“Write hard and clear about what hurts.” -Earnest Hemingway
I received my first journal from Mrs. Strohecker (or Stroh as we called her) my high school English teacher as a gift for my high school graduation. It was profound because she didn’t just give me a book of empty pages. She wrote an inspiring letter and filled the first few pages with some of her favorite quotes that she thought would be helpful for me as I prepared for college.
She was a great teacher, and I walked out of high school with a love of reading and writing because of her, but it was the journal (and the many that have come after the first) that became a wonderful tool that I have now used for over 30 years. I filled every page of that journal within the first few months that summer and was quickly in search of my next. I have given away many a journal over the years hoping to impress upon my players and students the value of writing as way of being your own private counselor or therapist.
I ask all of my recruit clients to start a recruiting journal when we begin our recruiting journey together. [Aside: As I am writing this, I am noticing for the first time the shared root word between journal and journey. I don’t know why I have never put those two words together before, but the continuity is exactly why I want my clients to write each day as we go through the process of them being recruited, learning how to be an adult, and really, working to find their authentic self.]
I often give my high schoolers questions to start their journal with to simply get them to begin writing a stream of consciousness. Questions like…
Why do you want to go to college? Why do you want to play in college?
If you could re-invent yourself when you step on that college campus for the first time, who do you want to be? How do you want to be perceived? Is that hopeful perception different than who you are today? If yes, why do you want to be different than who you are now? What is stopping you from being the person you want to be now?
What do you bring to a college program and college coach? Why would they want you on their roster?
What words, phrases, quotes best define who you are as an athlete, student, teammate, and person?
What is your greatest fear? Where does that fear come from? How do you see yourself overcoming that fear?
Journaling is such a great way to relax the brain, especially at night before bed. We carry so much on our shoulders throughout a day, and it can be a power sleep aid to expunge those thoughts, worries, concerns, anxieties, and to-dos onto paper before resting your head for the night.
Think about it from the context of the heaviness of thought. It is hard to go to sleep when your mind is thinking about all the good or bad you did that day or the dozens of things you need to accomplish tomorrow that you are positive you won’t have time to complete. When you write how you feel in that moment or what you need to accomplish tomorrow, you allow that heaviness to transfer to your journal and away from your consciousness. You no longer have to remember everything in your brain because you wrote it down, and you know you will be able to remember and reflect in the morning. You can now turn-off that anxiety because you locked it away in a safe place for the night.
Journaling can feel like a cold shower on a hot day or a warm bath after a stressful day. Whatever it does for you, I hope you will make a commitment to writing for 10-14 straight days to just see. Did you sleep better? Did you wake-up in a better mood? Were you able to complete your tasks more efficiently the next day because you gave yourself a road map to follow the night before?
Even if that journal entry is only 3 lines each night. Something like this:
My 3 goals for tomorrow are: (1) Get up and make my bed, (2) Tell the teacher that I am struggling in their class and could use some extra help and advice, (3) Before I go to bed, I am going to do 20 push-ups and 20 crunches.
Imagine how your brain may feel at the end of the day if you accomplished those 3 seemingly simple goals, but 3 goals that were entirely significant to your physical, mental and emotional well-being.
I truly believe that Mr. Hemingway was on to something. Writing has the ability to “clear about what hurts.”
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