New Year, New Journal? The 4 Ways Journaling Will Make You a Better Leader in 2025

Be honest. Did you buy someone a journal as a holiday gift this year? Or did you get one as a gift yourself?  

There’s just something about the holiday season. With high emotions and old memories floating in the air, coupled with the looming thought of a brand new year, most everyone gets the itch to start writing things down. On top of that, overall U.S. holiday sales are set to grow by up to 3.5% this year, so I think it’s safe to predict there will be a lot of new journals and diaries sitting on desks and tables around the world.

And the benefits can be almost immediate. Did you know that people who write down their new year’s resolutions are ten times more likely to keep them? However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

For business executives, journaling is a fuel that keeps the fires of their leadership burning hot. It is a source of knowledge and an anchor in the storm. It is a practice that brings out the best in every leader. In fact, if you open up one of those journals right now and start a routine of daily self-reflection, there are four reasons it’s going to make you a better leader in 2025.

1. It nurtures your mental well-being.
   Over half of all managers report feeling “burned out” at any given time. Such widespread stress has massive implications on the health of your company culture, especially when those “most stressed out” are the ones in charge of safeguarding workplace expectations. Not surprisingly, nearly 70% of executives say that burnout is affecting their ability to make critical decisions, and those decisions have ripple effects across the entire organization.

   It’s no secret that expressive writing can help individuals better cope with stressful and emotional events. Unfortunately, such a coping strategy isn’t standard practice for the modern executive. Still, the idea is gaining traction. More and more leaders are opening up about the role of journaling in their self-care routines, and these leaders resolutely agree that journaling is critical to their renewal and self-reflection.

   In perhaps the greatest testament to the strength of journaling, Anne Frank once wrote, “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” If the simple routine of putting pen to paper can fend off the horrors faced by such an iconic hero, then surely the act of journaling can keep a modern leader self-possessed and self-confident when confronted by their most challenging obstacles.

2. It provides clarity and hindsight when dealing with the present.
   Everyone loves a “before and after” reveal. Whether it’s life-changing weight loss, a much-needed home makeover, or an out-of-this-world automobile tuneup, there’s something compelling about witnessing such immediate and dramatic improvement. But what if you left out the “before” picture? Suddenly, the reveal just doesn’t grab people’s attention in the same way. Why? Because you’ve robbed any progress of its context.

   Evaluating high-level situations isn’t just about dealing with what’s in front of you. Executive management demands that you have a clear understanding of both where you’ve been and where you’re going. After all, you can’t fully understand the “after” you’re hoping to achieve if you lose sight of the “before” that was the start of your journey. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that journaling provides leaders with better memory and cognitive processing. It is the leader’s only means of maintaining clarity from start to finish and capitalizing on hindsight at every opportunity.

   Open up a journal, then write in it routinely. You might be surprised by what you learn when you flip the pages backward in hindsight. Are you making progress? Is that progress straight forward or significantly sideways?

3. It replaces reactive leadership with proactive leadership.
   Imagine you’re sitting at your desk, and a magical genie appears. The genie holds out its hand and offers you a crystal orb — a crystal orb the genie says can show you the future of your business decisions. Do you accept it? Barring some sort of looming cosmic consequences, of course you do. The knowledge would be absolutely priceless.

   What if I told you a portion of that power is already within your reach? While routine journaling might not be able to magically peer into the future, it does facilitate more meaningful self-criticism and encourages leaders to act sooner when action is necessary. When leaders routinely and methodically consider the decisions they need to make, it stands to reason that they make them in a more timely and strategic manner.

   On top of that, proactive leaders inspire proactive followers, so the benefits of routine journaling go well beyond the desk where they originate. More journaling means more proactive leadership. More proactive leadership means more proactive problem-solving from everyone at the organization.

4. It supports more comprehensive CPD audits.
   Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential to remaining successful and efficient over time. Studies across multiple industries, including education and medicine, indicate that performance dropoff is all-but-inevitable when CPD is ignored or handled poorly. Since leaders have a profound impact on CPD success at every level of the organization, they need to take their approach to their own professional development very seriously.

   Routine journaling keeps a written record of any CPD attempts, as well as their success, failure, and reported benefit. This type of journaling not only makes it easier for leaders to showcase their CPD and model it to their employees, but it also makes any formal CPD auditing process much less of a headache.The most successful organizations want to guarantee that their leaders are constantly evolving, and journaling is a simple routine that documents the process of your growth.

Don’t let them collect dust. 

Odds are there is a journal somewhere in your vicinity, or at least there will be by the time 2025 officially begins. These journals aren’t simply a blank canvas for your random thoughts. They aren’t simply a dumping ground for your most desperate emotions. They are exactly that, but also so much more. Journaling is a leader’s way of protecting their well-being, providing themselves with clarity, inspiring proactive action, and supporting more meaningful professional development.

Written by Dr. Sam Adeyemi.
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