Learn From This Ancient Philosopher 4 Immediate Yet Unknown Benefits From The Art Of Articulating Your Ideas!

The art of articulating ideas is critical to anyone's success — in your career or life in general.

Without it, your ideas and work will be underestimated.

"There is nothing like writing to force you to think and get your thoughts straight."?—Warren Buffett

Articulation is the process of sharpening your thoughts.

And we can achieve that by persistent writing and rewriting.

Writing is a tool that formalizes your thinking.

#1. Writing As An Ancient Form Of Meditation

Writing is a form of meditation too.

Meditation does not have to be restricted to yoga or mindfulness.

'Meditations' — the book — compress the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, former Roman Emperor and Stoic Philosopher.

If you have trouble with mindfulness and aren't a fan of yoga either (like me), try writing your thoughts as a form of meditation.

Journaling is an extremely effective tool for consolidating thoughts and enhancing critical thinking.

Writing is therapeutic when feeling frustrated or anxious.

As it was for Marcus Aurelius when he faced political and military pressures during times of uncertainty in the Roman Empire.

Dictating your feelings in a private diary is safer than rambling around negativity on others.

#2. Writing To Channelling Your Negative Emotions

One of the true powers of journaling is the ability to channel negative emotions into constructive ideas.

In the exercise of introspection, you raise your self-awareness.

"You can do an awful lot by writing down what happened to you and thinking it through" —Jordan Peterson

Instead of rumbling around, "Why did this happen TO me?!"...?

You start gaining ownership of the situation by thinking:

• "This happened FOR me".
• Instead of "...TO me".

The art of writing is a form of meditation that?callus your mind?instead of?emptying it.

Emptying your mind can help you to remove any blockages and tackle the day with a fresh perspective.

But writing will prepare your mindset to better deal with the harsh realities of life.

Writing sharpens your mind.

#3. Writing In High-Performance Leadership

Your integrity is elevated by honouring your word.

Your words' consistency is set in stone by writing - not memorizing.

Our memory plays tricks.

Articulating your thoughts in writing allows for consistency in uncertainty.

Failure to do so and what you say today may differ from what you say tomorrow.

Such a pattern is reflected in lousy leadership, providing inconsistent messages.

Creating confusion among people and reflected in low team performance.

For more on honouring your word, integrity and leadership, check?here.

#4. Writing As A Time Management Tool

If you believe you don't have the time to write... think about:

• The WASTED time by allowing negative thoughts to ruin your day.
• Your DAMAGED reputation by being inconsistent in your message.
• The FAILURE to toughen up your mindset and learn from setbacks.

Ruminating on thoughts that don't want to go away prevents you from focusing on your work.

Inconsistent messages add more chaos to the existing day-to-day uncertainty.

Setbacks that lower your confidence and failure to identify opportunities.

Make no mistake.

Writing is your fortress.

Writing is your growth.

Writing is your clarity.

Writing is, therefore, one of the most effective time management tools!

Developing A Micro Habit Of Writing

I encourage you to take some time and write your thoughts in a quiet place for 10 or 15 minutes.

To start with, do it for 5 minutes only.

The important thing is to FEEL the relevance of the exercise.

Get?emotionally?connected with the experience.

You might believe you are not a good writer; hence no point in trying it.

Maybe in your childhood, you had an inclination to write.

But that was killed by the rigidity of the academic system.

Imposing grammar & punctuation rules to the cost of unleashing your creativity.

Don't fall prey to such false beliefs.

Whatever they are or may come from.

A Step-By-Step Guide To Journaling

So how can you EXACTLY start articulating your ideas?

Think of what is disturbing you.

A thought that you have had for the past few days.

What keeps you worried about the future?

Write it down, and then ask yourself what is in your control.?

Instead of thinking, "why is this happening TO me?" rephrase your perspective and think, "this is happening FOR me!"

What lesson can you learn?

Write today a few lines to start with.

5 minutes.

And continue tomorrow if needed.

Try it now!

Nuno Reis

I am a Performance Coach.

I help finance practitioners to thrive in a world of uncertainty by developing a mindset that boosts their decision-making and performance.