If you ever want to know my whole life story you are in luck because I’ve already written it. Literally. By hand.
I have been journaling avidly since my early middle school days and it has never stopped. Maybe for a few weeks at a time here and there, but for the most part it’s one of the most consistent things I’ve ever done. Journaling has had a huge impact on my life, so much so that I don’t even really notice it anymore. It’s just something I do like brushing my teeth or picking out my outfit for the day. Inside my morning routine is always a few minutes to journal that I may or may not take advantage of.
One of the things I struggle most with within my personality is a racing mind. My mind is racing pretty much 24/7 thinking of the next set of “to-do’s”, coming up with new business ideas, and imagining rearranging my living room furniture. I have a tendency to overthink and I struggle to shut my brain off at the end of the night and fall asleep. I often say I wish I could put it in a jar in a cupboard and get it back out in the morning again. Journaling has helped me with this immensely, and I feel myself slipping back into it when I skip a few weeks of writing down my thoughts.
On a day to day basis I usually just journal my prayers. It keeps me more focused, and let’s be honest it keeps me awake since it’s usually pretty early in the morning and closing my eyes is a risk factor for falling back asleep, haha! A few mornings a week I will journal a few thoughts either before or after the prayer. No rhyme or reason, just whatever is on my mind. I really love that journaling gives me a better place to store all the things floating around in my brain but I also really love that it provides a record of the Lord’s faithfulness and answered prayers. This is really what I love about all types of journaling. I can look back a few weeks, a few months, or a few years and recount the ways He has been good to me. Amidst hardships, amidst suffering, or just in joyful seasons. I love that in the Old Testament the Israelites recount the Lord’s past faithfulness before they start almost anything new. They’re-list everything good that He has ever done before moving onto the next thing – that is kind of what journaling is for me.
Last month I was struggling to stay motivated to journal and focused while doing so, so I set up a few new pages and gave myself some new prompts. Little did I know they would be game changers!! I don’t think I’ll ever go back! They are a great place to start if you want to get into journaling so I thought I would share them here!
Monthly Goal Page
I wrote all my goals down on one page so that I would have a quick view of them in the mornings. I am taking a more simplified approach to goal setting for my personal life this year, so this is all I’m doing! Just thinking and praying about it and then jotting down a few things that I feel lead to focus on for the month.
Monthly Recall Page
If you have a better idea of what to name this page, hit me with it! On this page I made a spot for four different categories and am going to update them throughout the month as things happen.
1.Answered Prayers I love having these all in one spot. It’s like a little treasure trove and it cheers me up every time I look at it! When you are on the lookout for answered prayers it’s amazing how many more our eyes are opened up to! Sometimes I forget that they can be small whispered prayers. Like the other day, I was carrying in several work bags full of heavy gear and groceries that I was afraid were going to spill (my own fault for trying to make it all in one trip), I must have looked ridiculous with the amount I was carrying. Anyway, I got halfway up the very large (did I mention, very large??) staircase to our apartment and I realized I probably wasn’t going to make it without dropping something. I mentally prayed “Lord get me up these stairs,” honestly kind of half-kidding. Well right at that second Dan happened to open our apartment door at the top of the staircase and saw me! He came to my rescue! I started laughing and you BET I wrote it down! Oh the little ways the Lord delights us!
2. Hits This is just to keep track of things that went well or that I did well throughout the month. Things that made me feel good like getting back to the gym, or wandering through Anthropologie, or big wins like launching our new website, or filling up our wedding season.
3. Misses When it comes to growth, paying attention to what isn’t working is just as important as paying attention to what is. This isn’t to be hard on yourself, just to make yourself aware of things that can be improved. It can be small things like staying up too late and paying for it the next morning, or big things like catching yourself gossiping. For example, I used this to track how many times I was late to something. I am never late for work commitments, but dinner with friends. . . that’s a different story. It was a way bigger problem than I realized, and now that I know it, I can work on it!
4. Lessons Learned. I love this little space to quickly jot down new things I’ve learned. They can be fun or purely functional, use this space however works best for you! My list has included things as small as “don’t attempt hard recipes on weeknights” and as big as “I don’t have to perform for the Lord.”
Daily Prompts
Here are a few questions I’ve been loving to ask myself as a springboard for journaling:
- What 3 things went well yesterday?
- What 3 things could you have done better?
- What are you grateful for this morning?
- What do you want to make sure happens today?
- What can’t you stop thinking about?
- What feels especially hard right now?
I think my biggest piece of advice is just not to overcomplicate it. If journaling prompts help you, then use them. If they stress you out, then don’t! If you have two words to write that’s okay! If you’ve got eight pages to write that’s okay too! If you want to do it daily great! If you want to do it weekly, rock on! I think it’s easy to make it harder than it needs to be, and that can stop us from doing it all together. The most important thing is just to put pen to paper, relieve your mind, and do what works best for you!
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