How I Plan On Having The Best Year Of My Life
I’ve recently found myself getting into the practise of journaling. Truth is, when I first heard about writing your thoughts, goals and ideas down in small book I decided it wasn’t for me and that I was too old to need to write things down in a diary. Fast forward to this year and lots of reading later I can safely say I am now a convert and love the process of journaling and writing down my goals and ideas.
So how did I get started and how do I use my journal? Firstly, I think it’s important to mention that there are no hard and fast rules about journaling. Truth is, I think that’s why I was put off it in the first place because I thought it had to be done a certain way. Once I realised, I could make it my own I really started to find a passion for it. So here are my top tips for getting started with journaling:
- Write it in when you feel like it. Some days I write a few pages, sometimes a sentence and some days nothing. Using it in a way that suits your needs will make it that much more enjoyable and will make it something you are more likely to stick to.
- Write down what you are grateful for. This will help shift your mindset to a more positive one as there is always something to be grateful for every day.
- Set goals and write them down in your journal. Big and small. Write down the steps you need to do to achieve these goals. Did you know we are 42 percent more likely to achieve something if we write it down?
- Write statements that help you get through a tough day. Some mornings I will literally write “Just do what you can today and let that be enough”. I find personally writing these kinds of statements down allows me to go easier on myself and to not always expect perfection.
- Use it as a place to brain dump. We all have things going on in our lives and things we are thinking about or dealing with, so use your journal to just brain dump your thoughts. I find this helps me sleep better as I’m not lying in bed thinking about things all the time.
- Don’t be afraid to write big thoughts, goals, dreams, emotions nothing is off limits.
- This would have to be the most important tip! Invest in a cute journal/notebook because let’s be honest everyone loves cute stationary.
I hope that in sharing how I have started using my journal it helps you to get started on writing in your own. Our daily lives are so busy, so journaling is a great way to take some time out of your day to just do something for you.
Jen Xx