Reading an old journal is cringey and helpful. You’ll see how far you’ve come and what still trips you up.

Reading your old writing is uncomfortable because the person who wrote it believed things you have since left behind, and the cringe itself is the proof of distance. The same pages also show what has not moved: the same worry, the same habit, the same situation causing trouble. One half tells you how far you have come and the other tells you what is still outstanding.

Dig out something you wrote a year or two ago and read it properly, wincing included. Write down one thing that has changed and one thing that has not. Then work on the second one.