Journaling guide
Full step by step guide on
how to journal
conimprovement
INTRODUCTION
Over the course of our life, we all have stumbled on anger
issues, stress and even anxiety. Being consumed by those
emotions, we say things we don’t want to say or we might
even do something we don’t want to do.
Emotions tend to take control of our decisions and make us
blind to our own actions. If you’ve ever wondered if there is a
way to keep those emotions in check, well there is.
Journaling is an easy habit that anyone can build from
anywhere with what they currently possess. It doesn’t only
help with keeping emotions under control but it also helps
with productivity and planning.
In this guide we’ll show you everything you need to know
about journaling and how to take full advantage of it.
If you are ready, let’s dive into how a habit of journaling is
built (You can take notes if you want to, or even journal as
you learn the steps).
How to build a habit
of journaling
Chapter 1
The Starting Point
Starting a new habit or hobby is always hard. However if you
use the right strategies and techniques, the time you need to
succeedly build a habit is significantly less.
When you’re starting, you need to use certain techniques
until you master that specific habit. You won’t see any
progress at first, whether it is on controlling emotions or
other aspects of your life.
However the more you repeat it, the more progress you see.
If you don’t know what a habit is then let me explain before
we continue further.
A habit is something (in this case journaling) we repeat
several times (everyday), until a point when it becomes
automatic and more like a part of your identity.
In order to build a habit, we need to change our identity. We
need to repeat in our mind that journaling is something that
we are meant to do, that was always a part of us (even if you
never journaled). After you start journaling, finding your
identity or creating it can be done straight in the journal as a
practice.
Fig.1 The identity you choose for
yourself attracts either good habits or
bad habits depending for example if
you choose to be lazy or productive.
5-1 Countdown Technique
One of the most effective techniques on overcoming
procrastination or laziness is to count from 5 to 1 backwards
while you’re in those situations. What this does is that it
enables a part of your brain which lets you take full control.
Make sure to use this technique whenever you feel like not
journaling, working out or something similar.
Make It Easy
It’s all in our mind. Every difficulty, every challenge is
significantly harder because you make it harder in your
mind. That’s exactly where you should stop first. Not
everything is as it seems.
When we first try something new, we make it look difficult in
our mind However with time we realize that if we believe in
ourselves and practice, the task isn’t as hard as we thought
it’d be.
Always make sure to incourage yourself and make it easy
for yourself to try something new, such as journaling.
You can use phrases such as these:
● Believe in yourself, I am more than what I see!
● With practice it’ll get easier.
● It might be hard but if I continue to practice, I will see
significant changes in my life!
Most things aren’t even that complicated. They are simple
and straight-forward things but because we don’t want to
take action, we tend to make it seem as a difficult task. Now
that you know this, you will be able to acknowledge it while it
happens and prevent it.
The One Minute Rule
Sometimes our mind works against us. That’s when our
discipline is tested. However, that discipline doesn’t always
win. that’s why we need psychology tricks to help us make
the tasks easier so we can do at least something instead of
nothing.
The one minute rule is a technique to simplify every task.
Whatever task you want to do, you can scale it into a one
minute task. For example, you can scale journaling into a
one minute task. Don’t think of doing 30 minutes or 15
minutes, just think of doing one minute. That will be easy
enough for you to take action easily and after you complete
one minute you can also continue since then it’s way easier
than before you started.
All you need to start
journaling
Chapter 2
Pen And Paper
When you are just a beginner on journaling, you don’t need
anything more than a pen and paper. There are other
resources such as special notebooks you can purchase
which are mainly for journaling. However they are quite
expensive and not everyone can afford them.
You might be wondering “What is the difference between a
special journaling notebook and a normal one?” Well
besides the design, the most important difference is that the
special notebook (as I call it) bonds a special connection
with you. When you write in the journal, you feel like you’re
talking face to face with god or even with someone who
understands your position. After all, everything you write in
the journal, you are also telling to the journal.
I recommend to start writing in a normal notebook first and
then gradually switch to a special one.
A Quiet Room
In order for the journaling to be as effective as possible, you
need to be in a quiet room. It will help you feel less pressed
and more relieved to just write whatever you need to, in their
original form.
Pro tip: Most people have the same problem. Their home is
always on a noisy state. To solve that, you must build a habit
of waking up early everyday.
By early I don’t necessarily mean 5am - 6am. Just try to
wake up 1-2 hours before your family wakes up so you have
some quiet time for yourself.
A Clear Goal
You need to have a clear vision and a clear goal that you
want to achieve through journaling. When you have these
two, you can use journaling in the way you want to. However
if you just go into journaling blindly, then it will take some
time until you learn what works for you.
Mindfulness
While you’re journaling it is important to have a sense of
mindfulness. Make sure to leave anything distracting, such
as your phone on another room so you can focus fully on
journaling. However, you need to think about the past and
the future if you journal about particular questions and
meanings.
The most valuable component is to learn when to and when
not to be mindful while journaling. I think you’ll figure that out
yourself with time.
The meaning of mindfulness - being focused on the
present moment or on a single task that is happening right
now, with no noises about the future or regret about the past.
The importance of
journaling
Chapter 3
The Importance of Journaling
Since most of you that are reading this guide are here
because you want to know how to journal, I won’t be wasting
any of your time. I’ll keep this chapter short and jump
straight to the point.
Journaling can have several positive impacts on your life.
Here are some of them:
Journaling can have a positive impact on your mood. That is
because when you’re writing, you’re in a way expressing
your feelings to someone else so you don’t keep them
closed inside you and let them control you.
Journaling can have a positive impact on your productivity
(In the next chapter we’ll discuss on how to increase your
productivity through journaling).
Journaling can help with stress and anxiety
Journaling can provide you with a calm, yet helpful and
healthy experience.
How to journal
Chapter 4
The Different Types
of Journaling
There are several ways on how you can journal. There are
different methods you can choose, depending on your goal.
I’ll be explaining some of them below:
Daily Journal - A daily journal is journaling about your day.
How your whole day went, what the positive and negative
events were. This will help you identify what you are doing
wrong so you can work towards fixing it, learning and
becoming a better person.
Summary: Write how your day went as a whole. Every detail
is important, therefore write everything, negative and
positive situations aswell.
Productivity Journal - A productivity journal helps you
become more productive and focused on your work and
goals. In order to do so, you can write a daily to-do list on
your journal. That helps you keep track of the tasks you have
to and get to complete today. As you check those boxes in
the to-do list, you will not only get a boost on your
productivity but also on your self esteem.
Rather than writing a to-do list, you can plan your day. For
example, you can write a certain task you’re gonna do at a
certain time of the day and at a certain place.
Summary: Write a to-do list on your journal. Write a plan on
your journal.
Spiritual Journal - This type of journaling can tremendously
help you find yourself and your identity. It mostly contains
specific questions you ask yourself, such as “What would my
perfect identity look like?”,”Who do I want to be in 365 days
from now?” or “What are the goals I want to accomplish?”.
Thereafter you can try to answer them deeply, trying to find
the answer you’re looking for, from within. Spiritual journaling
helps you clarify your vision of yourself and your goals.
Summary: Write questions in your journal that you seek an
answer to. Then try to find the answer from within while you
answer on the journal about the solution of that question
(The questions depend on your circumstances and what you
need to clarify for yourself).
Spiritual Journaling Example
My Style of
Journaling
Throughout one year of journaling, I have learned new
things and new ways to perfect my method.. Rather than
only using one type of journaling, I’ve used a few of them
(that I mentioned before) and fused them into one technique.
First of all I start with ten gratitude phrases (ten things I am
grateful for). It doesn’t necessarily have to be ten but I
scaled the number up with time.
Thereafter, I write what my purpose right now is, something
similar to “My purpose right now is to help people” or “My
purpose right now is to study”.
I also write what book I am currently reading and you can
also do the same but if you aren’t reading any books
currently, you can just replace it with another hobby.
After that, I write what my perfect identity (the best version of
myself) would look like. For example “My identity is positive,
calm, helpful…”
Then I write a to-do list for the day with tasks, such as
workout, meditation and other similar habits.
And at the end of the day, I write how the whole day went so
I can see what I can improve tomorrow.
This is my style of journaling, but it doesn’t mean you should
do the same. Remember to always start small.
The Back And The Front
Cover of The Journal
These two components are very important in the branch of
journaling. If you use them properly, you can make your
journaling experience much more rewarding.
In the front cover of the journal, you can write your name,
the current year and then the goals you want to achieve
during that year. What I do is also write how many followers I
want to reach on instagram, so it depends on your life and
how you choose to use the front cover and the back cover of
the journal.
Then you can write the skills you want to learn throughout
the year and a few quotes that you think can motivate you to
keep pushing forward while you read them.
In the back cover you can write about different challenges
you set up for yourself. I write the books I’ve read so far, the
books I want to read in the future and the books I am
currently reading.
You don’t have to copy what I do. Pick something you like
and modify it.
Your Style
of Journaling
Not everything in this guide is for you. You aren’t meant to
use everything. We all have a different path, a different
vision. And now you’re supposed to find your own.
Seek your own way of journaling, just like you have a
different personality than anyone else. And even if it takes a
while, remember to always learn from the best.
Before you finish this guide, I have one more thing to say to
you.
I am truly proud of you. I am proud of who you have
become and who you’re striving to be. Keep pushing,
cause I’ll always be here believing in you!
