How to Journal (Like a Philosopher) 

I have been an avid journaler since I was 12 (I am 31), and I recently changed the way I journal. It was mostly stream of consciousness bullshit about the same things over and over. I realized I was dissatisfied with my life, and I was sick of complaining about it in my journal. So I started making changes in my life. And I decided to start writing more about something significant that happened in my day. I also journal when something makes me think; for example something I read in a book, or a painting I saw. This is a much more reflective way of journaling than what I was doing before, and I am a lot happier because I'm actively looking out for things to journal about, so I am appreciating things more.

1. Write about something that happened that day 2. Write about something you did well 3. Write about something you did not do well 4. What this event has in common with other events in your life (larger narrative, internal logic) edit: just to fix a misspell :) thank you for the likes!

Just watched a Korean show today, the guy said’ Keep journal-ing means you have hope for your future. You are picturing the image someday looking back the words you wrote today.’ AND ‘Putting emotions into words needs logical thinking and grammar. So somehow keeping journals will calm you down.’

I write about two things: 1. My (not so) platonic crush, which changes every other day. 2. "I have nothing to say, I feel so empty 😭" and proceed to ramble for several pages. I started when I was 13, now I'm 28. I'm never gonna get tired of it.

What have i learned from this video: We can practice telling our stories every day in our journal. We can critically examine something that was good and bad going in our lives. This can form good journalism practices. I will add them up in my journaling strategy hopefully. Also got to learn about a cool book: morality of happiness. Thanks Jared.

1. I decided to journal in a new way which was to journal on loose-leaf pages for a month without reading anything I wrote. At the end of the month I would read everything all at once like a book and I would highlight to select what parts of the loose-leaf journal I wanted to put into an *actual* journal to keep, since so much of what we write is repetitive, boring, unenlightened or simply negative (things we don't need to revisit). I then simply destroy all the fluff pages to keep a nice, positive, useful journal of reflection and growth. 2. I also sometimes write on loose-leaf paper just to vent with the intention of immediately destroying it. This, I find, is the best way to say what you truly think and feel even when it's painful, spiteful, mean, or ugly, without risking curtailing our thought-process with the fear of the shame or disgust we will feel about ourselves, re-reading those ugly thoughts. 3. Random word of advice: If your journals are too negative, it doesn't necessarily mean youre a negative person. The reason we often don't write about positive experiences over negative ones is because with positive ones, we want to *experience* it. We want to stay in the moment and prolong the experience, not extricate it from ourselves by writing it on paper (which is exactly what we do when we vent).

I remember working at a fast food place and it became too stressful for me to manage the emotional meltdowns I had because of it. I soon turned into journaling. Everyday I journaled on my break times for 6months straight to distress. I can’t even begin to explain how relaxing it was. Journaling became a coping mechanism. I no longer journal but I might get back into it… see how that goes!

What if my journal is just a bunch of complains to God? It's like reading the Psalms or Lamentations.

My journal consists of incessant conversations between my own two contradictory selves.

Jared - excellent tips - well done. I have been journaling since 1983. What I discovered after a while - is that I started to notice my patterns - my triggers - where I consistently stumbled/choked/fell flat on my face/things that pushed my buttons... and then I like you suggested - I started to break down my responses - and improved like you suggested - the big picture at the end is vital. I also have a personal mission statement in my journal - that took ages to write - which is my true north compass and helps me with my big picture - so thanks - and good luck everyone with your journals,.. if you do not write your story - someone else will.

when he said "If my life is a Story, I want to be its author" I was like damn... this is actually so deep.

I am 29 and I have been so intimidated by journaling ever since. I was too anxious of what should be the content. Until one day I just started writing down what is on my mind. No format no rules no anything. It was liberating. It helped me reduce my screen time. Which primarily caused me distraction. Journaling really helped me in a lot ways. It really helped me to organize my thoughts.

Writing everyday does not work for me since I start to feel like it's a chore. What worked for me was writing on it only when: 1. I go through hard times and I need to process feelings (contrary to people, journals are supportive and don't judge your thoughts and feelings - welcome to being a man. no one gives a flying f about you, so journals are your best friends) OR 2. When I get life-changing insights about myself that could help me in the future or understand life in general in a new light(and a journal is the perfect place to record those) I highly recommend it. Especially when you read philosophical books. You can track how much your mentality has changed.

This was very inspiring! Thank you. I often feel like when I’m journaling there’s no “point” to writing down my daily actions. Then I get discouraged and stop journaling because I feel it isn’t improving me in any way. I need to let go of that narrative and think of it more as practice, as you’ve stated.

Great video! If you just feel like writing but have no noteworthy event for the day, I'd like to share my past-present-future format. 1. PAST - Write about stuff that happened in the past. I'm mostly a focused person, so I tend to write about the previous week. 2. PRESENT - Write about stuff that's currently going on. Typically, I write about the current week. 3. FUTURE - Write about what will likely happen or what you want to happen in the future. This is the longest section, because it's where I make plans. Again, I try to keep it short-term only going out 1-2 weeks but sometimes I'll take the opportunity to look at the big picture. This should give you a nice page or two if you just feel like journaling, but can't figure out which event you want to write about.

I've also been journaling for about a decade, and it's interesting how similar our journal habits are. I write out events, evaluate how I handled it (good and bad), and what I want to move forward towards

Hi! I just found your channel. I have been journaling since I was 14 years old and now I'm 30. Back then I wrote about everything that happened about my day, my conversations and what I saw what I experienced. But it changed when I became mentally ill. Nowadays I don't even put a date when I write. I always start with stream of consciousness and write whatever comes to mind. But somehow I treat my journal, i call her 'Dear Diary' as sort of friend, i can tell her this and that. And I genuinely write about what I think about something and when I have problem it become a moment of problem solving because I come into a conclusion about what I need to do. And I avoid words like 'should' or 'must' when writing to myself privately. I'm easy to feel guilty in general. But writing always help. Writing kept me sane during pandemic. 💜

I've got the Matthew Mcconaughey Greenlights Journal. The journal itself is full of quotes but it was just a tool for me to actually start. I write whatever I want, whenever I want. No structure, no rules, just feelings. It has honestly changed my life and attitude on things.

This is awesome, thank you so much! I’m only 18 but I’ve been journaling pretty consistently for the past 2/3 years, and it’s been great. Just lately I was reflecting on the fact that I need to be a bit more careful with what I write, or, even better, HOW I write it: since I tend to be pretty negative when things get tough, the thoughts I put on paper usually end up being negative too, and journaling becomes a spiral down my negativity rather than a ladder to get out of a rut. So now I’m trying to always look at the bigger picture, putting things into context, and to use writing as a tool to improve myself. It’s a messy practice for me, but it helps me so much when I feel like I have no one to talk to, and I’m so glad I can look back and observe how my mindset has changed over time. Moreover I love writing (though I doubt my English is as good as my native tongue, sorry about that), so it’s a good practice for that too! I hope this video helps many others get started with this practice, I reckon it can really improve one’s life

"It's pretty simple...just get a journal." I was stuck on that step for years. I found it recently so maybe I'll get back into it. I definitely need to improve myself.

This was quite helpful for me -someone who often overthinks the process of journaling. You’ve broken the process down into simple, meaningful tasks. 😊

Thanks for the video Jared! I've really been trying to get a journaling habit going in 2023 and haven't really known where to start so this helps a lot.

I am really impressed. I am lucky that I found this on RU-vid. The tone of speech and content are very smooth and very understandable. I also liked that there is no annoying background music. A bunch of thanks🦋.

The only solution I've found to the inherent anxiety when something goes wrong, (so glad someone else does this) is using the OODA loop process (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). The process engages my rational mind and disables my reactionary side.

This is so great Jared! I am definitely sharing this with my songwriting community. People are always getting stuck with what to write about that is meaningful. How about your own story?

It’s like a road map from where you’ve been to where you’re going and all the lessons learned in life in between. Starting journaling at 37. Thank you for the advice.

Jared - Excellent video. Many good points about journaling. I'm in my 70s and just re-started journaling. I have two particular “needs” that caused me to start again: * I frequently want to recall "when" something happened. * I want to track change in some topic to confirm improvement in my life. It seems I do not write as much detail as you and other people who publish videos on journaling. I think the distinction is because others are interested in documenting their thoughts, while I am interest in tracking particular topics / events in my life. I realize there are benefits to handwriting, but I use a spreadsheet. It is a more effective way for me to meet my “needs”. The spreadsheet has these columns: * Topic - Examples are: My health, books I read, food / beverage consumption, socializing, logs of problems with merchants, etc. * Who - This is the name of the primary person associated to the topic / event. (These are typically my wife, my son, and me.) * What - This is a description of the event and/or details about the topic. (It’s typically 10 - 100 words. * When - This is the date & time. (Filled in by the spreadsheet app.) * Where - The location of the event. So, instead of ending up with one or more long paragraphs for each day, I commonly end up with 2-6 line items. - - - Both methods likely end up with the same amount of documentation, but my method allows me to search the history to find things. When I want to search for something, a specific event, or track my progress on some topic, I just select it from the drop-down menus.

It's a bit weird for me. I have a deep affection for journaling, but only when it's completely free writing. I get why some people suggest writing about specific things like an event, or something I'm either proud or not proud of and I see the value in it. But that comes along with a level of artificiality to my thought stream. If I write in a more organic way where thoughts just flow, that's when it feels the most real and helps me to heal and grow. Revelations come as I discuss things over with myself as if I’m talking to another person.

I am really impressed. I am lucky that I found this on RU-vid. The tone of speech and content are very smooth and very understandable. I also liked that there is no annoying background music. A bunch of thanks.

Amazing video! I've been waiting for some kind of motivation to start writing about myself. Thanks!

What I recently started doing is to add my knowledge and the solution that I think it can help me to the last part so through time I can see how my problem solving skill improved and how I saw the solution before so I can compare.

As I watched the warmth of spring slaying the coldness of winters, the hopeless trees began to bloom again the yellow ground turned green, the sour scent of the flowers turned sweet and the faces of those people with whom, I spent those days disappeared that day, at the last, I could not even had the chance to hear her voice for the last time and it disappeared in the coldness of the short spring...

Journaling for self improvement is life changing in many ways. Thanks for this video.

Jared, I started journaling for you. Thank you for give every lesson to my soul

I have never been able to sustain a regular practice of journalling, but I sometimes find it helpful to put my feelings into poetry. I’ve done this a few times this year - sometimes it’s light-hearted and frivolous; sometimes it’s heavier - but it makes me feel like my thoughts and feelings are real, tangible and specific. I really like your suggestions here, though: a concrete list of things to write about can make it less daunting.

I discovered that my favourite way of journaling is through envelopes. I write my pages as I would write a letter to a dear distant friend. I find this method really useful in order to explore more important topics and add the little poetry touch I need in my writing..also the feeling of writing to a distant friend makes these letter so warm and precious

Years ago I developed a daily journaling habit, and it's evolved over time. I now use it, in part, to create content I post daily and have managed to monetize (not much yet, but it's a stream). But the benefits to my soul and mental health have been invaluable. I can trace all the growth of my life back to this daily habit.

Very helpful video. I have been journaling since 2013 and changed my life now take it another level.

I've been journaling for over ten years, daily. I work things out as I write. I find ten things to be grateful for. I complain about injustices, and have pleasure writing about what I'm wearing, the things I do to brighten my day. I feel so bad at times that I think I'm in a simulation. So many Synchonicities. I'm working on a short story that I got the idea from a journal of mine when lockdown started. My experience. I'm still processing the riots, having my street closed, the t.v. propaganda, ect.

I've been writing on and off since high school. My handwriting is too messy, and I always make spelling and grammar mistakes, so I'd always buy new notebooks every time I start again. I cared too much about its appearance over its contents. Media shows journals have these beautiful writings and I compare mine to that. Afer realizing that permanship doesn't matter, I finally got to write more. First time in my life that I was able to write 6 months worth of (almost) daily logs in a single notebook. And I'm happy with that. I even added doodles in it to give it a sense of 'life', it works really well.

What a cool concept. I have journaled a lot over the years but only ever just whatever is on my mind. I can see how this style of journaling can actually be useful outside of just the process of writing itself. Very cool

I write a famous quote from someone first, then write about my accomplishments that day like cleaning or studying or exercise and then I put what I’m grateful for like Family, Friend, Pet, Home, Clothes, Food, Health and write my own quote at the end of that. Thanks for your video got great ideas, I also use fountain pens, makes me feel like a great I’m a writer.

I wrote throughout my childhood, my adolescence and the beginning of my adult life. Then I stopped. I started this writing work again last year because I needed it (I'm 50). I had and still need to solve some things in my life. However, during all that time, I think I underestimated what I was doing. Your video is very enlightening. THANKS. (sorry for my english, I'm french).

I have a separate journal to do stream of consciousness but I don’t complain I just try to dialogue with the parts of my me or my life that I don’t like, and by dialogue I mean literally me talking to specific body parts / emotions my fears etc. and I try to make sense of them to process my feelings and do that from a compassionate voice

I always come back to this video

The lighting and depth of field in this video is 💯

Figuring out what to write is always the trick. I usually just start writing about what's going on, and then hope something more comes of it. Often not the case, but sometimes I do get on a roll.

I love this journaling video. It’s very helpful and I also jornal too.

Philosophy Major Here: philosophy is the love of knowledge and the pursuit of truth. It’s about providing definitions and concreteness to ideas. We shouldn’t be trying to emulate other philosophers and what they did. Challenge your perceptions, look for truth, and you will do just fine.

i do journaling every morning, and this video is really give me another great perspective about journaling. thanks for sharing this video. ❤

I write about everything. Either an hour or two at night, or even just here and there throughout the day. I write about what I’m doing, something I’m learning, how I learned it, reviewing books. I do it because as an isolated introvert, it’s therapeutic to externalize anxiety and thoughts. We think in abstraction so sometimes personifying your problems gives you the solution as well. Aside from helping me in life emotionally and epistemologically, it would be really cool if someone gets these journals long after I’m dead and also gets to learn something. Like imagine 200 years from now, someone reads about how much I loved the book “The Body” by Stephen King and then heads down to their local book store to pick it up. You are influencing and helping generations long after you expire, that’s longevity in its purest form.

very good, very concise and no waste. thank you!

This has to be the best video I've seen so far. Thank you for producing it !

Brilliant advice Cheers Jared!

I'm so grateful to find this channel. You are asome!

I have been journaling for years, and right now, I find it helpful to simply answer 2 questions every night in my journal. 1) What did I do? 2) What did I learn?

Thank you !

Thanks for this! It might get me off my behind to start journaling.

First video I've seen by you, you look like a nice guy who just wants people to live well. I like you.

Wow this guy is awesome. I wish more People knew this.

for my first attempt at journaling I ruled up the pages up with 3 lines per day like a diary , the idea was to summarise my activity and thoughts in a few sentences but found I ended up with lots of blank spaces. I tried filling the space with stats about the weather , step count from my fitness tracker, cycle mileage, and news headlines. My next attempt , I ruled up one page like a calendar for recording my stats and appointments and used the facing page for jotting down details about more significant events. Although this meant less wasted space I realised it was going to take me several years to fill a journal. Now, I still use the calendar format but use as many pages as I want for journal entries and stick in tickets and receipts , doodles, playlists etc. I've given up trying to keep it neat, it's more important to fill it even if the stuff seems unimportant now I'll have reference to what was going on when I look back and hopefully it will act as an aide-mémoire.

Es muy interesante la forma en que comunicas las cosas. Me sentí tan a gusto que me dieron ganas de comentártelo, cosa que rara vez hago. Sos un capo

Amazing advice on Journaling

I wish I had known about this channel earlier, especially regarding journaling.

I saw meditations next to your journal. I would love to hear your analysis on this

A psychology approach called SUD can help identify, lable, rank and group the anxiety stimulis. I also write a self-reparenting letter to myself when something notable happens, the inner adult talking to the inner child. They

Thank you so much for this! As a beginner, I am so thankful for the four prompts you have provided. I've just subscribed! This is too good.

What I personally do is I write a basic summary of the day Then I write "what made me happy today?" It can be anything the sunset, maybe a flower you saw or the 2 kittens you saw that day it can be anything big or small doesn't matter it just needs to be a thing which made you smile, I do this section because I am a very closed person I can't express my feelings well without thinking if I should do something or not multiple times, so recording such small moments make me feel confident I guess like now I can just go and give some kittens some milk it helps me to express myself well :)

I usually write about my thoughts, I read bible every day and when a have an ideia I pull it down on paper... I'm learning english now and I try to do this in english to improve my write

i started my journal in 2021, never wrote consistently/regularly but i'm still writing in it. i guess i'll be writing in the same journal my entire life. i'm 29 but my entries sounded to me like a 10 yr old kid living in hatred. it's outlet of my repressed self tho most of the time i struggle what to write. these days i only write some bad events i couldnt carry anymore bcoz i just pile them up then burst them all into the pages..

Dammm that's was like thr best video about the topic that i have seen and one of the most nourishing ways of speaking that I have heard ...... super super good creation

I start by saying ‘Thank You for everything today…’ As an hermit Reiki healer, I find the ‘Principles’ the most comfortable root to work from. Although, I must admit… I am struggling with the ‘do not anger’ one considering the state of my World. Thank you for this video, it’s sound advice and inspiring. It’s definitely time for me to take time out and write my ‘true’ story now. My memory isn’t as it used to be and I must start recording all the magical and miraculous synchronicities and unusual ‘events’ that occur around me… I know who but trying to explain it is a different matter! So am Journaling in preparation until the time I’m out of the ‘society shackles’ and living a true simple life just working for self… I will have the time to place all the pieces of my ‘life puzzle’ together in writing…finishing it before the cold and/or starvation gets me hopefully 😅 I also love the idea of having a special pen… think I might treat myself to a new fountain pen too! 😊

A question. What should you do with your journals when they are done ? I mean the old one do i stack them up or burn them , any ideas?

Thank you for sharing about your anxiety, that’s brave.☺️

Wow, It was so good that I think it is one of those videos that will change to your structure of mind

Thank you for the tips

I have been journaling for like 6 years, give or take and one thing I always follow, is to just write one page before going to bed.. Just one. Anything. And if nothing is coming out, then just doodle on the page, but the page should not go empty. Of course there are days when I cannot write due to unavoidable circumstances.. Regardless, now I will follow the steps suggested here, always a room for improvement

Thank you a lot for your videos. It really helps in my journey towards self-improvement as you give practices based on philosophy. Keep up

Wow I go through the same thing with my thoughts .. I dont even understand where it come from, am yes I'm sure this technique works a great deal because I also was looking to change how I am perceived socially. Thank you Sir this video was fantastic!

this was so simple and yet relatable, thanks for putting this knowledge out in the world!

I got into journaling from overnight hiking. I'd go out without a specific item, or bring another, and it'd be another adventure.

Used to journal. I stopped cuz it because it was years of the same thing - me talking abt how depressed I was and occasional guys I liked who didn’t like me back. I’m too boring in a fucked up way to journal. But I’d like to become less boring in this respect. Maybe I’ll try this approach. Thx

Hello! That pencil case is lovely, could you post a link for it in the description as well?

Thanks so much for this tutorial. A lot to think of in an interesting way. Again, my best regards. I've been looking for this.

Man I put like everything in mine from how to make stuff,thoughts,art,and stuff I can't find in print never know when the Internet might shut down to a event of some kind

@6:20 I am naturally happy - I've never had to work at it - since my earliest memories, I was happy - I became an artist, a researcher, a seamstress and costume designer, a musician, a dancer, a Chess Champion, a singer and songwriter, an architectural designer, a dance choreographer, an opera singer, a screenwriter - and then I began writing musicals, and then I became an inventor which gradually resulted in several inventions that I'm happy with as I became a Doctoral Scholar, a Research Scholar, a Biblical Scholar, and a vlogger with thousands of subscribers - and then a city planner - after decades of being an architectural designer - while simultaneously becoming the author of hundreds of book manuscripts while also creating stage shows and stand-up comedy routines, and then I became a designer of couture wedding gowns - after being a seamstress for decades and a costume designer since I was nine - and then I became a designer of luxury day wear and finally I wrote an opera - after decades of being an opera singer and decades of writing musicals as my original songs reached a total of over 1,000 ... That's the chronology of how it all happened - because of my happiness - since my opera repertoire is over 50 arias by Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, Vivaldi and dozens of other composer - that's not something I can fake - I was a professional singer as a teen in NY - under contract - and I've sung coast-to-coast and abroad, including England, NY, Chicago, southern California, Hawaii and numerous other locations - and what makes me happiest is knowing that Heaven on Earth is here now - and it is my home.

Thank you for this. My journals end up looking like the same things every day. Just chronicling the events of my day. Ends up looking like repetition, boring and all together uninteresting.

The morality of happines is $67 canadian on kindle , wow , bit pricey for me .second hand stores might ... great vlog . Thanks .

you should list your fountain pens, too, in the description

I’m glad to come across this video and this channel 😊

this is nice very informative yet straightforward

awesome video dude keep it up!

Can you please make a video on how to write about a book or it's chapters that I am currently reading ?

I write my story 'for me' in my journal...and am damn sure that nobody will be able to get it other than me, cause those are my letters to a better me

Hello Jared and dear community , sorry to bother...quick question...What of the 3 initial events, you expand on in step 4? Hopefully anyone can clarify. Really appreciate your work Jared!

To every word in this video: Yes!

Thank you for sharing. Very useful!

I absolutely love your videos.

Really good video,it got me starting 6 months ago

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