If you enjoy exploring thoughts in the depths of your mind, then keeping a record of your personal writing in a journal is a great place to store ideas and reflections on life experiences. There are many reasons to write in a Journal and it is up to you figure the reason that best suites your needs.   

Reasons for keeping a Journal:   

• Collect Ideas for stories, poems, blog, etc.
• Helps to sort out thoughts
• Helps to keep control of thoughts
• Practice writing
• Setting goals and recording dreams
• Reflect on events of the day
• Relive good times
• To keep a life record

Note: There are multiple reasons to keeping a journal. Listed above is but a few reasons. Writing in Journals works best when you can reflect on what you have written and learn from it, and when you make that discovery for the first time your writing will become exciting and begin a whole new atmosphere, and you will make surprising discoveries about you and the subjects you write about.   

5 Must in Journal keeping  

1. Tools: Notebook, pen or pencil, or record on computer
2. Personal Space: This is the place where you can be away from distractions. It must be comfortable and your personal area. This is the space where you go to write.
3. Daily: No matter the type of journal you decide to keep, make it a practice to write everyday, and it will grow into a habit and improve your writing and record keeping skills, and improve your focus.
4. Important: Write about the thoughts, ideas, and events that are most important to you. If not you are doomed to failure. You must be interested in the things you record in your journal.
5. Keep Track: When you start a journal keep track by putting a date on the page, and when you fill up a Journal and start a new journal begin where you left off. Keeping a continuous timeline helps in sorting thoughts and events, and improve organizations skills.

Note: It is good practice to read through your journals from time to time, and underline the ideas that are interesting and would like to write more about in the future. By reading through your journal you may find some surprising facts about yourself, and take these facts and ideas and expand on them, and it will help you grow as a person.  

Types of Journals 

1. Dairy: A record of daily events 
2. Success Journals: A record of goals and ambitions, and success. 
3. Thought and Idea Journal: A record of thoughts or ideas  
4. Project Journal: A record of daily events as a project unfolds 
5. Travel Journal: A records of events to the places where a person travels   

Note: There are many good sources on the internet about journals, do some research and learn the purpose of each journal style and which best suite your needs.   

Note: The list above is but a few of the journals out there. There are multiple types’ journals. There is no hard rule that a journal must be in a certain style, you can create a journal anyway you want, about any subject you want. Keep journals that best suit your needs.

Reflect  

  It is important to reflect and explore thoughts and ideas before you write and while you are writing in your journal. When you write in your journal ask certain types of questions: How do you feel toward the subject? What was interesting about the experience? Ask yourself, why? And while you write try to find and answers to some of those questions to gain insight and come up with new ideas.  

  It also important to wonder what you have learned from insights, discoveries, and experiences you reflect on. Compare those reflections to other ideas and insights and wonder what you could have done different; by doing this will allow you to gain better control of your thoughts, habits, and insights. It will allow you to predict with greater accuracy what an experience or insight will mean to you in the future.    

 Summary 

  Journals are great way to self discovery. People are amazed when they read back over old journals and discover how much they have change and mindset has adapted to the world around them as the world changed. Journals are full of insight and experiences, and full of interesting discoveries.  

  It is important always to be honest with yourself when you write, for only through honesty can the road to insight and self discovery be made. And when you start a new journal always pick up where you left off. If you have interesting ideas, try to say as much about it as possible, and when you think you have said all you can say about an idea, push yourself to write at least another sentence or two.   

  Keeping any form of journal is reflection on your personality. Never keep journals in a subject that doesn’t suit personality, it will be a waste of time and doomed for failure. Only keep journals that express who you are and what you are about. It should be nothing more or nothing less. It should represent you and only you. For a journal is your personal property for you to discover ideas and insights about yourself.

"I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart." ~Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank

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