In just a few weeks, the calendar is going to turn again, giving us that symbolic clean slate and a chance to refocus, reset, renew and even re-invent if we want to. How do you prepare to move forward, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually? Do you?
In my opinion? Journaling may just be the most essential habit to help you prep for a new year. ‘Cause we don’t want to just head into this thing blindly. This is gonna take some reflection, and the stakes are high. This is a whole new year of your life and that’s big!
I’ve written before about how much I love my early morning rituals, but I’ve recommitted to more in-depth journaling as part of my routine, in preparation to take the next steps in my life and keep moving forward over the next year. Like many people I think, I tend to be an on again, off again journaler. But I know the benefits, the importance of this habit and the effect it has on well-being.
After all, health isn’t just about what you eat, it’s also about what’s eating you.
Journaling can take many forms and there’s really no right or wrong way to do it. It can take a little or a long time. It can be goal oriented, list oriented, dreamy, reflective, a time to hash out the subconscious or brain dump. Journaling is a way to lighten the load. We all have a certain amount of stress, worry, and fear that creep into our life, not to mention an endless stream of random thoughts. Journaling is a way to release them on to paper. To access our inner world and to process it in a productive way.
It lets us reflect, evaluate, and course correct, if that’s needed. It helps inject clarity, focus and direction into our lives. As we release and write, solutions to problems present themselves, plans get outlined, mental blocks disappear. You bounce ideas off the page enough times and the answers eventually come.
You can vent, plan, rant, dump, dream, solve.
Ideally journaling will create a bridge between thought and action, helping you to accomplish your goals and move forward in your life. It helps you to point your compass intentionally in the right direction. It clears your vision and retrains your focus. Taking even just a few minutes a day, to be quiet, unplug and look inside your heart and thought will give you the best chance to live your day in alignment with your vision.
Positive rituals like journaling help you to thrive, establishing a positive pattern of thinking and acting on the things that really matter to you.
A habit of reflection keeps you from living life on auto-pilot and allows you to choose what you focus on.
I journal in many different ways, but one of the most effective for me is a form of stream of consciousness journaling based on something called Morning Pages, from the writings of Julia Cameron in her book The Artists Way. Stream of consciousness journaling is not “writing”. It is not supposed to sound smart, be grammatically correct or be read by anyone ever. Maybe not even you.
Basically, you sit down first thing in the morning, while still in a somewhat subconscious state and just start writing. You write whatever comes to mind, unfiltered, and let it go onto the page. She suggests filling 3 whole notebook pages, but in the interest of time I typically stop at 1 or 2 and still find it helpful. She also suggests writing in a notebook with perforated pages, so you can rip them out and throw them away if needed. Just get it down on the page and let it go. Don’t hold back. Be real, open and honest with yourself. It can be eye opening what comes out onto the page, but if it’s judgmental, petty, critical, perfectionistic, whiny stuff, full of worries and stress that muddles your subconscious then that’s good! Because that’s the stuff that is standing between you and your goals, your creativity, your healing and true wellness.
This type of journaling can help you get to the other side of your fear, your mood, and any negativity to where the good stuff is! It gives insight into your life and helps effect the changes that need to happen. As Julia says about writing morning pages, “It is very difficult to complain about a situation morning after morning, month after month, without being moved to constructive action.”
It can be a powerful catalyst for change.
If you don’t think journaling is for you, here’s a word. The people most resistant to journaling are often the ones who need it the most, so pay attention to this, if you’re rolling your eyes at the notion of journaling! Remember, there is no right or wrong way to journal. Just get started and see where it leads.
Here’s to getting prepped and ready for a new year by writing down our hopes, fears, dreams and goals and moving forward toward our best selves and life!
