Journal To Solve a Challenge

Everyone has challenges. Did you know that you can use your writing journal to solve them?

Here's a simple exercise you'll find very useful. It will help you to solve many different challenges. I use it to solve challenges in my writing, in relationships, and in financial matters as well.

In your journal write this:

”My challenge is    . This challenge impacts my life in these three ways (list the ways.) Solving this challenge would bring me these five benefits (list the benefits.)”

When you do the exercise, you could write something like this:

My challenge is that I find it hard to find time to write.

Lack of time to write impacts my life in these five ways:

1.1 miss deadlines;

2.    I don't market my writing, so I can't get better clients;

3.    It creates stress, and unhappiness;

Solving this challenge would bring me these five benefits:

1.    By completing my writing jobs on time, my clients would give me additional writing jobs, because they know that they can rely on me;

2.    I'd have time to market my writing, and get better clients;

3.    These better clients would pay me more;

4.    If I were paid more, I could quit my day job, and become a full-time writer;

5.    I'd be more relaxed. At home, everyone would be happier, and I'd be happier at work, rather than resentful.

You'll notice that in the above exercise, you didn’t set out to solve the problem of not having enough to time to write. You merely wrote about the problem, and the benefits to you if you solved the problem.

Over the next couple of weeks, you'll find that you do manage to "find" more time to write. Perhaps you get up half an hour earlier. Perhaps you write in your lunch hour at work. Or, perhaps you write while the family is watching a movie on Netflix.

This exercise works particularly well on intractable problems. If you've had a problem for many years, and have despaired, try this exercise. It works because you're not fighting against yourself. You can only solve a problem at the level at which it occurs. Many of our challenges (like finding time to write) occur at a deep level. There are many reasons you're unwilling to solve this problem.

Your resistance may be due to many deep-seated reasons, some of which no longer make sense because they protected a younger "you". Your subconscious mind always tries to protect you, so you sabotage yourself when you try to solve the problem. Stop fighting. Just journal about it. Sooner or later, you'll find that you're no longer bothered by the problem.

This happened to me. For many years, although I could market my clients effectively, I was horrible at marketing myself and my writing. I simply journaled about it — for months. The problem went away. I didn't realize it had gone away until I said to a friend: "I love marketing my work!"

I heard myself say it, and realized that it was true. Journaling sweeps away your challenges. One day, you'll wake up, and they'll be gone.

Describing the problem gives you solutions, without stress
We all have problems. Although we're aware of them, we usually worry about them, rather than describing them in writing. When you write down the problem and describe it, you make it concrete. It becomes solvable, and do you solve it.

Let's say that you've described a problem — you want to make more money from your writing. You write down how this impacts your life. You also write down the benefits of making more money.

We all prefer pleasure, rather than pain. That's why it's so hard to stick to a weight loss diet. The short-term pleasure of delicious food is more real to use than the pain of eating "diet" food. However, if you can keep the benefits of losing weight in your mind, short-term pain is manageable.

Exercise 6. Create a writing journal, and do this exercise.

I have a journal notebook in Evernote, in which I do these kinds of exercises. I keep the journal in Evernote, because it's always available to me, either on my computer, on my phone, or on my iPad.

I encourage you to create a electronic writing journal, or use a paper journal, and do this exercise.

Make a list of challenges you have in your life, and then do the exercise for each one. Whenever you meet with another challenge, immediately do the exercise. This exercise is wonderful for relieving stress, and living a better life.