section below. Is it worth all the hype or is it a waste of time???