My Guide to Unlocking the Power of Journaling for Business Owners

What is Journaling?

Journaling is the practice of writing down your thoughts, feelings, experiences and reflections. It’s a way to process your emotions, untangle your thoughts, increase self-awareness, and track personal growth.  

What Can Journaling Do for Your Business? 

The benefits of journaling are well documented. It’s said to improve your mental, emotional and even physical health. Regular journaling reduces stress, improves emotional regulation, enhances self-awareness, and boosts creativity. These things are good for you on both a personal and professional level, but there’s even more journaling can do for your business. 

This practice gives you space to reflect, encouraging clarity and focus. Reflecting on past projects and experiences can inspire new ways of doing things, fostering creativity and innovation. 

Journaling can also be a useful tool for problem solving, goal setting and tracking progress. It can help you brainstorm ideas, refine your strategy, and prioritise tasks. Celebrating wins and learning from challenging experiences also boosts motivation and builds your confidence as a business owner.    

Journaling for Business Owners - My Tips for Getting Started 

1.    Make Every Aspect of your Journal Practice Special 
Start by selecting a beautiful journal. Paperblanks are my go-to. They have lots of gorgeous hardcover notebooks with high quality paper that feels luxurious to write on and touch. They usually have a ribbon bookmark and a handy pocket towards the rear (I use mine to store notes, reminders and other keepsakes). 

A beautiful notebook needs a special pen! I use an old school fountain pen that uses replacement ink cartridges. I love the way my handwriting looks when I use it. 

2.    Lean into Lists and Affirmations
I use the back pages of my journal to note down useful journal prompts and affirmations that I want to return to. I also have a few handy lists back there, including:

• My Greatest Hits – a list of wins/successes/fab things that have happened each month
• 25 for 2025 – a concept championed by Gretchen Rubin.
• My Reads – a list to record the books I read this year while I’m trying to get back into the habit of reading more regularly. 

3.    Keep it Realistic and Achievable
I try to journal once a day (usually in the morning) but I don’t beat myself up if I miss a day (or days – sometimes life happens). For each entry, I start with the date followed by a note about something I’m feeling grateful for. Then, I like to use the following three questions I found via Dr Rangan Chatterjee:

• What is one thing I deeply appreciate about my life?
• What is THE most important thing I have to do today?
• What quality do I want to show the world today?

For those who want to journal twice a day (or those who prefer to write at the end of the day), he also suggests the following questions:

• What went well today?
• What can I do differently tomorrow?
• What did I do for someone else today?

4.    Leave Perfectionism at the Door
Over the past few years, I’ve become more relaxed about my practice. I now worry less about my journal being a place of perfection. Sometimes I’m in flow and sometimes I’m not. I have a fair few entries in my journal which start with, 'so, what’s today all about then?' I also have entries that begin with, ‘it’s been a few days/weeks/months since my last entry!’. 

Give yourself permission to show up imperfectly. You don’t need to journal daily if you don’t want to, and your entries don’t need to be deep or profound. Emptying your mind and getting words on the page is what matters most.     

5.    Leave Previous Entries in the Past
I rarely read previous entries. My journal has become a stream of consciousness. It’s a place where I can unpick thoughts, work through ideas, analyse experiences, and make decisions. It’s a messy, unfiltered way to gain clarity. For me, the benefits come from thinking and writing in the moment, not reading back through my jumbled thoughts.   

Try It Yourself!

If you’re keen to unlock the power of journaling, I’ve created a free toolkit to help you reflect, reduce stress, and build confidence. It contains 25 positive affirmations you can read aloud, journaling sheets, a ‘not to-do list’, and a weekly reflection template. 

Download my Daily Journal and Positive Affirmation Toolkit here