Your path to clarity starts with a reflection

You can record that you felt “bad” every Tuesday for three months and still know very little about yourself. Because the interesting part is not only how you felt. It is what was happening underneath that feeling. Were you anxious, disappointed, lonely, irritated or overwhelmed? What happened before you felt that way? What were you thinking about? And does the same kind of reaction keep appearing in similar situations? This is where mood tracking and journaling apps can becom

You make a mistake at work and, before anyone else has even reacted, something inside you has already started: That was stupid. You should have known better. Everyone else seems to manage this. Why can't you? For some people, this voice is obviously harsh. For others, it sounds much more reasonable: You could have done better. You should be further ahead by now. You need to get yourself together. Because it has been there for so long, we may not even recognize it as self-crit

“You should journal” sounds like useful advice until you actually open a blank page. What are you supposed to write? Everything that happened that day? Your feelings? Your problems? Should you write for twenty minutes? Two pages? Every morning? And perhaps the bigger question: how does writing any of it down actually help? The good news is that journaling doesn't need much technique. At its simplest, journaling is a way of taking something that is happening in your head and p