How I Turned My Fear of Journaling into a Life-Changing Daily Habit: Top 4 Tips for New Journalers
I was always the person who never journaled. I didn’t understand how other people could look back and re-read their journals and not cringe at their words of yesteryear. I would journal for like 3 days and then be like This is SO awkward… why am I such a weirdo!! Maybe age has something to do with it – I have grown into myself over the years.
I started journaling by deciding I wouldn’t read back my writing until I was ready. I may never be ready or maybe tomorrow I will decide to read back what I wrote but I made that promise to myself so that I would at least do it. So many of the most successful people journal so it was at least worth a shot, right?
So how did I get started? Well I snagged a few journals and self help-ish type books (my favorite journaling and self help resources are here!) and decided to go for it as part of my morning routine (check out how I slowly but surely built a morning routine here!) So where do you start?
Tip 1: Start with Gratitudes
The simplest place to start with the biggest return on investment is gratitudes. So I started writing down my gratitudes. First I just wrote a few in my journal but then I started the practice of using the 5 Minute Journal. It is simple. concise, and truly everyone has time for 5 minutes (or less). For the rest of my favorite self improvement books and tools check out this post!
Tip 2: Stream of Consciousness
Usually what I am writing is a stream of consciousness. If I am journaling in the morning I usually write down a stream of consciousness of what kept me up the night before OR what I woke up thinking about. Because I know there is a high chance that thing is going to stay in the forefront of my mind until I address it. So I write it all out, trying to get my hand to keep up with my brain until I feel like it is all out there. I dont try to solve it. I dont try to fix it. I just write it all down. It is honestly a major release.
Tip 3: Who do you want to be?
One of my favorite things to do is sort of a stream of consciousness but it is from the perspective of who I want to be – 1 year from now 10 years from now, whatever I am feeling. So I write down where I am, what I am feeling, wearing, cooking, smelling, what I accomplished. Everything down to the nitty gritty details. I love doing this first thing in the morning. I find that I work harder, eat better, workout more, achieve more when I do this. Because I am making it so abundantly clear to myself who I want to be and I know the actions & mindset of that day have an affect on who that person is.
Tip 4: Stack the habit into something you love
Part of why I didn’t journal for so long was because it made me feel so uncomfortable. So to ease the pain I built it into a habit I love and already did. So I do my journaling in bed with a cup of coffee to wake myself up in the morning & set my intentions. I love my morning cup of coffee and cherish the time so journaling feels so much better alongside that part of my morning routine.