How to Make Journaling Not Suck

I’ve been journaling for the past decade and always hated it… until now.
Let me first tell you all of the things that I use to despise about journaling.

• I always forgot to do it.
• I never had any structure.
• I couldn’t think of what I wanted to write about.
• I noticed myself always writing about the “bad things” that happened in a day.
• I felt that I was going sour and focusing more on the negative things.
• I was always afraid someone would read my journal.
• I never thought I lived an interesting enough life to write about it.
• I started and stopped a journal for years

I can go on forever. So, you may be wondering why I am so obsessed with daily journaling if I hated it so much?

The truth is that I found a way to make journaling awesome!
So here’s the secrete sauce…grab a pen and paper and write this down.

Understand the Why

Before we can discuss how to make journaling better and actually stick with it, we need to first understand why we all need to journal.

Journaling helps you to regain power. It will open you up to a broader perspective of life, and it will guide you to focus on your goals.

There is something about journal writing that causes us to remember what we should never forget: our future, our true nature, our individuality, and our purpose. Those are all good reasons to be mindful of the tasks we must achieve and what to do to achieve them. 

Learn how to define your essence and live the rest of your life with intention.

By following the right structure, you will wake up with optimism, enthusiasm, and run your day with intention, and you’ll capture all of your positive thoughts.

Find a Journal That Makes You Feel Awesome

This is going to be an extension of you for a period of time. It’s going to capture your goals, successes, thoughts, and emotions. So why not find a journal that captures your true essence?

Topic to Write About

1. Start with gratitude

Gratitude is our emotion that relates to our ability to feel and express thankfulness and appreciation. Expressing gratitude improves mental, physical, and relational well-being. Experience gratitude by writing down three things that make you feel grateful. 

2. Write your goals

We hear a lot about the importance of goal setting, but most of us don’t have clear and measurable goals to work toward. The first step to creating a goal is to figure out what you want. If you don’t know what you want, you don’t know what you need to achieve to get there. 

Write down your goals, the ones that inspires you the most! Think big! Little goals won’t get you the life-long fulfillment you seek, and little goals won’t motivate you to change your habits. Think abundance! True power comes from your belief. It is a manifestation of what you can imagine and create. 

You can write your goals in bullet points, you can number them, or you can write them in paragraph format.

3. Write your quote

Quotes are nuggets of wisdom concentrated into only a few sentences, which can awaken your soul, ambition, and motivation.

Write one quote that motivates you. You can create your own quote or write a quote from someone who inspires you.

4. Write what would make today great

Write the things that will make you feel a sense of accomplishment once completed. You need to understand what it looks like in order to truly be able to experience it. Focus on the things that will be in your control.

5. Write your personal development statement

Write one area that you will concentrate on developing today.

Personal development can include self-improvement in terms of leadership skills, goal setting, visualization skills, communication skills, organizational skills, time management, or mind power. 

6. Write your affirmations

An affirmation opens the door. It’s a beginning point on the path to change. Retrain your thinking and speaking into positive patterns if you want to change your life. Write a short and powerful statement that gives voice to your subconscious thoughts. 

7. Write about your happiest moment

Pause for a moment and think about the happiest moment from today. Recall the location where it happened, who was involved, what you smelled, what you saw, and what you heard. Use all of your senses.

8. Write about your successes and failure

Writing down accomplishments makes us more self-aware and grateful. Not only do we become more aware of our strengths and weaknesses but we also become aware of the world around us. Recording our progress helps us appreciate our small wins, which, in turn, can boost our sense of confidence. This confidence can then be leveraged to help us become more competent and achieve future, larger successes. 

Really get to know yourself and recognize what went well and what you could have done better.

Take Action Right Now!

Your journal entry in the morning will take you ten to fifteen minutes. Really take your time to get your mind right! Establish what success looks like before your day begins. You’ll start the day off right—positive, optimistic, and enthusiastic! Your journal entry in the evening will help you to recall your greatest moments from the day. You’ll reflect and experience gratitude in under fifteen minutes. Doing this everyday will help you to build habits to create a happier mind. 

Consistency is key. No matter how you may feel, make sure to journal everyday. It’s just like exercising. If you exercise only once in a while, you’ll never get in great shape, and you’ll only feel sore. Your success on this program depends on your effort and commitment. Work through all of the tough days, and enjoy the process!

If you want a journal that has it all, check out the Happier Mind Journal.