This Little Book Changed My Life | PTSD And Trauma Recovery
In this solo talk, Brad Schipke shares how a simple pocket‑size journal transformed his recovery from PTSD and trauma. He argues that journaling is a powerful, low‑tech tool for processing emotions, preventing conflict, improving sleep, and fostering personal growth. Schipke recommends keeping a small, always‑handy notebook and using it in seven specific situations: (1) when anger rises, to vent honestly and uncover underlying pain; (2) when feeling overwhelmed, to focus the mind and bring order to chaos; (3) when sadness surfaces, to express and validate the feeling; (4) for problem‑solving, to isolate the issue, identify root causes, and think logically; (5) for daily reflection and prayer, to highlight wins, gratitude, and spiritual connection; (6) as a bedtime habit, to unload lingering emotions and promote restful sleep; and (7) as a morning habit, to set intentions, affirmations, goals, and clear anxiety before the day begins. Throughout, he stresses honesty, consistency, and making journaling as easy as pulling out a phone‑sized notebook. He concludes with a call‑to‑action to purchase such a journal and integrate the practice, promising life‑changing benefits for relationships, mental health, and overall well‑being.
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This little book has changed my life forever. It's helped me process my past, deal with my anger, prevent and save my relationship from fights and lashouts, deal with my anxiety, help with my sleep problems, and so much more. So if you can learn how to harness the power of this little book, it will not only change your life but change the life of your loved ones and everything else. And guess what? It's empty. So you guessed it, today we're talking about journaling and the power of journaling and why it's so important. Now the thing is, most people, uh, maybe overlook journaling because it seems so simple, and a lot of people actually journal in less than ideal ways, things that don't really necessarily help them on their recovery journey. So today I'm going to kind of demystify the process and make it simple so you can Get the most out of this because this really is one of the most powerful tools that you can have and use on your recovery journey. And I do highly recommend that you get one of these little pocket journals where you can have your pen and a little bookmark ribbon to really remove all of the kind of resistance to journaling. You want to make it as simple as possible, as easy as possible, and the most accessible as possible. And the cool part about this is it's about the same size as a phone, so there's really no excuse to not carry this around with you. And when you carry this around everywhere, you can pull it out whenever you need it, and it will, it'll save your life. It'll change your life forever. So in this video, I'm going to be walking you through 7 different scenarios where you should be pulling this out of your pocket, out of your purse, or whatever, and writing down in it. And if you're able to do that, it will absolutely change your life and really prevent a lot of the triggers that you experience. So let's go through the 7 things right now. So the first thing here, the first time you want to use this journal and pull it out is when you're angry, right? So when you start feeling heated or you're just— your blood starts to boil or you start to feel, you know, okay, that like I'm gonna have a fight with my partner or whatever it is, I'm gonna lash out, I'm going to get angry, you want to pull this out and start writing. And I can't tell you how many times this little journal has saved me from fights with my loved ones and has just prevented so much pain in not only myself but in my loved ones and the guilt that comes after, after you hurt your loved ones and get angry at them. So if you ever feel that anger boiling up, just pull this up out of your pocket and start writing down honestly, honestly what you feel. And that's a huge part about this is that when you deal with anger, specifically anger, um, you want to be honest. You want to allow yourself to express what you want to express to whatever person that angered you in the journal. And this is a harmless way. You can still get all your anger out. You can still get all of those— everything you want to say, write it down on paper, and nobody gets hurt. And if you really want to say the things after you write it down, after you get it all out, you still have the option. To, you know, get it out or say what— say your piece or whatever it is. But at the end of writing down all of your anger and everything that you're going through, you'll find that you get a much clearer perspective. You're able to think more clearly and act more clearly and make a better decision. And what you'll also find is that once you deal with anger, you'll find that that's a very, like, surface-level emotion. And when you start to dig below anger, you'll become aware of the pain. So that's the other benefit of, of doing this when you're angry, is that you get all of the anger out so you can then become aware and discover the pain underlying the anger, so you can start healing that and processing that. So that's the first time to use it, is when you're angry, and that will save you so much pain. So much pain from yourself, so much guilt from hurting the people around you, and I'm sure your partners and your loved ones will, will thank you for it as well. Um, all right, so the second thing here Is you want to use it when you're feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed. So a lot of times with PTSD or trauma, when you experience that, you have this very extreme overwhelmed feeling. It might just feel like your brain is full or like super foggy, or you just can't think straight because you have like— you just have your mind is just bouncing around to all these different things and you can't focus on anything. Whenever you feel that, again, you want to start writing things down because What one thing that journaling does is that it focuses you, focuses you down, right? You can't write more than one letter at a time, one word at a time. So it forces your brain to focus down on one thing at a time. And when you're overwhelmed, you're in that exact opposite state. You're in chaos. When you're in overwhelm, you're in the chaos mode. And when you start journaling, it starts really bringing order to your mind, bringing order to the chaos, and helps you focus down onto the problem that you're currently facing and how to overcome it, right? So when I used to feel overwhelmed, like, I used to think the whole world was crashing down around me. I used to think everything was falling apart, and honestly, that my life was over, you know? Like, I was swimming in all these negative thoughts. I was like, I don't know what to do, I'm so confused, I don't know how to help myself, whatever, whatever, whatever. I'm like, all right, I'm just gonna pull this out and I'm just gonna start writing, right? So I would just— I didn't know what I was gonna— I didn't know what I was gonna say, right? And that's a big piece about journaling too, is like, you don't know— you don't need to know what to say when you start journaling. You just need to start. The most important thing is to just pull it out and start writing, and this will honestly change your life. So pull it out when you're angry, pull it out when you're overwhelmed, and the third thing you want to do is pull it out when you're feeling sad. And a big part about kind of what I'm talking about today is just expressing emotions, right? Expressing your emotions. So much of our emotions are just pent up and held down. So when we feel angry or we feel overwhelmed or we feel sad or feel anxious or feel anything, we just push it down and push it down and push it down and push it down. We don't ever address it. So if you can first become aware of when you're angry, when you're overwhelmed, when you're sad, that is the first, the first battle you need to win. But then you need to also allow yourself to express that emotion. And a lot of times people have trouble expressing emotions, or don't— like, I was talking to someone the other day and they said, you know, I watched your video on expressing emotions and I don't, I don't get it. I don't know how to do that. And one way to kind of help you or aid that in the process of expressing your emotions or validating your emotions or releasing your emotions is starting to journal them down. And that will just give it a validation, being like, okay, I'm dealing with this, I'm dealing with this in some way, I'm addressing this sadness by writing down how sad I feel in the moment. So that's a big part of what goes into journaling, is just allowing yourself to express what you need to express, what your body needs to express. Because if you don't, if you hold those emotions in and you never express them, they will eat you from the inside out. Most people don't want to deal with their emotions, their painful emotions. I agree, I don't want to deal with my painful emotions either. But if you don't, they will destroy your life. And that's what PTSD is all about. Most people are like, I don't want to deal with my emotions, I don't want to talk with— talk about my emotions, I don't want to do anything about my emotions. I just want to drive forward, feel good, and not have to deal with that. And honestly, that's how I want to feel too. I don't want to deal with that crap. I don't. Um, but you have to. If you don't deal with your emotions, it will destroy your life. And I'm sure most of you guys have experienced, um, different events or scenarios in your life where like emotions got in the way and ruined something. So if you don't start dealing with the emotion, the emotion will consume you. It will consume you. So you have to deal with it, and you eventually learn that all of these emotions, even though they kind of suck, are there to protect you and are there to help you. So that's another process when you start journaling, when you start learning about yourself, you're becoming start becoming aware of yourself, what you're feeling, you start to learn more about you. And that all of these parts that you think are bad or negative things about you are actually there to help you, are actually there to protect you. And then you can start to bring more and more love to yourself. So again, you want to use journaling to express emotions. And a good rule of thumb is like, when— whenever you feel an emotion, just start writing it out. Just start writing it out. Don't get lost in your head. Start writing it out on paper and it will bring clarity to everything. Alright, so the 4th time you want to start journaling or pull your journal out is for problem solving. Now, I'm going to— next week I'm going to record a video on a much more in-depth way on how to actually go about problem solving. Because really, when you, when you think about it and you really break recovery down, it's just a series of problems that you need to solve. That's all it is. Recovery is just problem solving because you're just going to face problem after problem after problem after problem, and you're going to have to solve it. And every single problem that you face has a solution. We just have to identify what it is. So if you're ever facing a problem in your life, whatever that problem might be, that problem could be a specific emotion, that problem could be something in a relationship, that problem could be something you're having at work. Anything that, you know, like a challenge or anything that you're going through right now, journal about it, write it down, and then you get to look at it from a more objective view. Because usually what happens is we face a problem in life and it triggers the fight-or-flight response. We get anxious, we get stressed. And when you do that, when your brain gets into that state, you can't think clearly. And that's part of the way that we're designed is like When we're in kind of fight or flight mode, we're in a mode where we think we're in danger, our brain thinks we're in danger. So we have all of this, all these elevated hormones and stress and things like that, and we're not designed to think of all the options or be calm or be slow. It's like, no, we're made to dial in on certain things and hyperfocus. And not think clearly. So what you want to do in those moments when you are facing a problem and you're getting feeling a little stressed is you want to slow things down. And one way you can do that is again through journaling. When you start writing things down, writing down a problem, not only will it help you isolate the problem, but it'll help you think more clearly, see more objectively, so you can make the right decision and not make that decision based off of emotions but base it off of logic. Because you can write down the problem that you are facing, and then you can read it back and then think it through more logically and more objectively because it's on paper, and you can, you can just analyze it in a different way from a different perspective. So whenever you face a problem, start writing. And first, the, the first rule of thumb in problem solving is that you want to isolate the problems. You just want to ask— the first thing you want to ask is, what's the problem? What's the problem? What's the problem? What's the problem? Because a lot of times we don't even ask ourselves, okay, well, what's the problem that I'm trying to solve? So when you're facing a problem, you want, you want to isolate the problem, and then you want to find the root cause of that problem and eliminate the root cause, right? So ask yourself, identify the problem, and then ask why, why, why, why, why. Keep asking why until you identify the root of the problem. And then once you have the root, you can start asking yourself and fixing whatever is, is causing the problem in the first place. Because if you're not dealing with the root Regardless of what the problem is, if you're not dealing with the root, you're not going to fix the problem, right? You're only going to be dealing with the effects of the, of the root, not the actual cause. So that's the 4th thing here, is to use it for problem solving. It is so, so powerful. Um, now the 5th thing here, write it in black, is to use it for reflection. Or prayer. So another great thing is, is at the end of your day, or, you know, whenever you go through something and, like, again, you might feel overwhelmed or something else, it's really important to reflect on what you went through, not only to identify problems that need to be solved, but also to reflect on, hey, what did I do well? Right? What are the things I did well that I want to continue moving forward? What do I want to celebrate myself for in the past and kind of just, you know, build myself up? What are my wins? What are the wins that I have? And when you can just— in reflection, what I really mean by that is just like writing out what you experienced that day, right? And then from there, you can start picking out the positive moments and be like, oh, this is something that went well, or this is something that went well. And then you can start Rewiring your brain to see success, to see winning, to see that, hey, I am making progress, I am getting better. So using journaling for reflection, to pull out the positives, pull out the good things, pull out the wins, the things that you are doing a great job at, is, is so important. Because with trauma, with PTSD, you are so hyper-focused and wired for negativity because you've gone through something or many things. that were extremely painful and extremely negative. So your brain, excuse me, is wired and almost super wired for the negative. So you need to make sure to spend that time searching out the positives, reflecting and identifying, okay, what did I do well today? What did I— what are the wins that I had today? What can I celebrate for myself? And the most important things, it doesn't matter how big the win is, you just wanna start looking for the wins. And I promise you, you are winning every single day. You are just not realizing it not giving yourself credit for that win. So you need to reflect and look with intention for what— where you won and what you can celebrate yourself for. And actually spending the time, spending a few seconds just to close your eyes and be like, hey, I did a good job today, or I did a good job with that, or I was in bed for a month and I got out of bed. That's a huge win for me. And wins are all in perspective, right? What a huge win is for somebody might be totally different for somebody else. But it's important to look for those little wins throughout your day. Reflect back and be like, man, I got out of bed today, I got myself cleaned up, I cleaned my apartment, whatever it is. And those are all wins. And you don't want to look for progress. That's what a lot of people do. You don't want to look for perfection. Most people look back and they're like, oh, I wasn't perfect, so I'm basically a terrible human being and worthless. That's what a lot of people do. If I'm not perfect, then I'm worthless. And that logic will just cause you a lot of pain. So what we want to do is say, if I make progress, then I'm winning, then I deserve to celebrate. So you want to start looking for progress, not perfection, right? And if you can shift your view on that and celebrate yourself for progress instead of only celebrating yourself for perfection or being this ideal person, you'll start to gain that momentum back in your life. So you want to reflect back on your day and identify what progress did I have that I can celebrate for— celebrate myself for this past day, whatever it is. And the second part here is prayer. Now I included prayer because a lot of people do have that higher power or religion that they, that they look up to, and that can be an incredibly, incredibly powerful force to use on recovery and healing if you do it consistently. And a great way to do it again is journaling. So if you do believe in that higher power or whatever else, a great way— I mean, prayer is great for a lot of people, but writing it down in a journal is, is very powerful as well because it helps you again focus down, be more specific, be more in the present. And when you're more in the present, more focused, you'll get a lot more out of it. So that was the 5th thing right here, reflection and prayer. The 6th thing is you want to And it would be great to make a habit of this. Six, we'll do before bed. I apologize for my my handwriting. So you want to start making habit out of journaling right before bed. And again, if you don't know what to journal, if you don't know what to say. Just start writing how you feel in that moment or how you felt throughout that day. The emotions will start to pour out. You'll start to realize, oh, I was angry here, I was overwhelmed here, I was sad at this point, and you'll just start getting those emotions out. And one really big reason why journaling is so important before bed is because it allows you to get those emotions out before you fall asleep, right? And what most people do, or what happens to most people, is that When they go to sleep, they still have all of these pent-up emotions, and then when they fall asleep, they go into this more relaxed state, and then the emotions start to come up. And that's why so many people have sleep problems, is because of— well, the cause is the unprocessed memories, but a big problem is because there's so many emotions that are just right at the surface that, you know, aren't dealt with before bed. So you can eliminate a lot of sleep problems if you just Journal before bed, or when you wake up, journal all of your emotions out, everything that you're feeling, until basically the emotions are exhausted, validated, released, and then you'll be able to fall asleep peacefully again. So journaling right before bed is a great habit. It will get basically get everything, all of the chaos in your mind, out on paper, out of your brain, so you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to think of it. You don't have to wake up in the middle of night and try to problem solve something, or Whatever it may be, because you already dealt with it before bed. So I would highly recommend that you start building the habit of journaling before bed because it will just get everything out of your head so you can sleep soundly. And sleep is so important, so important, not just for your energy during the day, but it's— it also helps you. It's the time where you— your brain naturally processes Memories. It's like when you're asleep in the REM sleep cycle, that's where your brain reconciles and processes everything that you had throughout your day and any other kind of outstanding balances, traumas, or anything else. So we want to optimize, optimize our sleep as much as possible, and a big part of that is getting everything out of your head so it's not overwhelming you when you actually fall asleep, so it doesn't wake you up. In the middle of the night. So you want to journal before bed. And there's also another— some other great things you can journal before bed are gratitudes, wins for the day. So right before bed is a great, great time to reflect on your day and be like, oh, this went well, this went well, this went well. I'm grateful for this. I have— I had this win. So right before bed is a great place to do that reflection on your day and to pull out those wins, pull out those things that you did well. And the 7th thing— and then you also fall asleep with a more grateful mindset, which will help you even more because your brain will start to process that and build that into your subconscious and more and more. So the 7th thing here is you want to journal in the morning. You're like, man, Brad, that's a lot of journaling. You're telling me to journal all the time. But basically, there are 3 times that you want to journal, right? You want to journal before bed, when you wake up, and anytime throughout the day where you are feeling a strong emotion that you feel needs to get out in the journal. So it might seem like a lot in the beginning, but once you start building this into your habit and building this into your routine, it's not going to be that bad. It's not going to be that hard. And the benefits of actually doing this are going to vastly outweigh any kind of negative of actually having to do the work. So, um, you also want to journal in the morning, and when you journal in the morning, it's more about preparing you for the day, right? So it's not so much about like writing down emotions, and of course you can do that if you're— if you wake up, and a lot of people do this, if you wake up in a state of anxiety or fear or whatever, writing that, writing that down and working through that in the morning can help you get a much more peaceful and relaxed rest of your day. So that's actually a very good practice to do. But it's also great in the morning to kind of pump you up and get you revved up for the day. So writing down affirmations, writing down goals, writing down things you want to achieve for that day can help keep your brain or focus your brain in the right direction right from the start. And if you are— if you— the way that you direct your brain in the morning is likely the way the rest of your day goes. So if you can direct your brain to go in a positive, supportive direction in the morning, you're that much more likely to continue that momentum through the rest of your day. So that's why it's important in the morning, and we want to keep that focus on positive things, things that are like goals, affirmations, things that are good about you, gratitudes. Any of that stuff is great, are great things to journal in the morning or just remind yourself of in the morning. And of course, like I said, if you experience anxiety in the morning, that's another really great thing to do is just Write it all out because if you can get that out in the morning, you won't be carrying it up, carrying it with you for the rest of your day. So what I have for you is like buy one of these little journals. Buy a little journal like this where it has the pen attached to it so you don't have to be searching for a pen and it has the little bookmark for it so you don't have to be searching for your, your, your place. Buy this or buy a few of them and carry one around with you. Everywhere you go. Carry it around everywhere, and whenever you feel an emotion, pull this out and just start writing. It will absolutely, absolutely change your life. So go take action on this right now. Go to Amazon, buy one of these things. Go to, go to the whatever store down the road and buy one of these things, and it will change your life. There's no excuse to not do this because this is literally the size of a phone, and you carry your phone around everywhere you go. So if you can carry your phone around everywhere you go, you can carry around something that will Change your life, help your relationships, help your sleep. Do it, do it, okay? Just do it. It will change your life. Like, just do it. Just do it. It will change your life. So I hope you found that this video was valuable. This little tool like this was life, literally life-changing for me, and that's why I made a whole video about this, because it literally changed my life and helped me process my emotions and become aware of my emotions on a whole new level that I was never able to do before. But it came down to the discipline of journaling and journaling consistently when those emotions came up. So get this, and if you enjoyed this video, make sure to hit that like button, hit subscribe and that bell button, and I'll see you in the next video.
