Only good girls journal.
At least that’s the theory I always went with lol.
I even tried to write in a journal as a teen. But it went like this:
Today I ate a box of Mac n cheese as a snack.
Sharon is a bitch. (name changed to protect the not-so innocent)
My teacher makes too many assignments.
My parents are too strict – they don’t let me do anything.
Why am I journaling? I have nothing to say.
This sucks. This is lame.
Not exactly mind-blowing insightful moments or even something I cared to read, get off my chest, save, anything of the above.
So I stopped. Usually after day 1-3.
And then attempted again years later with about the same results.
Maybe my life just wasn’t interesting enough?
Why couldn’t I do this?
Now I journal.
Is it every day? Nope.
Is it always inspiring? Rarely.
But it is helpful to me – and there are AH-HA moments. Here’s my top 12 ideas when you don’t have that divine inspiration begging you to write something.
Journal Your Goals:
Goals for the day, week, month, year – expand on that, what does it look like?
How will you feel when you’ve achieved those goals?
Write from the End – act as if you’ve already reached that milestone and how you feel, what your life looks like.
A Gratitude Journal:
A gratitude journal can be a simple way to pick up a journaling habit, and is absolutely the best way to find joy in your life. Immediately. It literally can start with why you feel gratitude for people in your life, a pet, something fun you’ve done or will do soon.
Not feeling good about life in general right now? Then I’m going to really encourage you to start with this version. I truly feel it will help uplift you; I know it has for me when I’ve been a dark area of life.
So what would you write about when life is shitty? Puppies, snowflakes, rainbows, the smell of apple pie, candles, the blanket you are cuddled up with, a favorite TV show that still makes you laugh. Anything!
Are you Religious?
Pick a favorite bible verse or randomly open to a scripture.
What about it speaks to you?
What lesson for today can come from this reading?
What does this tell you about what you need to focus on today. Another related option – pick a Saint, what makes them memorable?
A Course in Miracles:
Course in Miracles – there’s so much deep thoughtful knowledge in this classic.
Dive in, similar to the bible and find something to write about in depth. https://acim.org
Start with a Quote:
Quotes you read in a book, see on a billboard, your favorite poem…you see where I’m going here?
Pick one that shows itself to you via FaceBook even!
Did a friend post a great positive quote?
Have you just always pondered the meaning of some obscure saying “what in Sam’s Hill?” for example? Look it up, then see what insights you get from it.
Journal from Music Lyrics:
Pick a favorite song.
Listen, deeply; with your eyes closed.
What about the sounds, the lyrics, the rhythm captures you?
What emotions does it bring out?
Expand upon that. Music is such a powerful outlet for us, and a great starting point for meditation and journaling.
Be Inspired from a Podcast:
Do you listen to podcasts?
Have some you subscribe to?
Listen to an episode and ponder the “why?”
What is it about the subject – news, murder mystery, self-improvement, meditation, comedy, celebrity antics – whatever it is.
Just start writing what comes to you from experiencing this podcast. Are there insights you notice? Emotions?
Journal about a Color:
If you had to choose a color to describe your mood today, what would it be?
Go into depth in your writing on the why?
What things in our world are that color?
What connections can you find?
Oracle Cards or Tarot Cards:
Pull a card from a deck, by asking “what do I need to know today” and see what comes up.
Utilize the beauty on the picture of the card, the description in the booklet that explains the card, or the actual title on the card and journal freely about what it means to you in your life right now – what insights come from that message?
My favorite oracle desks are by Colette Baron Reid – find them here: https://www.colettebaronreid.com
The Pomodoro Technique:
Pomodoro Technique – when you have some devoted time chunks, use them.
The nitty gritty of this technique is to set timers for your writing.
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25 min of free writing: write anything and eveything in your brain, mind dump or stay focused on A subject. But when a blank happens, just KEEP writing – anything, even “This is stupid, I can’t think of anything” is fine, this is just for you, see what happens, what comes up. I promise something interesting will come out of it, but for now, that isn’t important.
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5 min break: Step away from the desk or wherever you are writing. Go to the bathroom, grab a coffee, tea or water, pick up a few things in your house, switch a load of laundry, pet the dog/cat, whatever. Just Stop writing and step away.
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Repeat Steps 1 & 2 for a total of 2 hours.
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Alternative – take Step 3 and use the same time line, but instead of more writing, look back on what you have already written with a colored pen or highlighter and underline/highlight the nuggets you can find it in. What do you want to explore further? Did you get a good idea or some Inspo in there into your problem, goal, situation? Then on the opposite side of the page write some notes expanding on that – or often I find a checklist of things I want to do next that relate to that. Then continue this process until that 25 min is up, then do the 5 min break. If you are using this process to write a book, blog post, course, article, then utilize a 25 min period for a rough draft based on what you got out of the nuggets.
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Read a Self-Help Book, Soulful Novel, or Spiritual Book:
After each chapter, write about what you’ve learned,
what you want to remember,
what you can do with that lesson or knowledge,
how did it make you feel?
Journal about an Inspirational Person:
Who inspires you and why?
Is it a celebrity that followed their dream after diversity?
A character from your favorite novel?
A friend or family member of yours?
Next think about the “why?” (its always the “why” isn’t it?)
What is it about this person that made you think of them?
What attributes do you wish you could emulate or knew you can put put into the world more?
Now journal away to these questions, find that insight that sets you on the path to being someone else’s inspirational person.
Still stumped? There are amazing journals that have prompts for each day – such as a focus question. Pick up one at your favorite book store or Amazon.com and get writing!
I hope this starts to put ideas into your head of different routes you can take with journaling, and of course, there’s a million more ideas out there.
Now that you have an idea of what you might want to journal, and you’ve got pen and journal in hand, you need to find the time and space to do it. Check out my blog on Creating a Space for YOU – A Home Sanctuary so you can set yourself up for success!
I’d love to hear what works for you? Have you tried any of the above and how was it for you? Got a system that works best for you? Tell me all about it in the comments.
Carla Reese
