It might seem silly but a pen has been on quite a journey with me (without it even realising)… 

It’s helped me in more ways than one. It’s helped me start a business, navigate my career doubts & overcome burnout. 

The pen in question? 

It’s the pen which features in quite a few of my videos for those of you who pay close attention. 

It’s a Mont Blanc which was a gift from my parents on my 25th birthday (a gift to mark a quarter of a century which will survive for many more provided I don’t lose it). 

Here’s a short story outlining how it has helped me to explain how it could help you too.

It started when I was in medical school. At that time I was using disposable bics which I would carry around with me & my notepad…

I had a major “realisation moment” about my life & future career path during a discussion about pens & notepads. 

A registrar was giving me and a group of my peers some bedside teaching; we had finished seeing the patient & our conversation had moved on to the reality of working life as a doctor. 

The registrar commented that we would need little things to make working life better….

He gestured to my notepad & a nice pen as an example. He commented that I would need those things to ‘put a smile on my face’. 

I politely smiled back but inside this comment made me want to run. 

I thought to myself that surely I shouldn’t be relying on things like a nice pen/notepad to make a job better?!

I continued my studies (consuming lots of pens) & started working as a doctor….

As I did I started to realise more & more that working as a doctor wasn’t quite what I had anticipated. 

It wasn’t as fulfilling or as purposeful as I thought it would be & it was hard. It was the most emotionally, mentally & physically draining thing I had experienced which left me turning to a journal.

I’ve never been a person to write a diary but there were days when I needed to empty my thoughts onto paper.

 I think I was also inspired by Adam Kay (the author of This is Going to Hurt) who had commented that writing a journal was what had helped him to keep a more accurate account of the things he had experienced (things which are easy for our mind to forget). 

I started to write more & more.

There were times when I would just make a note of what had happened that day and then there were times when I turned more to a form of ‘expressive journaling’ aka. outlining your thoughts/feelings about a particular experience on paper. 

This is one of the 2 most common techniques used for journaling (gratitude journaling being the other). 

I realised that doing this helped me process things....

It helped me to untangle a knot of thoughts in my head. It gave me clarity.

I think lots of people struggle to start journaling thinking you need a specific pen, notepad or style of writing….initially I still used a bic, a fresh notepad (which my aunt had given to me as a Christmas present several years ago but left unused still) and I just wrote whatever my brain was thinking (word for word it went onto the paper in front of me). 

It was a couple of years later that I started to use the pen my parents had gifted me. 

It was this pen that helped me process my decision making when it came to choosing to quit medicine and it continues to help me today.

I still use it for journaling now as well as other forms of writing when it comes to outlining my daily to-do list, writing notes during meetings or planning projects I’m working on (it never comes to work in the hospital with me for fear of losing it). 

It helps me solve problems I’m working on in my business, it helps me organise my chaotic to-do list as a person juggling multiple projects & it helps me during those times when my emotions are telling me to journal.

It’s so much more than a pen. 

It is a tool that I wouldn’t want to live without. 

The registrar teaching me was right, it would continue to make me smile but not because of what it is…. I

t makes me smile thinking about what it has helped me with. 

Do you have a pen? 

I would really recommend that even if you don’t have a particular pen, that you do try to pick up a pen. 

You really don’t know how much it could help you until you try. 

 I hope this short story might have given you some inspiration to start writing and using a pen to help you like it has helped me, especially when it comes to journaling. For those of you who need a bit more convincing with evidence-based-practice, I’ll write another blog post soon explaining the evidence behind journaling. 

I will continue to share what I can to empower & motivate others to make changes when it comes to their careers, starting a business or trying to live a better life. Did you know I offer 1:1 coaching to help others make changes in their lives? This can be related to careers, starting a business or forming healthier habits. Please just send me an email directly to elle@gabrielletodd.com if this is something you feel you would benefit from & would like to learn more about.