What if achieving your dreams starts with understanding yourself? For South African author and emotional healing coach Tiisang Masoko, the answer can begin with something as simple as a pen and notebook.
Masoko believes that journaling can help people confront pain, understand their emotions, and develop the self-awareness needed to move forward.
Her latest book, “My Dreams Are My Map on Earth: Diary of Enticement, Reward & Celebration System”, draws from her own healing journey while offering readers a practical approach to turning dreams into action.
Masoko's journey
The founder of the Journaling Club said the idea for the book came from observing how having something meaningful to look forward to can help people navigate difficult circumstances.
“Over the years, I realised that when I have my mind enticed to a certain experience, I do not get defeated easily by unfortunate circumstances that cause pain in my life journey,” Masoko said.
This thinking led to one of her central beliefs: “Pain is automatic, but happiness you create.”
For Masoko, creating happiness does not mean ignoring pain. Instead, she believes that difficult experiences can become fuel for activities that restore purpose, whether that means exercising, hiking, reading, or pursuing a personal goal.
Her approach was shaped by what she described as 10 difficult years filled with painful experiences. During that period, journaling became an important part of her healing.
“To heal from those painful experiences, I turned to journaling as a way to express and release the negative emotions they had stirred within me,” she said. “Journaling became a safe space where I could exhale my pain, reflect on my experiences, and begin the process of healing.”
Reading also became part of her process. Masoko turned to books and Bible verses connected to the challenges she was facing. Through the stories of others, she found wisdom and reassurance that she was not alone.
She also began creating dreams that gave her something positive to work towards.
“That dream became my motivation to keep going when life was hard,” she said. “It became a landmark on my journey, allowing me to pause, extend grace to myself, and celebrate how far I had come despite the challenges.”
Healing process
Masoko described her healing process through three practices: “Journal, Read, and Vision Board.”
Journaling provides space to heal. Reading creates an opportunity to learn, while vision boards provide hope and direction.
Three Bible verses form part of the foundation of this approach. Proverbs 4:23 speaks about guarding the heart. Romans 12:2 focuses on renewing the mind, while Habakkuk 2:2 encourages people to write their vision and make it clear.
But Masoko believes that having a dream is only the beginning. The challenge is understanding why the dream matters and developing the discipline to pursue it.
“One thing I learned while reflecting on my four dreams is the why has to be strong and have value,” she said.
She believes that people need to understand themselves holistically before they can effectively pursue their goals.
“Implementing a dream requires you to understand yourself holistically: your physical self, your psychological self and your spiritual self,” she said.
Self-awareness is therefore central to her philosophy. Masoko believes people should understand their character, feelings, motives and desires while recognising the season of life they are experiencing.
“If you lose a loved one, a therapist is the tool required,” she said. “If you are complaining all the time, a gratitude tool is required.”
Emotional healing, she explained, requires confronting pain and asking what it can teach you. A job loss, for example, could force someone to reconsider their future and recognise an opportunity they had previously overlooked.
“The loss of a job could mean you’re meant to start a business,” she said.
Understanding her own thought patterns
Masoko said journaling has helped her understand her own thought patterns and what influences them.
“I failed in my life because I failed to understand myself,” she said.
Her book introduces five types of journaling: journal dumping, decision-making journaling, understanding self journaling, reflective journaling and gratitude journaling.
The aim is to use journaling to heal while reading and vision boards support personal growth. Together, these practices can lead to what Masoko calls self-mastery.
For her, self-mastery means continuing towards a goal when challenges threaten to derail the journey.
“Self-mastery is choosing to persist despite the opposition, trusting the process and continuing the journey until you reach your destination,” she said.
Masoko said the approach is based on more than two decades of personal experience. From the age of 19 to 39, she applied the method while working towards four dreams.
Her Enticement, Enablement, Reward and Celebration system is another key part of the book. It is designed to help people create motivation, build support for their goals, recognise the rewards of their work and celebrate progress.
Redefining failure
Ultimately, Masoko wants readers to reconsider how they define failure.
“If you feel that you have failed in life because you lack achievements, or because your achievements do not bring you fulfilment, it may be because you have not taken the time to confront your setbacks, reflect on your experiences and truly understand yourself on a deeper level,” she said.
Her advice is simple: start journaling.
“Please start journaling and explore all five types of journaling,” she said. “It is one of the most powerful self-support tools you can have.”
lutho.pasiya@nationalmg.co.za