If there’s one piece of advice I give to anyone who’s truly interested in their own personal development it’s this:

Journal.

Just write, and write every day.

Why? Because journaling can help you find more focus and clarity in your life. And who doesn’t want more focus and clarity?

And according to psychologist Barbara Markway, it even helps combat stress and anxiety:

“One of the most useful things you can do to combat stress and anxiety is to keep a running record of your thoughts on paper. There's simply no better way to learn about your thought processes than to write them down.”

I’ve written an article on how journaling can change your life as it did for Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, and Nelson Mandela. So if you’re not convinced of how translating thoughts to written words can have a profound impact on all areas of your life, I advise you to first read that article.

Daily journaling shouldn’t be a complicated process and, with the system I share below, it shouldn’t take you more than five minutes a day.

The 5-Minute Daily Journaling Routine for Higher Clarity

Open up your journal and divide your page into four sections. The first three sections are to be filled first thing in the morning, the last section is to be filled before going to sleep.

Section #1: Intentions (3-4 sentences)

In this section, don’t write about what it is you need to do today. Instead, write down what goals (long-term and short-term) you are working toward. I get clear on what I want and focus my attention on it.

I started doing this because I was inspired by psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews’ many studies on goal-setting that concluded the following:

“You are 42% more likely to achieve your goals, simply by writing them down on a regular basis.”

This can be explained by the brain’s encoding process, “the biological process by which the things we perceive travel to our brain’s hippocampus where they’re analyzed and either stored in our long-term memory or discarded.” This means that the more frequently you write down your goals, the more conscious you will be of them, and the more likely you are to remember them.

And here’s how I approach this:

I start the statement with these words:

“I am grateful to be working on goals A, B, and C.”

I am grateful to be publishing four articles a week, and growing my readership, and building my online business.

The beauty in this approach?

You begin to see your life for what it is: a privilege. A gift. You look at it through a lens of abundance, being grateful for the chance to work toward what it is you want.

You wake up every morning and remind yourself of what you are working toward and why it matters to you. You remind yourself of the direction in which you are moving. You renew that intention with every sunrise. You solidify it. Now that is powerful.

Section #2: Daily Affirmation (1-2 sentences)

In this second section, simply write one or two sentences stating your affirmation.

An affirmation is a statement that defines what you want to be. It’s a form of positive self-talk used to reverse the negative internal narrative we hold about ourselves. Every time you write or repeat an affirmation to yourself, you’re priming your brain to believe it.

According to Ronald Alexander from Psychology Today:

“Affirmations can be a powerful tool to help you change your mood, state of mind, and manifest the change you desire in your life. An affirmation can work because it has the ability to program your mind into believing the stated concept.”

So whether you’re seeking to become more confident, less anxious, or just want to be more optimistic in general, try coming up with your own daily affirmations.

Here are some examples:

• “I am confident in my ability to figure things out.”

• “I am excited to be working on this new project today. I know I can make it happen.”

• “I am successful and I am living in my success every day.”

Affirmations are beautiful. I use these four in my mediations sometimes. If you can’t see their value, consider this quote by Louise Hay:

“You’ve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”

Section #3: Top 3 Priorities (3 bullet points)

Before you move on with your day, ask yourself: “What are the three most important tasks I want to accomplish today?” This helps bring more focus to your day.

As explained in this task management system, priority tasks are the most important tasks that matter to you. Usually, these tasks are the ones that are aligned with your goals. These are the tasks that if you accomplish in a given day, you’ll feel satisfied with that day.

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”―Stephen Covey

Do more of what’s important to you. Aim to prioritize three tasks, but if you really think there’s more you need to accomplish on a given day, never write down more than five—otherwise, you’re missing the point of prioritization.

Section #4: Daily Reflection (3-5 sentences)

This final section is reserved for your evening routine. Open your journal and ask yourself these questions:

• What were the three awesome things that happened today?

• What didn’t go so well and how could I have made today better?

• What am I grateful for?

Don’t over complicate things. Just take a minute to reflect and be honest with yourself.

When it comes to the question of “what didn’t go so well,” the goal is to notice whether there are any behavioural patterns that need to be addressed. If so, what actions can you take to make the change happen?

As for gratitude, I like to write one line per day on a separate gratitude list so that at the end of the year I can go back and skim through the 365 things I was grateful for throughout the year.

Why This System for Daily Journaling

In short, the system above answers these three questions:

• In which direction am I moving my life?

• What do I need to do today to make sure I move in that direction?

• How do I feel about my day today?

And here’s why this system works so well:

1. It helps you stay present. Because all we truly have control over is the now and what we decide to do with it.

2. It gives you a chance to reflect and understand yourself better. When you check-in with yourself every evening before going to sleep, you spend 2-3 minutes reflecting on your day. You check-in to see how you’re feeling and that’s how you learn more about yourself.

3. It helps you map out the near future: your action plan. When you begin the day by writing down your goals, you know exactly where it is you’re taking your life. When you follow that up with a list of your top 3 priorities for that today, you can be sure you’re putting in the work today that aligns with your goals.

4. It helps you build good habits. When you journal every day, you prove to yourself that yes, you can build good habits.

Imagine how much more alignment between your thoughts, actions, and goals you would create for yourself if you were to take 5-minutes a day to open your journal and write. More clarity? You bet. More focus? Absolutely.