Basic Journaling

13-Minute Exercise

This week, I want you to journal for at least thirteen minutes daily. You can write in or on anything you want—an actual journal, a legal pad, a cocktail napkin, it doesn’t matter. You can also write whatever you want as long as it’s personal. Don’t be too concerned with the content. We are simply flexing the muscle of journaling mechanics. But you must do it by hand. No typing.

Admittedly, I am terrible at this. It’s just something I don’t do well naturally. However, it can be an extremely effective tool for developing mind fitness. It allows you to transfer the stream of information we call “thoughts” from something metaphysical to something physical in the form of the written word. Doing this lets you more objectively view these thoughts and no longer identify with them.

Lastly, you might be asking, why thirteen minutes? I’m doing this for a few reasons. First, life doesn’t always happen in multiples of five or ten minutes. So we shouldn’t train that way either. Second, thirteen is a number that many people consider unlucky or scary. We see the impact of this attitude in elevators and airplanes with no floor or row with that label. Of course, in these examples, we call the thirteenth thing the “fourteenth.” This means we are purely scared of a symbol. We fear “13,” a straight line and a bumpy one. Part of mind fitness is realizing how nonsensical that is and not becoming one of the inane who goes along with such idiocy.

DISCLAIMER: RARE SENSE® content is not medical advice. Nor does it represent the official position or opinions of any other organization or person. If you require diagnosis or treatment for a mental or physical issue or illness, please seek it from a licensed professional.