Do you ever just stop to wonder about how you got to the place you are in life currently? Do you remember what your life was five years ago? How would you like it if in 5 years time you could vividly recall the thoughts that were running through your mind on this very day? Having a personal journal where you record the personal details of your day can go a long way in helping you reflect on the person you used to be to help you appreciate how far you have come in life. In this article, we look into the concept of a 5-year journal, the benefits of having one and suggestions on how to start your five-year journal.

What is a 5-year journal?

A 5-year journal is essentially a journal specifically designed to record personal and memorable events, feelings and thoughts within a period of 5 years. This journal could be a hardback bound notebook, or thanks to technological advances, a digital journal. Your 5-year journal could be a reflective diary, a travel diary, a bible diary and so much more. You can also make it a combination of all areas of your life as well. The important thing is to focus on the crucial areas of your life that you are looking to change or improve on in the years to come.

Five Benefits of Keeping a 5-year Journal

Everyone has a reason for starting a journal. While some people may keep one to document progress in specific aspects of their lives, others just like the idea of getting their thoughts in writing. Regardless of whatever your reasons for starting your 5-year journal may be, there are tons of journaling benefits to keeping a journal and listed below are some:

1. Journaling allows for self-reflection

Life moves pretty fast and with a ton of expectations and responsibilities, it can easily become hectic as well, giving you little to no time to reflect on yourself. Keeping a five-year journal is an excellent way to take a step back from the hustle and bustle and reflect on your life. You will be able to look back on previous entries and reflect on how much you may have changed and figure out the things you want to change to become the person you want to be.

2. Helps to relieve stress

There is something about putting your thoughts down in writing that is very fulfilling. When you write down your pains, frustrations, and anxieties, you are less likely to feel as terrible as you did before. Thus, through journaling, you can channel out the negative emotions you have been internalizing to relieve stress and attain peace of mind.

3. Helps you to stay organized

Keeping a five-year journal is one way to keep your thoughts clear and stay organized. From your personal opinions on certain events happening around you to your daily musings, journaling collects your thoughts and organizes them for you. Beyond that, it can also serve as a memory bank in that you can always be reminded of how you felt, in your own words, at any given point in time.

4. Sparks your creativity

Your journal is your safe place. A place where you can write all your creative ideas, dreams and goals without fear of being judged. This is where you let your imaginations run free and the more you write in your journal, the more inspired you will be. Think of how much your creativity could flourish in the next five years with your journaling.

5. Journaling can help you achieve your goals

Journaling is an excellent way of strengthening self-discipline. By keeping a 5-year journal, you can write down your hopes and aspirations for the future, taking time to document your progress as time goes on. Documenting your achievements can motivate you to push further and aim for more in situations where you would have otherwise given up.

Five ideas to start a 5-year journal

1. Set a writing schedule

It is important to be consistent with journaling so before you start, you have to set up a schedule and make sure you stick to it. You can set a reminder so you never forget. Do it every day until it becomes ingrained in your lifestyle.

2. Write in a comfortable place

Journaling is essentially putting your thoughts in writing and you will need to be in a comfortable and distraction-free environment that will help you recollect events without interruptions.

3. Time yourself

Once you start writing, especially if you have a lot you want to include in your journal, it can be quite easy to become carried away and lose track of time. Timing yourself while making entries can help you ensure that your journaling is not taking up valuable time you could have used to do other things.

4. Write freely

When it comes to keeping a personal journal, it is imperative to understand that you are not writing to impress anyone, you do not need a motive or purpose to make an entry. As such, be free with your writing, write any idea that pops into your head, write honestly, be natural, experiment with any perspective you want and most importantly, remember to keep it fun. You shouldn’t see journaling as a chore.

5. Date and title your entries

Before you get down to the actual writing, it is recommended that you ensure every entry is dated and titled. This will help you keep things organized and allow you to easily navigate through your journal, should you ever wish to revisit a particular moment.

How Journey journal can be your 5-year journal

After all is said and done, it is important to get a journal to write in. This is where Journey comes in. Journey is a journal software that will allow you to make entries in your journal digitally. While the traditional format - hardcopy notebooks - are commonly used for journals, we have become so reliant on modern technology it is not surprising that more people are beginning to favour the digital journal. There are lots of benefits you stand to enjoy from signing up for the Journey digital journal and below are some of them;

1. Privacy

With Journey, you never have to worry about another person accessing your journal. All your entries are well secured to protect against hacking. This way, you can be certain that your ramblings, thoughts and more will remain private.

2. Synchronization

Once you have signed up with Journey, you can make entries from any device - smartphone or desktop and on any platform including Android, iOS, Mac and Linux. Journey automatically synchronizes your entries so that every new data is added in a chronological order.

3. Sharing

Journey makes sharing your entries very easy. With the digital diary, you can simply send your data via email without having to recompose or copy the entry.

4. Add Multimedia

Your journal entries do not always have to be solely text-based. Journey has provision for multimedia entries to allow you to add images, audio, and video to your entries whenever you are feeling creative.

5. It's Free to Download!

Journey is free to download. All you have to do is to sign up, download and install the app to start your 5-year journal.

Conclusion

We tend to keep a lot of things in our head and with several ideas and thoughts bouncing around day in day out, it can become overwhelming at some point. You have dreams and hopes, successes and failures, how do you remember everything? Feelings vanish, thoughts come and go. How do you keep them organized? This is why journaling can be useful. Not only will it help you keep your thoughts organized, it is a great way to express yourself and document your life and with the Journey journal app, journaling couldn’t be simpler or easier.