You are the hero of your story.
Human minds are great at fitting the narrative, by selectively remembering and forgetting events to make a coherent story leading up to your current state.
We forget most details pretty quickly.
Let’s say you’re on a vacation. You see something nice. One month later, you might not be able to recall the details. You wish you had snapped a picture to preserve that moment.
Think of journaling as taking a screenshot of your mind.
By writing, you can capture your state of mind at that point in time. Were you angry? Were you disappointed? Happy? Sad? It’s hard to remember later. Once the moment is gone, that context is lost forever.
Journaling helps you learn from your mistakes.
If you don’t capture your thought process behind a decision, you’ll always presume what you thought was right. You’ll remain in your bubble. Reflecting back on concrete data closes the feedback loop and helps you grow by identifying your patterns. You get to see the ups and downs of your journey over a period of time.
You see how far you’ve come and realize goalposts move.