[Thursday Thoughts]: This 15-minutes-a-day Routine will change your Life for the better

Keeping a journal is a habit I would encourage anybody to adopt. There are numerous benefits of writing in a journal daily, including some which will help you change your life for the better.

You can journal about everything and anything, actually. I have a friend who uses her journal as a food diary for being more mindful about the food she eats. Another acquaintance of mine uses his journal to perform daily 'brain dumps' for clarifying and organizing his thoughts, priorities, etc. better. Therefore, anybody can keep a journal for any purpose they wish to.

Here are some of the things you can write about in your journal:

• Things you are grateful for
• Areas / Projects you need to prioritize
• Reflect on your actions / behavior
• Introspect and write down about your 'highs' and 'lows'
• Set your Intentions for the day
• Write down Long Term Goals
• Track goals / habits
• Think about your Life / Career Vision
• New or unique Perspectives / Ideas / Insights

Our brain, despite being a highly complex and smooth-functioning 'computer', is sometimes unreliable. Because our feelings, biases, and personality can affect our recollection of things and events, keeping a journal will help you write down stuff as they happen along with your thoughts, feelings and actions. You can revisit these at a later date to reflect on what you did right / wrong , what you can do better next time, how to prevent it from happening again, etc. Other benefits include:

• Greater clarity in your thoughts / feelings
• Increased mindfulness
• Improved accountability
• Reduced stress
• Higher emotional intelligence
• More accurate goal-tracking
• Gain new perspectives, ideas, insights, etc.
• Enhance positive thinking

The best thing about keeping a journal is that anybody can start at any time. All you need is a decent-quality notebook, writing materials, a quiet place, and fifteen minutes of undisturbed time. You can either journal at the start of your day or towards the end, depending on which works better for you. There is only one rule to follow (and it's not iron-clad either!) - don't share your journal with anyone else. It is your private collection of reflections.

By carving out fifteen minutes from your daily schedule to practice this, you will see a great deal of improvement in your leadership abilities. Use your journal to make yourself and the world a better place.