business journaling

Are there moments when you wish you had noted down that idea that somehow evaporated with the shower steam? Are your best ideas like butterflies that drift away when you try to view them more closely?

 A business journal is a physical place to note ideas for new offers, capture thoughts for content ideas, plan upcoming workshops, track launch progress, or map out sales funnels. But there’s also great value to regular free-flowing journaling that lets your imagination reign and your creativity spill out.

This is a space for you to get down and dirty with your thoughts — to un-muddle and re-connect — and gain the clarity you need before sharing them with the rest of your world.

While taking the time to sit and write down the random thoughts that you have daily may seem like a waste of valuable time, journaling actually increases productivity by giving your feelings an outlet and your thoughts an organization. For an entrepreneur, connecting with yourself through journaling breathes life into powerful concepts and strategies for business growth and saves you from flitting beautifully and creatively but not intentionally from one activity to the next.

Here are my top 3 reasons to start today.

 1.     Journaling increases concentration.

Your brain can only keep so many ideas locked up at one time. As you transfer some onto paper, you clear the fogginess that distracts you from your tasks and free up space to allow for new ideas to take root and expand.

 2.    Journaling connects the dots.
Seeing all your ideas on paper helps you find common themes and (quite literally) draw connections between them. Recognizing the creative relationship between ideas shows you the most pertinent aspects to share with your audience – something that is difficult with the ideas swimming separately in your mind.

 3.    Journaling creates a record.

Journaling allows you to look at your business journey in black and white. Evaluating which of your ideas sounded better in theory than reality gives you the chance to select the best ones before making them public. It also gives you a place to track great ideas from fruition so that you can look back and reflect on what worked well to re-create it in the future.

A business journal is a great personal development tool for an entrepreneur to develop and maintain a brand that accurately represents your essence: who you want to be, what you want to be known for, and what difference you want to make to the world. Your journal essentially helps you to shape your legacy and ensure you are doing things your way. It is the connection to your voice when the pressure from those in the outside world may be pulling you in multiple directions.

No need to wait for inspiration, the perfect notebook, or the start of a new project to get writing. Clear your mind and create memories and inspiration for the future by journaling just a few minutes when you can.

So, how do you get started?

1) Free-flowing journaling:

This form of journaling is great for spring cleaning days - you know, the days when you feel you need to clear the cobwebs from your mind to see more clearly.

• Get a pen and paper, and just write.

• Write anything that comes into your mind — this may include anything from today’s menu, shopping list, or reminders to your deepest fears and frustrations.

• Don’t edit or even read it back unless you feel there was something you needed to work on more deeply.

• Repeat (daily if possible).

• Notice common themes and feel the sense of lightness after completion.

2) Focused journaling:

This type of journaling is for when you have a project coming up or just a sense that there should be one. You’re looking for direction and strategy.

• Write down some questions around the project or topic — questions on what the project is, what the most important or more imminent steps will be, how you will tackle them, and what fears arise for you. Ask yourself why at every stage.

• Just like in yoga or pilates, when you find an area of resistance or discomfort, stop. Ask yourself more questions. If you can’t find the questions, start with what, where, when, why, and how.

• Consider the bigger picture as well as the detail, the intangible as well as the tangible.

• Notice what direction your thoughts take. Is it positive or negative? Clearer or more confused? Why?

• How could you bring this project more in line with your personality, passions, and purpose?

• Read back over parts of your writing that were difficult and feel the words. What is the underlying feeling?

• Write more, and regularly.

Feel free to use your journal in a way that suits you best. It is a resource to help you and your business grow.

How do you take the time to keep track of your ideas? Where will your business journal point you today?