Journaling can help you manage your thoughts, achieve your goals and discover things about yourself you did not know. It can help you change your mind set, situation and the satisfaction level you have with life. Your journal can be your guide and companion as you become the person you want to be.
Pick your journal
Picking a beautiful journal that calls to you will inspire you to write more often. Designing pages that work for you and what you want to achieve will mean you are more inclined to use it. You deserve a gorgeous piece of stationery to hold your goals and dreams, a journal that encourages you to write, that gives you pleasure when you pick it up and gets your creative juices flowing.
Having said that, you can be just as effective with a notebook and pen, so don’t let finding the perfect journal hold you back on your transformation.
Sometimes when you find the perfect journal, you fear making a mistake or messing it up, so you don’t write in it. Let me assure you, the more you write in your journal (whether you have messing writing or not) the more beautiful your journal becomes. It becomes a reflection of you and who you want to become. How could that not be beautiful.
Discover your core values
We experience greater fulfilment in life when we live by our values. If your life feels out of alignment and your emotional, mental or physical state is suffering maybe you are not living your life according to your core values.
But what if you are not sure what your core values are?
Many of us don’t know what are core values are and we are driven by what society, culture and our family and friends value.
Below are some questions you can ask yourself:
Consider an amazing experience – something that made you feel really great.
- What was happening to you?
- What was going on?
- What values were you adhering to?
Now consider a time you were feeling frustrated or angry or upset. Ask yourself the same questions.
- What was happening to you?
- What was going on?
- What values were you suppressing?
What’s most important in your life? What must you have to experience fulfilment?
What are the values you must honour?
Spend some time journaling the answers to the above questions. Remember to be 100% honest with yourself. Find your true core values, not those that you believe are socially acceptable. Only when you discover your core values can you live a full, content life.
Manage your thoughts
If you can control your thoughts you can control your destiny. Examining and managing your thoughts can help you control your feelings, which will determine your actions, that will lead to the results in your life.
Before you can manage your thoughts you need to know what they are. We have thousands of thoughts per day. Have you ever taken the time to step back and take note of what you are thinking?
Take 10 minutes a day and write down your thoughts. This can be a challenging exercise initially so bear with it. Try doing it for a week. Set a timer and just write whatever comes into your mind.
At the end of the week, look back at your thoughts. Were they positive? How did they make your feel? What actions did you take because of having those thoughts? What was the result?
Write down your goals
I write my three yearly goals down at the beginning of every week. What’s interesting is the first few weeks, I have look back and see what I wrote last week. Which proves they are not always at the forefront of mind, thoughts or actions. They have not become part of my automatic brain. This is why it is important to write them down, so your brain automatically is looking for ways to help you achieve your goals.
It’s a bit like at the beginning of the year, when you need to write the date, you inevitably write down last year’s number. It takes a few months of writing 2022 rather than 2021 to make it become automatic. But it does eventually become second nature. It’s the same with your goals, train your brain so your goals become your focus.
You’ll be surprised once your goals are automatically where your brain focuses, opportunities will arise in places you never saw before.
The perfect day exercise
One of the exercises I do at least once a year is either write or draw my perfect day (usually it’s a combo). This year I did a bit of a collage in my journal.
So, the idea is to spend some time describing your perfect day. Describe it in detail, the weather, the time you get up, how you feel, the thoughts you are having, what you eat, who is with you etc. Note, it is not your perfect holiday, day, but your everyday. What does that look like for you? Although it may not be achievable straight away, what can you build into your day already to help you move a little closer to it. For example: I want to be able to quit my full-time job and focus solely on The Journal Hub. That’s not possible quite yet, however, my perfect day still involves getting up early and having an hour to myself to have a cup of tea and journal. I have scooped this into my day.
Who do you want to be?
Are you the person you want to be? If not, who do you want to be. Some questions you may consider:
- Do you want to be happier?
- Do you want to be healthier?
- Do you want to be wealthier?
- Do you want to be kinder?
- Do you want to be more organised?
- Do you want to be more adventurous?
- Do you want a partner in your life?
- Do you want to be smarter?
- Do you want to support more charities?
- Do you want to start a business?
- Do you want to spend more time with your family?
The list is endless, spend a few minutes thinking about who you want to be. Then spend some time writing about why you’re not the person you want to be. You need to be 100% honest.
Now spend some time writing about why you want to be that person. Are you aspiring to do these things because you think that’s what society expects or is it a deep drive within you?
What sort of thoughts and actions would you need to take to become the person you want to become? What’s stopping you from doing it now? May I suggest to you it is the thoughts you have surrounding these goals that are stopping you. What thoughts would you need to have to become the person you want to be. Write them down in your journal and practice having those thoughts.
I am committed to being a better person today than I was yesterday. Better Actions, Better Decisions, Better Mindset.
Be 100% honest
I have mentioned above a couple of times that you need to be honest. You cannot be your best self if you are not honest about who you are now. This is not an opportunity to beat yourself up, I want you look at yourself honestly with compassion and love. You are an amazing person who wants to better themselves. You have spent so long not being honest about your thoughts and feelings, trying to please everyone and fit into what is expected. Use your journal as a safe place to be 100% honest with yourself – say exactly what you think and feel in the knowledge that there will be no repercussions or judgements.
Once you are totally honest about your thoughts and feelings and what you want from life, you’ll be able to see what you need to do in order to change.
You have to change first, or nothing will change for you.
Journal regularly
As you grow and develop your sense of self, your goals and dreams may change. It is important to build journaling into your routine. You may not want to do it daily (although that’s what I would recommend) you may choose to reflect on your week or month. I would not recommend you do it any less than monthly.
Ask yourself these questions.
- What progress have I taken towards my goals or towards being the person I want to be?
- What actions did I take?
- How did I feel before I took them? How did I feel after I took action?
- What thoughts did I have?
- What challenges or obstacles did I face?
- How did I overcome them?
- What were my thoughts surrounding those challenges?
- What did I learn from this day/week/month?
- What learnings can I take into the next month to help me towards my goals?
Remember, answer honestly and reflect with compassion.
As with anything, in order to reinvent yourself through journaling you need to be persistent and committed. The more you do write in your journal the more changes you’ll start to see.
I can’t wait to see what you all become, you are amazing now, you have achieved so much already. It’s time to be all you can be. Let your journal take you there.
