One day, after writing an unquestionably negative journal entry, I remembered thinking what a waste of time to relive undesirable moments. Getting things out of one's system is one thing, but that should not be the only outcome I get from journaling.
Then I thought, what if instead of recalling and then reliving on paper or electronic document a moment I disdained, I instead imagined my best life, and I wrote about that? What if I wrote about my best life, my imagined desired life, first thing in the morning before I did anything else? What if even when I have an unfortunate experience, I write about that experience in the past tense, envisioning a moment in the future when that experience will only be a memory of how far I've come professionally or how far I've grown as a person?
Over the years, I've learned neuroscience and psychiatry support this exercise of journaling forward. The cliff notes non-neuroscientist and psychiatrist version of the journaling forward story is the brain does not distinguish between prior memories and future ruminations. Journaling forward allows me to create future hopeful moments and pleasant dreamt chronicles. Journaling forward is essentially self-programming my mind for a type of enjoyable time travel.
Rather than dwelling on past events that saddened me and left me profoundly depressed or worse, I wrote about how I imagined living my best life. When confronted with a situation that didn't go as desired in reality, I wrote about a future event featuring the same circumstances where the virtual outcome was the one I wanted.
In the past many years that I've been journaling forward, I've found myself less depressed. I've also been able to do a better job managing the anxiety very often associated with a pending bout of depression. In short, journaling forward allows me to reduce the usually engulfing and long-lingering effects of anxiety and depression.
And there have been surprising bonuses from journaling forward. A number of the things I wrote about manifested themselves in my life.
From writing books, giving a TED Talk, being invited to keynote public and private engagements, and being featured in national publications and media outlets throughout the county, journaling forward has been a fantastic way to keep me living in the moment. Forward journaling has helped me keep my sanity. It also motivates me to remain faithful to my PVP (personal value proposition), living my life with joy on purpose so that daily I may help, serve, and make sure others know that their life matters.
So that's how we got here. That's why 'Journey Forward' now exists. Thanks to a lifelong friend nudging, "volunteering me" to share what helped me deal with depression, get through the overwhelming despair caused by the events like the Pandemic, and manage the daily trials and tribulations of life, 'Journey Forward' is a book today.
I hope that you find some value in 'Journey Forward.' Moreover, I hope that you will now journal forward the life you always imagined living too.