The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life

by Allison Fallon

Overview

Discover the power of (finally) getting unstuck, claiming your clarity, and becoming the person whose life you want to live–all through a simple self-care practice you can build into your daily routine.

For anyone who's trying to make sense of their life, who wants to get unstuck from the patterns that hold them back, hear this incredible news: everything you need for the freedom you want is entirely within reach. This practice and pathway is free, it's readily available every day of your life, it takes just minutes of your time, and anyone can do it.

Author, writing coach, and speaker Allison Fallon's life transformed when she discovered the power of a daily writing practice. As it turns out, using your words is one of the most powerful means you have for unlocking your life. The Power of Writing It Down is your guide to this transformative tool available to us all. In as little as five to twenty minutes a day, scientific research shows this daily practice can help you:

• Identify your ruts and create new neurological grooves toward better habits
• Find fresh motivation and take ownership of your life
• Heal from past pain and trauma
• Relieve anxiety and depression
• Contextualize life's setbacks and minor frustrations
• Live a more confident, balanced, and healthy life
• …and so much more

Drawing from years of coaching hundreds through the writing process–from first-timers to New York Times bestselling authors–Allison shares tried and tested practices for getting started, staying inspired, and using this simple habit to shift how you feel and show up to your life. Pen and paper is simply the method, but the reward is the real magic: new depths of self-discovery, creativity, and intentionality for living.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310359340
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	426,445
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Allison Fallon is an author, speaker, and founder of Find Your Voice, a community that supports anyone who wants to write anything. In addition to her books Packing Light and Indestructible, she has helped leaders of multi-national corporations, stay-at-home moms, Olympic gold medalists, recovering addicts, political figures, CEOs, and prison inmates use the Find Your Voice method as a powerful tool to generate positive change in their lives. She has lived all over the country in the past decade but now lives in Pasadena, California, with her husband. You can follow Ally at allisonfallon.com.

Table of Contents

1 Something to Express 1

You have something to express. This book can help you discover it.

2 But I'm Not a Writer 21

Why everyone stands to benefit from a personal writing practice

3 The Sacred Act of Making Space 37

Making space in your environment, in your mind, and on your calendar

4 The Drama of the Blank Page 58

What to expect when making something out of nothing

5 Out of the Chaos 78

Why making sense of your life starts with questions, not answers

6 Stories Worth Telling 90

Using The Infinity Prompt to turn your life into stones worth telling

7 Getting Stuck (and Unstuck) 108

Why your brain gets stuck and strategies to help

8 Write Now, Edit Later 121

A mantra to help you find joy in your writing and your life

9 Becoming Your Own Narrator 130

How writing helps you access your inner wisdom and guide your life

10 The Passage of Time 148

How long this takes and a call to keep going

11 Write It Like a Love Letter 163

Why giving your writing the right destination unlocks your words

12 The Ending That Hasn't Been Written 169

The myth about endings and how to get a "happily ever after"

13 The Beauty of the Writing Life 181

How this tool brings more beauty, meaning, and pleasure into your life

14 The Gift You Leave Behind 191

How words make you a person of influence

Acknowledgments 203

Notes 205

Editorial Reviews

10/19/2020

Fallon (Packing Light), founder of Find Your Voice, a writing community focused on mental health and self-improvement, blends writing advice and insights from brain science in this accessible guide to changing one’s life. “The writing process itself has a way of creating change for people,” Fallon suggests, and highlights the differences between writing for publication, which incorporates “the business of selling a product,” and “expressive writing,” which allows one to access one’s “deepest thoughts and feelings.” Fallon digs into such issues as fear of the blank page, how to get unstuck, and the freedom of writing first and editing later. Fallon’s most intriguing idea is the “Infinity Prompt,” which asks readers to identify mental “loops” they might feel stuck within and to unpack their feelings by listing facts about their situation or life circumstances, writing their interpretation of past events, exploring how they feel about that telling, engaging or disengaging with the feelings that arise, and choosing a next step. “Writing can give you access to a strength and resolve and clarity you never thought possible but always knew existed,” she posits. Any self-help reader will find comfort and clarity in Fallon’s simple tips for improvement through self-expression. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly