Journaling ... the power of pen to paper

It's something I now do every single day, without fail. Even if I scribble quickly in my notepad while preparing the kids breakfast.... I do it without fail, I am talking about penning my daily goals (which are the small steps that form the bigger goals of life) . I find it focuses my mind and reminds me of MY unique purpose.

My scribble could include words like calm and confident, parenting with calmness, do 10 mins of yoga each day, drink water, breathe more, focus and clarity ....I'm someone who has 100 ideas all at once so need to organise and prioritise regularly...

I find I write the same thing or very similar over and over each day and that's great. It's all reinforcing my goals, my focus and my vision. The ultimate aim is that I am telling my brain and my mindset what I want day in and day out.

So why does writing down your goals and dreams down on paper have such a profound impact... the answer lies in the chemistry of our brains. Our beautiful clever and intricate brains, have a left and a right hemisphere and they have different functions or roles to play. The right side is your imaginative side, whereas the left brain is the literal, logical side.

And what is so incredible is the brain has a broad and flat bundle of nerve fibres that join the two hemispheres, called the corpus callosum. By sending electrical signals, the Corpus Callosum facilitates communication between the left and the right side of the brain, transferring motor, sensory, and cognitive information between the two sides. These signals communicate with every cell and nerve in your body... essentially transforming these thoughts into reality.

So why is this so significant ... well essentially if you just think about one of your goals, you are only using the right imaginative side of your brain, but if you think about your goal and dreams and also write them down, you tap into your logic-based left hemisphere... This combined approach sends your consciousness and every cell of your body the signal that says, "Right, this is serious. I really want this! ...This is what I want !"

The process of writing down your goals kickstarts an entirely new dimension of consciousness, ideas and clarity to what you want.

And the research supports this theory, Psychology Professor, Dr. Gail Matthews at the Dominican University in California, has studied the art and science of goal setting. In her recent study she recruited 267 participants — men and women from all walks of life (entrepreneurs, educators, professionals, artists, lawyers and bankers) and divided them into 2 groups, Group 1 was those who regularly wrote down their goals and dreams, and Group 2 those who didn't. Dr Gail Matthews discovered that those who wrote down their goals and dreams on a regular basis were a staggering 42% more likely to achieve them. The process of writing your goals down requires a level of clarity that just thinking about your goals doesn't. Thinking and writing down is a powerful combination, a process that communicates through the logic centre of your mind and the imaginative side.

Goal setting is something I now count as part of my daily rituals - much like brushing my teeth each morning.

Written by Mindology Founder - Claire Aristides