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Watching the Winter Olympics is always a thrill, but this year, one athlete stood out to me more than the others. Not only for her incredible gold medal performance on the slopes, but for the way she articulated herself during press conferences.
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu is not just an elite athlete. She’s also a student at Stanford University, studying quantum physics, as well as a fashion model. This combination alone is unusual, but so is the way she talks about her mind in relation to her sport and her life.
When a reporter recently asked Gu how she’s able to answer complex questions so quickly and comprehensively, her response didn’t credit media training or quick thinking. Instead, she shared that she’s an introspective person who lives in her head and that she journals a lot to figure it out. Her version of journaling is definitely next level — and it’s clearly given her a competitive edge in all of the areas of her impressive life.
“Instead of simply writing down what happened during the day, she thinks about how she thinks.”
Gu explained that she spends time analyzing her own thought processes on paper, almost like a scientist running experiments. Instead of simply writing down what happened during the day, she thinks about how she thinks. She examines her reactions, beliefs, and patterns in the same way she reviews footage of her technical performance on the ski hill.
She described journaling as a tool for shaping her mind through neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to physically rewire itself in response to repeated thoughts and behaviors. When she journals, she’s building self-awareness and slowly training her brain to become the person she wants to be. Someone who, she says, her younger self would be proud of.
It’s rare to hear any athlete, especially one as young as 22, talk about journaling as mental training. But I think it makes perfect sense.
In my work as a health optimization coach for high performers, this daily habit shows up constantly. Almost every client I work with, many of whom are founders or executives, keeps some form of a journal. Sometimes it’s only a few minutes dedicated to morning pages. Other times, it’s a moment of deep reflection before bed. Either way, this simple act of putting pen to paper is embedded in their wellness routines. They stick with it because it makes them feel better and clearer.
And now we know that the benefits of journaling are actually scientifically proven.
Dear Diary,
My early days of journaling consisted of emotionally processing tough breakups, work drama, and probably a few insecurities. At the time, my writing felt more like a cathartic release than intentional rewiring. At the very least, it helped me “figure out my life,” by putting words on paper, even if I didn’t know what I was doing. No one had taught me how to journal or explained what the practice could do to change my life.
That all changed when I attended a workshop led by creative coach and journaling expert, Laura Rubin of AllSwell, a creativity education brand that offers workshops, training, and products to promote the transformative benefits of journaling.
“A journal could hold your personal reflections, observations from the day, responses to prompts, or even a to-do list.”
Instead of treating the page as a place reserved for emotional regurgitation, Rubin introduced the idea that writing could support many different kinds of thinking. A journal could hold your personal reflections, observations from the day, responses to prompts, or even a to-do list.
It could help you organize your thoughts, explore ideas, map future goals, or think through overwhelming decisions. Sometimes it could simply be a space to be creative again.
At my first workshop, Rubin guided us using music, prose, and a few prompts to get us into the flow. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to drop in and let a stream of consciousness take over. It was like flexing a muscle that I hadn’t used since creative writing class in high school — except now there were no grades, and no right or wrong way to do it.
What started as random ramblings about leaving a less-than-desirable work environment turned into a poem! Writing about it helped me reframe my exit as an opportunity to go on a treasure hunt to find something even better than I had.
That revealing experience raised a few bigger questions. Why does putting pen to paper make our thoughts feel clearer, our emotions more manageable, and the future more optimistic?
The answer, it turns out, lives in the brain.
What is neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Every time we repeat a thought or practice a skill, certain neural pathways become stronger while others weaken.
In other words, the brain is constantly adapting to how we use it through our thoughts.
“Every time we repeat a thought or practice a skill certain neural pathways become stronger while others weaken.”
For decades, scientists believed the brain stopped changing after childhood, when it is the most malleable. But research from neuroscientists like Michael Merzenich helped show that the adult brain remains remarkably flexible throughout our lives.
The good news is that our thoughts, habits, and experiences are continually shaping the architecture of the brain itself. Which means the mental activities we repeat most often can gradually rewire how our brains operate, for better or worse.
Journaling is one of the few practices that deliberately engages many of those processes at once. In order to write, we slow down our thinking and translate our emotions into language. Asking the brain to organize our scattered ideas puts it into a narrative. All of these steps activate the multiple regions of the brain involved in memory, emotional regulation, and decision-making. And over time, those repeated patterns of thinking begin to shape the brain itself.
“Over time, those repeated patterns of thinking begin to shape the brain itself.”
I reached out to Rubin to get her thoughts on this fascinating topic, which she researched for her new book, “The Big Unlock: Liberate Your Creativity Through Mindful Journaling.”
“Our noggins never stop improving in response to learning. Essentially, scoring new neurons at any age is possible provided you’re engaged in the right activities,” she said. “Even for those of us who journal regularly, switching up a mindful journaling practice via new, external prompts can help you use your journal in more complex and rewarding ways.”
“Neurologically, the act of translating inner experiences into language is surprisingly complex.”
The best part is that journaling feels like a simple task, even though neurologically, the act of translating inner experiences into language is surprisingly complex. It activates multiple brain systems at once, including those involved in emotion, memory, decision-making, and self-reflection.
That’s why journaling can be such a powerful tool for behavior change, reducing anxiety and supporting leadership.
Turning emotion into language
One of the biggest shifts journaling creates is moving our emotions out of the reactive parts of the brain and into the analytical ones.
When we cannot name our feelings, they tend to circulate in the brain’s threat and emotion centers. By translating that emotion or memory into tangible words or declarations, such as “I’m anxious about this decision” or “This person makes me angry,” we recruit parts of the brain involved in reasoning.
“When we cannot name our feelings, they tend to circulate in the brain’s threat and emotion centers.”
Psychologists sometimes refer to this interpretation as affect labeling, or naming an emotional state. Studies show that when people label their emotions, activity in the brain’s emotional alarm system, the amygdala, decreases while areas involved in regulation become more active.
In simpler terms, writing helps calm the emotional noise long enough for us to think clearly. We can see the forest from the trees, so to speak.
From rumination to reflection
Another reason journaling works is that the brain prefers stories to fragments.
Conversations, reactions, and worries about the future are all delivered in bits and pieces. Writing forces us to take all of those random pieces of information and make them into something more coherent.
“Writing forces us to take all of those random pieces of information and make them into something more coherent.”
When these experiences are turned into narrative, we activate the hippocampus, which helps organize memory and meaning. After a while, this process allows us to see patterns in our behavior and through lines in our decisions.
Now we can start to make sense of our actions. It’s the recognition that is needed as the first step when we want to influence change.
Thinking about thinking
What Eileen Gu described in her interview as thinking about her thinking is something psychologists call metacognition.
The concept is like being an observer of your thoughts. Journaling naturally creates that distance. When a thought moves from your mind onto a page, it becomes something you can examine and question. And then possibly change.
“The concept is like being an observer of your thoughts. Journaling naturally creates that distance.”
Whether you are on a ski hill or in a boardroom, this space gives you something really valuable. Not getting consumed or confused by your thoughts means you have more emotional regulation to make smarter decisions, especially under pressure.
Why writing by hand matters
The physical act of writing by hand makes a difference.
In a digital world of voice memos and DMs, it might seem old-fashioned to reach for a pen and paper but handwriting engages a broader network of the brain than typing on a keyboard. It’s a mix of motor skills, sensory feedback, language processing, and memory systems all working together as your hand moves across the page.
“It’s a mix of motor skills, sensory feedback, language processing, and memory systems all working together as your hand moves across the page.”
“While any form of journaling is better than none, you get the most mental and physiological benefit from doing it longhand,” Rubin said. “Synaptic connections get made in our brains while moving our hand across the page. And newbies get an additional neurogenesis bonus, because novel, creative challenges help boost neuroplasticity, even in adults.”
Today we are addicted to instant gratification when an AI chatbot can do the thinking for you in record time. By contrast, journaling is the analog wellness tool that delivers more benefits through its slowness and complexity. If our brains are made to do the work, we’ll be rewarded from that effort.
Perhaps we all need to focus more on the journey and not just the destination.
Training the brain toward the future
Interestingly, journaling is uniquely qualified as a tool for shaping future behavior. It takes a certain amount of emotional regulation, narrative building, and metacognition to create a new identity.
When we regularly write about goals, ideas, and challenges, we’re not just recording them in the present tense. Journaling allows us to rehearse these things so they become so familiar that we can be more confident when they happen in real life. The brain begins to treat those repeating thoughts as meaningful patterns rather than passing ideas. This is how we create new neural pathways through repetition.
“The brain begins to treat those repeating thoughts as meaningful patterns rather than passing ideas.”
Which brings us back to why so many high performers rely on journaling to expand and excel.
They’re doing more than just documenting their lives. They’re actively shaping how they think about them and, in the process, changing who they become.
Let’s write!
What holds many people back from starting a journaling practice is the belief that they will do it incorrectly. Rubin’s book, “The Big Unlock,” dispels that myth and thankfully gives us some easy strategies.
Her guided workshops are full of exercises like five-minute free writes to music, making lists, or reading poetry, proving that anything can spark creativity and encourage reflection.
I asked her to share some journaling prompts from her most popular writing workshops:
- Choose one sense (sight, sound, scent, taste, or touch/texture) and devote five minutes to observing what you see, hear, smell, taste, or feel. This drops you into your sensory body.
- What’s your favorite body of water and why? Explore your connection to water, whether it’s a lake or your bathtub. There is no wrong answer here.
- Make a list of all of your present concerns by listing them out. Then number them from most annoying to least annoying. This exercise offers perspective.
“There is no wrong answer here.“
These prompts are creative exercises that also train our attention and awareness. Now that you understand the scientifically proven benefits of journaling, try adding a few minutes to your daily routine. Your future high-performing self will thank you.
Celia Chen is a certified health optimization coach, brand consultant and founder of Chenessa, an advisory that offers private coaching, and corporate workshops on menopause, metabolism, and longevity. Follow her on Substack and Instagram for more wellness insights.
