Journaling - Find Out What You're Really Thinking

So, I took a hiatus. An unintentional one. I’ve been keeping up with my meditation and my “morning learning”, but I quit journaling for about a month with the excuse that I was too busy and that I’d alternate journaling with learning. Only I didn’t alternate. I got so tied up in soaking up information that I didn’t get back to my journal for far too long. Things were piling up. By things I mean I started obsessing about a few things in my life. Ruminating on them way too much and frankly, getting a little crazy. Although I like to think that I kept all that inside (like a winner, as they say).

Another thing that was piling up was that I was supposed to write this blog post. But I just couldn’t do it when I wasn’t even journaling. And three days ago I hit my bottom. Did I mention that I’d only been home for about five days in the past month? So, three days ago I was working in another province. It was morning and I was psyching myself up to deal with the day. I was struggling with that. In a flash of inspiration, I picked up my journal and three pages flowed right out of me. Everything I’d been feeling and thinking that I wouldn’t dare tell anyone (sometimes not even myself) for fear of sounding needy, unreasonable, or just plain crazy.  

I felt so much better! My heart opened up again. My shoulders weren’t weighted. My mind cleared. I think my journal might be my bff. Not as fun as my friends, that’s true, but I don’t have to worry what it thinks about me.

So, friends, I really can’t recommend journaling enough. There are so many ways to do it and so many ways that it helps you show up as your best you. What follows are a few different approaches. Choose one or make up your own. But, please, try it! That’s coming from your bff and from multitudes of happy, successful people who have taken on journaling and never looked back. Like who? Lady Gaga, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah, Rachel Hollis, Mel Robbins, and everyone at Soulaia!

Not sold yet?

One thing that I’ve found in journaling is that once I get writing about something that is on my mind, what ends up on paper are things I wouldn’t even admit to myself. But once I see it, I know it’s the truth. This gets around your limiting beliefs, what you’re pretending not to know and what you need to wake up. It’s cathartic, therapeutic, comforting, and we highly recommend it as part of your quest to step into your power. The benefits of journaling are well documented and it’s explained in detail in this post.

So, how do you get started?  

There are as many ways to do this as there are people journaling but I’ll recommend three different approaches for beginners to experts.

Neophyte

If you’re brand new to journaling, a great place to start is with a gratitude journal. There are many of them out there but the one that we like and have used is the Five Minute Journal.  It has a very short morning and nighttime routine that you really can complete in five minutes. A journal like this will help you start and end your day on a positive note and with a little love and compassion for you. That is a recipe for the start of a beautiful life.

Next Level

If you already do a gratitude journal or some other base level of journaling, your next step can be to free-style your journaling. Is there something going on in your life that you want to work through? Or have you had an experience that you’re confused about or an idea you want to contemplate? Perhaps you were triggered the day before by something your sister said. In your journal, you can explore that, what did she say, why do you think it triggered you? Dig deeper, why did it really trigger you? 

You can also try remembering your dreams from the night before, start writing them down and see if there’s insight in them for you. You can write down a goal you’ve committed to and explain why and what it will do for you. Include the timeline. These are the sorts of things that you can write about when you’re ready to create your own format. I recommend continuing to include a gratitude portion because really, gratitude is everything.  

Practically Expert

If you’re already free-styling, maybe you’re ready to use your journal to support your manifesting activities or to tap into your subconscious to find the answer to something that’s been on your mind.   

In the case of manifesting, the very act of writing down your desires can solidify what they actually are. This helps clarify and move thought to action which will bring you that much closer to your ideal reality.  

In the case of finding the answer. Writing down a question in your journal and declaring the intent that your subconscious will work to find the answer to that question, usually results in an answer. For example, how can I improve my relationship with Sarah at work? Now let it go. If you sit with it for a few days, you may find yourself thinking about it consciously as well but give yourself permission to let it go and don’t obsess about it. After a day or two, look back in your journal for questions you want to revisit, come across this one and now you’ll get a clearer, more compassionate answer that is aligned with you and your values.

The real story

Start where you’re at. Do what feels good to you. But do something. So you can find out what you’re really thinking.

Do you have a journaling practice that works well for you? Share it with us here, it might be just the right thing for someone else!