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A lot of people ask me what to journal about. I have been journaling for over 2-3 years now, sometimes more consistently, others not really. But for the last year, I have journaled almost every day. Now how does it help me?
Even when I didn’t know much about personal development, I thought I was wiser than the rest because of journaling. I know that is very conceited of me to say, but I felt like taking just 15 minutes in a day to spend time with myself, while I wrote a series of crap, still helped me get closer to ME. I knew a bit more about myself. Maybe all I knew was that I am very angry or that I don’t know what to write, or that I am sad, but I still felt a bit more connected with myself.
And that helped me feel like I was ahead of others. So many people go through life without pausing. Without having any idea of WHO they are, or what they feel.
And that is why journaling is so powerful. It might just make you realize how much you have stuffed deep down, because that is a big reason that you might stare at a blank page and have no idea what to write. But, that is still a realization about you. And that is GOOD. See, without getting to know yourself, you can’t improve. You can’t grow. Self-improvement is useless if you don’t know yourself first.
So I encourage you to take out a journal, and try writing down something… anything. It isn’t easy. I know, I have been there on days where I stare, and have NO idea what I am supposed to write. But once you start, it gets easier. And then words, thoughts, feelings flow out. And when you can work through all that gunk that is stored inside, magic happens 🙂
Keep reading for 6 ways you can start to journal even if you don’t know what to write!
Don’t have time right now? Save it for later!
6. Morning Pages
This is just a stream of consciousness technique where you write whatever comes into your mind with no judgement, no hesitation, no structure. If you don’t know what to write, you literally write “I don’t know what to write”. The beauty of this technique is that if you persist, you will eventually break through the blockages and be able to access your deeper S**T, which gets very therapeutic. The goal is to not stop until you write 3 pages.
This technique was actually created by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way.
5. Gratitude Practice
Write down everything you are grateful for. This shifts your perspective and starts off your day with a positive note.
It is no secret that having a practice of gratitude is great for your mental health and transforms the way you look at your life. Even in difficult situations, if you can figure out the good or the lesson learned, then boom – you just took a huge step towards being a much happier and mentally-stable person.
4. Affirmations
Praise yourself baby! Your brain remembers REPEATED information. So repeat all the great things about you, your situation, your life. Write down affirmations in your journal. If you choose a few, and write them down with feeling every day in your journal, soon you will truly BELIEVE them.
And when you believe affirmations like “Everything is working out for me” or “I am confident and successful”, those realities will start becoming a part of YOUR reality. It is sort of like “fake it till you make it”.
And trust me, it works. It might be magic, or it might be science because your brain starts taking it as reality so you will subconsciously begin to act more confident and successful, and that will in turn invite more success. For some great affirmations, head here.
3. Set Intentions and Goals
If you aren’t clear about your day, your goals, and your life, then where will you end up? I’ll tell you – you will just be pushed around by the tides of life, and by other people’s ideas, and EXTREMELY far from YOUR destination.
So, if you do nothing else, please set intentions for yourself. Set an intention for your day, your week, your life. Create goals. Write them down. And revisiting your goals every day will activate your brain’s reticular activating system so that you don’t get distracted and focus on what is important.
Otherwise, be prepared to “go with the flow” which is basically code for being tossed around by random situations happening TO you, rather than you actually taking control of your life and ACHIEVING s**t.
2. Process Emotions
Use your journal as a source to write down everything that is bothering you and work through it. Vent, as if you were talking to a friend. This will help you release your pent up emotions, so that they are no longer stuck in your body.
Take this to the next step by working through what is bothering you.
- If someone said something mean, try to go through WHY it bothered you so much. Are you holding onto some negative limiting beliefs that you need to let go of? Or, maybe you are mad about a situation. Can you change it? If yes, what can you do? If not, then maybe accept the situation and let it not get to your head and heart.
- Look at what you have written and see if there is any truth in what you have said.
For example:
I woke up late so my whole day is wasted. I hate myself, I am the stupidest person in the world.
I would look at that and see… HMM is my entire day REALLY wasted? Because I slept-in by 30 minutes? Am i REALLY the stupidest person in the entire world - Another way to dispel negative thoughts is to try to find an alternate thought or fact (even if I didn’t believe it).
For example:
Thought – I suck because I woke up late.
Feeling – BLAH, demotivated, self-loath
Alternate Thought – I can be SUPER productive today. I can finish things 3x faster than a normal day. I could win $1000 today (this is something that I don’t necessarily believe, lol, but it is still fun. Makes me happier all of a sudden to think about all the good things that technically COULD happen 😀 )
1. Reflect
Although I journal in the morning, you could also journal at night and reflect on the day that passed. This is a great opportunity for you to appreciate what went well and learn from what didn’t go so well. Celebrate your wins, and learn from your ‘losses’.
Go through each event in the day and see if there was some lesson that you could learn from. This is invaluable, because you are the sum of your life experiences. And when bad things happen, you actually grow and learn the MOST. So don’t waste your hardships. Reflect on them and take away a lesson.
I did the same when I sat down to write this blog post: 24 most important life lessons I learned in 24 years. And I realized that through my hardships and tough times, I learned SO much.
Bonus: Find Journal Prompts
This is an EASY way to get started. I have a whole board for journal prompts on pinterest, and slow-living journal prompts to help you start living slowly of my own 🙂
Read: 4 Delightfully Simple Steps to Embrace Slow Living Even If You Are Busy
Conclusion
I hope this list helps you. I journal every morning, with a cup of coffee. Over the years I have journaled in different ways, sometimes doing all of the above, and sometimes just one. Whatever you choose, it will help you. Journaling helps center you, ground you, and process thoughts and emotions.
But most importantly, it deepens the relationship you have with yourself. And that is the most important and powerful thing you can do to grow as a person.
Pin for later! 🙂
Thanks for the post, you just gave me something to think and work on with my journal
You are very welcome!
Lovely post, I have a gratitude journal I love from The Shop Forward. It’s so fun to think of things you’re grateful for!
thank you!
I agree, it makes you feel so positive so quickly 🙂
I use my journals to actually process my emotions. Thank you so much for sharing this!
you’re welcome! I do too 🙂 it helps so much!
I love journaling, it keeps me so much open to myself and my emotions. I like how you started in descending order too 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing your article, it was really interesting! I was already doing affirmations and gratitude, but I’m definitely going to try the rest as well. It’s always nice to find new ways to improve oneself with journaling. Have a beautiful day! xx
you are most welcome! glad that this could help you:)
Some great ideas for what to write down when you really have no idea what to write in your journal. I’ve been there so it will be useful to remember these pointers for the future 🙂
Thank you!
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These are cool ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you liked them! 🙂
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