Journaling— The Secret Ritual to Changing Your Life
It’s incredibly stressful, right?
With goals to achieve, activities to do and targets to meet, it’s not easy keeping track of everything. At times you get lost in the hocus pocus and by the end of the day, you are so tired you barely have enough energy for the next day.
What if I reveal a ritual that could save you? That could help you keep track of your activities, be laser focused, and navigate your day with less stress + more ease.
And it’s so simple you wouldn’t even break a sweat doing it.
It is this mind relieving activity better known as Journaling. Basically it’s the act of dumping your thoughts, dreams, and experiences in a journal or diary.
In this post, I will show you five amazing benefits of journaling as a ritual practice and also give insight to various helpful styles of journaling. As a bonus I will also give you 30 Journal Prompts to start your scribble journey with.
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① Set your day’s intentions
You see, when you wake up in the morning and simply write down what you intend to do through out the day, it sets you up for success by structuring your mind with achievable goals. Morning journaling offers a daily road map to help you channel your focus, ensuring you get sheet done!
Furthermore, your journal becomes your checklist and it keeps you organized.
② An emotional outlet: let it out.
Journaling can be the best outlet for expressing your emotions. Are you happy or grateful? Write about it and trace back the source that evoked that emotion. Are you feeling sappy? Maybe a little frustrated even? Spill all those feelies and memories into your journal.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the relief it can offer your mind and heart!
③ Experience helpful reflections
Journaling at the the end of the day can help you keep track of your daily progress. You’ll be able to reflect on things and learn important lessons regarding areas you need to shift in order to experience improvement, form new helpful steps, and habits. You can experience insight into situations you could have handled differently, while figuring out ways to change your approach. You can also reflect on your accomplishments and celebrate your daily wins!
In the end, you have a powerful self-tracking practice that can help you understand where you’re headed.
④ It’s a powerful stress reliever
Journaling is kind of like having a conversation with someone, only this time, that person is a journal. Think about those moments when you’re super stressed and are able to blow off some steam by talking to a friend. The same thing happens when you spill your thoughts on a journal. It’s a safe way to vent and calm your mind, and saves your loved ones from your oversharing and drama dumping… JK-JK … sort of. It can make it easier to unwind from the day to transition into sleep, or to simply reset yourself. A good method for this is free writing for at least 2-3 pages or mapping out a fake conversation to strengthen your ability to articulate clearly.
And one superior advantage is that the journal doesn’t judge you.
⑤ Gain clarity & solutions
This introspective process of Journaling not only helps you identify patterns and recurring themes in your life but also enables you to uncover underlying issues and triggers that may be affecting your mindset or behavior. By externalizing your thoughts and emotions on paper (or screen), you create distance from them, allowing you see pesky problems with clarity and gain a more objective perspective. You are also more likely to generate creative solutions compared to those who simply let their thoughts pass without capturing them in words, thus missing out on the opportunity for reflection.
So write out your frustrations and express where you feel most stuck, there is so much to gain and nothing to lose!
Now, those incredible benefits may have convinced you to start journaling, but the question is: where do you start?
5 Journaling StylesYou Can Adopt
Let’s dive in:
Free Write or Diary Style
With the free writing style, you just spill your thoughts. You write whatever comes to your mind. Anything goes! I mean ANYTHING…just make sure it’s safe from prying eyes…to save you some embarrassment?? When you have a lot of thoughts crossing your mind, pen them down. This process is also known as the familiar diary style.
Goal Journaling
Goal journaling helps you to become clear about your important long-term big dreams and to hold on to your vision. It’s also super effective for creating a list of everyday short-term goals & daily habits that will guide you towards progress. Get expressive with vivid details about your visions to keep you focused, motivated, and committed. Prioritize checking off those daily or weekly goals, and sustain a schedule that will you help accomplish your desires.
Food, Fitness or Wellness Log
This type of journaling helps you keep a log of what you eat so you can make diet changes and lose weight or become healthier. With fitness or wellness journal, you write about your workout habits or wellness practices (e.g. Yoga, Pilates, Running) and the results they are giving you.
List/Planner Style
With a planner, you are guided to create checklists and schedules that prioritize the tasks that need to be achieved to make your day successful. It serves as a centralized hub where you can jot down appointments, deadlines, and commitments, ensuring you stay on course and never miss an important event or deadline. In short, it helps you plan your day and keep track of your time.
Bullet Journal
A bullet journal is a customizable type of journaling that combines elements of a planner, diary, and to-do list. It's a simple yet effective method for tracking tasks, events, goals, and ideas all in one place. A one dump stop, how neat is that! The beauty of bullet journaling lies in its adaptability to suit your unique needs and preferences, while fostering creativity as well. This style can be very fun by offering the freedom to design your layouts, create collections, and track habits in the most appealing way that works best for you.
30 Journal Prompts You Can Use When You’re Stuck With What to Write About
At times you won’t know what to write about. That’s where journal prompts come in. A journal prompt is a simple statement, suggestion, or a question that inspires you and gives you an idea of what to write about.
Ideas to journal about:
What scares you?
Do you worry too much? Is there a particular concern you can’t shake off?
Write to the past version of you.
Write to the future version of you.
What are the top 10 places you have enjoyed visiting?
Who are the people you admire most?
List your top 6 short-term goals.
List your top 6 long-term goals.
Write down your deepest desire. What do you secretly long to have?
Quote: Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul and you answer. ~ Star Riches.
The most fun I ever had was …
The thing I am looking forward to most is …
What was the most terrifying moment in your life?
What are four things you can’t go without?
What is your saddest memory?
The dominant emotion in my life right now is…
What is your favorite Sunday ritual?
The things I did with my mom/dad when I was small…
What if you could dine with anyone alive, who would that be?
If you could time-travel to change one thing in your past, what would it be?
Your best friend in high school…
The person who made me feel good this week was…
The thing I did this week that I wish I had done differently is…
The thing I most enjoyed doing this week was…
Is there a person you need to forgive? Write a letter to them.
Is there someone who believed in you even when you didn’t? Write them a letter.
You first dance? Write about it.
Got any interesting experiences from using a dating app? Write about it.
If a genie granted you three wishes, what would they be?
My idea of a perfect day would be like…
It’s time you pick up a pen + a journal and start scribbling your thoughts to help your squiggly mind! Feel free to use the above prompts as inspiration, they are a great jumping off point. Experiment with different types of journaling and try not to judge yourself on frequency or amount of pages. Start small and in time you may begin to crave writing whenever you need to just get something out.
Start this new powerful habit by writing random thoughts through out the day and then make it your morning and evening ritual. You will be surprised by the positive change journaling brings to your life.
