Journaling can help you achieve your goals because it’ll encourage you to think about them, consider the why and how, and venture deeper into the situation so that you can examine all sides of it. Read on to find out how journaling can help.
* Journaling Empowers You to Write Down Your Goals
When you start a journal, it serves as a means of helping you to document your goals. Don’t leave your dreams and goals to a whim or wait for the perfect time. Whether you write them down on paper or use technology to get the details down doesn’t matter. Once they’re written, they are real, and ready to tackle.
* Journaling Makes You Consider Why and How
As you enter data into your journal, you’ll have to think about the why and how of your goal. Details and timelines become part of your process. This is especially true if you write down a goal and focus on it in your journal. Lay out the steps you must accomplish to achieve your goal.
* Journaling Enables You to Examine the Related Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)
When you are focused on goal making with your journal, you’ll also 
explore your strengths. What possibilities are related to the goal you’re considering? Take an intentional look at any actual or perceived weaknesses. Note the positive opportunities related to your goal – how can you take advantage of them? And finally – analyzing threats and/or challenges coming your way helps you plan to work around them. The SWOT analysis in this case helps you avoid roadblocks in advance.
* Journaling Empowers You to Develop Steps for Success Based on Your Goals
When you see it written down it’s easier to notice and pull out any steps you’ve developed in your journal. Analyze the steps, make them clear, and put them in your calendar for scheduling. Use your insights from your journal to keep you on track toward your goals.
* Journaling Improves Your Goal Setting and Achievements
Each time you develop and document your plans, you set yourself up for success. Intentionally set goals, define the steps needed to achieve the goals and then perform them. Repeating this pattern sets yourself up to be able to improve your skills as you succeed.
* Journaling Provides Accountability
Even if no one else is reading your journal, a private journal can help you become accountable to yourself. Develop the habit of looking at your journal each day and updating your plans and activities. Create an entry each day to reinforce your mindset. When you write something in your journal each day, it keeps your goals at top-of-mind.
* Journaling Provides a Permanent Record
Having a permanent record of your goals and accomplishments is a beautiful thing. Whether the things you’ve documented are related to personal or work goals, writing them down helps make them real. Hardly anyone has a perfect memory, so you’ll maintain the lessons you learn more completely with your written record to review.
* Journaling Increases the Inspiration Factor
Depending on the journal, you might even be able to take your journal entries and compile them into a real book! You can provide information for others to read to inspire them. You might also take the steps to success you’ve documented and create something new. You could turn your entries into a course to inspire someone else…
Journaling is an excellent way to work toward achieving all your goals. It will even help you make better goals. The process of entering facts in your journal will cause you to see them in a more logical way.
