A new reader swears by journaling:

“It gives me clarity and a sense of confidence. Just writing helps me feel more focused and kind of ready. Thought you’d like to know :-)”

They all say that.

You see, not all journaling is useful. In some cases, it serves a different purpose entirely.

Here is what I mean:

First, if someone depends on journaling for confidence, for clarity, for permission to take action, then it tells you everything you need to know about how little pressure they have trained under.

(If I sold guided journaling prompts, that’d be the exception...)

Secondly:

Journaling does not create confidence. At least, not by itself.

In fact, I often argue that journaling is the compliance layer of the self-help industry.

Why is that?

Because as performance science and nervous system research now show, confidence lives in your physiology, not your pen. Spending time crafting perfect morning pages or whatever format is trending this month creates the illusion of growth but avoids the discomfort where growth happens.

This will really bother the reflection addicts.

But in the realm of identity training, I suggest beginning without any journaling at all.

By that I mean something simple.

Speak it out loud, rehearse the identity, and put your nervous system under intentional pressure until the wiring holds because transformation never comes from safety, only from friction. No scripts, no notebooks, no reflection cycles... just say it, feel it, move. And it does not hurt progress at all. In fact, it speeds it up.

That is probably why elite performers rehearse under stress instead of writing about what they hope to feel.

That’s what turns practice into proof, embodied not theorized, reps not reflections.

That’s enough.

For more contrarian identity training, go to my Valevaheads Facebook group:

​https://www.facebook.com/groups/1654941835158962​

Irina Valeva

​www.IrinaValeva.com​