Why I Recommend Artists Use Journaling as a Business Strategy

Artists use sketchbooks all the time. But what about journaling? Well, it is a great practice that can add more ease and flow into your life, reduce stress and limiting beliefs, help you resolve issues and achieve your ideal artist life. Curious? Have a read of this blog post

Journaling is a practice that has multiple benefits for artists.

I have recently been running a program on confidence (Reclaim Your Confident Creative Self) for the program I created a custom journal and I was asked why I recommend journaling.
It’s in some ways quite similar to recommending keeping a sketchbook, but a bit different.

The process of journaling is simply writing down our thoughts and feelings allowing them to come through uncensored. This allows you to access your subconscious and make connections that you’d normally miss.

It isn’t an unusual practice and many artists and aspiring artists have used journaling. But if you haven’t yet here is a post about the what, the why and the how to get started.

You can focus your journal any way that you want – inner work, strategy, personal, or business growth – and for artists the potential benefits to your creative flow, creative ideas and resolving your work are immense.

A daily journaling practice can help you to:

- - problem solve
  - identify and let go of limiting beliefs
  - see possibilities and opportunities
  - get focused
  - stay focused
  - reflect on issues, concerns or opportunities
  - rethink decisions e.g. choices of where to put your energy

So that you can

- - earn more money from your art
  - develop your creative work
  - seek out and take up ideal opportunities
  - be more self-assured and confident
  - have richer and deeper relationships
  - achieve other goals

The more we journal the more self-censoring falls away and the more we can see the patterns of our thoughts and beliefs. And this is true whether those limiting beliefs relate to self-worth or your work or how you are seeing a business problem (or anything else).

The more aware of our patterns, thoughts and feelings, the more self-aware we become over time.

The more clarity and focus we have the more we can take action to achieve the outcomes we are aiming for

Journaling can be a form of self-coaching, especially when you use your personal writing practice with the intention to know, grow and care for yourself more fully. You can uncover limiting beliefs and ask yourself: “How are these thoughts serving me now?”

If they are thoughts that make you feel more confident, happier, stronger or at peace, they are thoughts worth cultivating.

If they are thoughts that are making you feel small, unworthy or lacking in confidence, then these thoughts are not serving you, and you now know something specific to work on.

Ready to journal and not sure how to start?

1) Get a book: Keep your journal handy all in one place, not on individual pieces of paper. Use a blank notebook or, a fancy journal whatever you prefer. But don’t let it be a reason for procrastination if you don’t have the ‘perfect journal’ a cheap notepad will do. The act of writing is far more important than the look of the book and that is all journaling is – writing.
You can use an app if you want to record it digitally but there is a ton of research on the benefits of handwriting to assist your creativity, thinking and memory retention.

2) Make it a habit: Add journaling to your daily routine. If it’s a new activity, use habit stacking to help create the habit by adding it before or after something you always do – like going to bed, having a coffee or showering. For example, When I wake up before I get out of bed, I journal for 15 minutes. Or After I have finished my work for the day and before I [do X] I will journal for 20 minutes.

3) Set an intention: if you have an area of focus you want to work through, set an intention before you write that you want to work through X (whatever the area of focus is) then start with any thought and allow your writing to meander. Trust that you will find some resolution to your issue

4) Do it your way: Don’t worry about being neat and tidy. Don’t worry about your language or grammar or the structure of your sentences. Let your hand work at the speed of your brain. Want to draw instead or write? OK if that works for you. Want to follow preset journaling prompts? Sure. Want to free form and write the first thought that comes to mind? OK. You do you.

5) Vent with purpose: Journaling doesn’t have to be positive and ‘high vibe’ all the time. Whatever is in your head needs to come out, so if that’s a complaint, go for it but don’t stay there. Ás you write, ask yourself ‘how can I get this resolved? Or “What can I do?” and let your subconscious work on a solution while you write about the issue. It’s surprising how often the answer will come to you as you write when you don’t try to force it (like getting great ideas in the shower)

6) Identify patterns: The more you journal, the more patterns reveal themselves to you. You can also get oversight of areas you are stuck in by reviewing previous journal entries and looking for patterns and ingrained habits.

I encourage you to try journaling.
If you want my new journal, visit the shop page to learn more (It is over 160 pages and almost all the inside images are from my own artwork too).