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Why You Should Journal After Completing Your Dream List Ideas

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Journal writing has gained popularity. The good news is anyone can journal.

It’s easy and inexpensive, and you don’t need any fancy equipment to do it.

People have been journaling for years.

Though some people journal for therapeutic reasons, today, it is commonly used for capturing memories or anything you want to remember in written form.

Reap the Benefits of Writing About Your Dream List Ideas

I started a bucket list challenge a few weeks ago. Though it’s for my readers, it give me the needed kick in the pants to invest time into achieving my bucket list goals. I’ve also been informally focusing my journaling efforts toward my bucket list experiences.

I figure if I took the time to brainstorm, plan and carry out my bucket list adventures the way I explain in my bucket list book, why not write about the experiences afterward so I can remember specific details later and reminisce. Come to find out, there are many benefits to writing in a journal.

1. Document Meaningful Moments About the Dream List Idea You’ve Accomplished

When it comes to journaling about your memories, it can help you document meaningful moments with friends and family or allow your personal story to unfold. When writing, reflect on the best parts of your experience. Highlight what went well. 

If Oprah wrote a bucket list entry after going on a road trip with her best friend Gayle King, she would probably describe what it was like to be the caller at a bingo hall in Wichita Kansas, a wedding crasher in Tulsa, Oklahoma or the passenger in a car crossing the finish line of her trip in Times Square on a Jumbotron.

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Image via Pixabay

2. Boost Happiness After Completing One of Your Dream List Ideas

After taking a trip or doing something fun, the joyful feelings don’t have to end when you return home. Upon reflection, the blissful feelings you felt can resurface. Though there aren’t any hard and fast rules when it comes to journaling, jotting down snapshots of your best moments as well as some of those positive feelings can work to your advantage. Research shows recalling joyful memories can have a long-standing impact on our overall happiness.

For example, I recently attended a few concerts. These are people I’ve been meaning to see for a long time, but I never got around to doing. After I attend this type of event, I always write down what my experience was like along with how I felt about certain songs or specific parts of the show that I found enjoyable.

If you return from a vacation or another exciting adventure and things now seem a bit drab, consider spending some time journaling to keep the good feelings flowing after returning. 

bucket-list-journaling

3. Uncover Insights that Improve Future Direction for Your List of Goals

John Dewey once said, “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” He uncovered the power of looking back at what we do. Reflecting helps us communicate thoughts, process an experience more fully, delight in memories, and possibly points out ways to make upcoming experiences better.

To reflect, you have to think back about what you did.  Journaling allows you to do that in written form. It can help uncover insights about yourself such as what suits you and what doesn’t. When you discover what makes you happy, it can help you decide what you’d like to do next. Maybe you come up with more dream list ideas on the spot or have a general list of goals you want to complete in the future.

bucket-list-planner
Here’s a glimpse at a section of my The Everyday Bucket List Book that focuses on reflecting.

Closing

No matter if you just got around to trying yoga for the first time or accomplished something big on your travel bucket list, use the ideas above to begin your own journal about your bucket list experiences and increase your happiness levels in the process. If you’re serious about taking action, consider investing in a bucket list book to help you plan your own unique bucket list ideas or consider getting updated as to when my upcoming bucket list journal will launch.