Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success

by Brad Stulberg

“Expressive writing”—a type of journaling that involves exploring issues that are integral and foundational to our lives—has been shown to strengthen the cells in our immune systems. In addition, expressive writing is associated with declines in depression and anxiety, reduced blood pressure, fewer visits to the doctor, improved lung and liver function, and increases in positivity and social connectedness. Scientists speculate that expressive writing yields such profound results because it gives us a safe space to reflect on the issues that are most important to us. Many of us otherwise inhibit these thoughts and feelings, keeping them to ourselves. But as anyone who has kept deep feelings bottled up inside knows, doing so can cause a great deal of tension. Yet, at the same time, sharing them with others can also be a less-than-comfortable experience. By letting the words that reflect our deepest values and emotions pour out onto the page, we release tension and in doing so improve our health. In the words of University of Texas at Austin professor James Pennebaker, PhD, a pioneer of expressive writing research, “Standing back every now and then and evaluating where you are in life is really important.” If anything epitomizes Pennebaker’s definition of expressive writing, it’s when we reflect on our purpose in an effort to determine how closely we lived in accordance with it.