We all want things to be in order, right? Often the overwhelm we feel is not because âweâre doing too much,â or because âwe donât have enough time.â I think our consciousness is more advanced than that. Really, we desire to think clearly so we can approach our days effectively, thus making room for what matters most to us.
One effective tool for the above - and more - is to journal.
As a student I enjoyed using a planner to keep track of assignments, ideas, and such, but once I discovered journaling as a way to keep ideas, capture thoughts, observe my life, and define a future, it completely changed the game for me - not only in terms of thinking clearly, but in being honest with myself and focusing on whatâs most important now. Additionally, during periods of sadness or loss of direction, it was a compass assisting while my boat ride stormy weathers.
This is an enjoyable subject to me, so this is a working guide as I hope to continuously grow this practice and explore new prompts, questions, and journal activities. Enjoy!
ON THIS PAGE:
My Journal Articles âď¸
My Journal Videos đĽď¸
Journals/Planners I Use(d) đ
My Favorite Journal Prompts đ
My Journal Articles âď¸
There is a growing body of evidence that can tell us about how to journal in a way that maximizes our results and minimizes distraction. I've written these articles for you which share all my posts to date on the subject.
My Journal Videos đĽď¸
Thoughts disentangle themselves out the lips and through pencil tips â Dawson Trotman
Journals/Planners I Use(d) đ
Here are some of my favorite journals (for different use): Best Self Journal , Traveler notebook, And this will help define a vision for the new year: Lifebook Story
Best Self Co. Week and Quarter Review, Lessons Learned. Monthly
The Full Focus Journal: Ideal Day & Ideal Week
The Freedom Journal - guide to accomplishing your #1 goal in 100 days.
My Favorite Journal Prompts đ
Ask these 4 questions whenever there is an unpleasant, intrusive thought in your head:
Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that itâs true?
How do you react when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?
Questions and Prompts in The Code of the Extraordinary Mind* by Vishen Lakhiani
Prior to being a Mindvalley Quest Ambassador, when I first read Vishenâs book, these questions assisted in bringing creative clarity to how I envision future I want to live.
What beautiful human experiences do you want to have?
What will help you grow and become the man/woman you want to be?
In what ways can you contribute to others and the world as a whole?
Questions and Journal Entries from The Big Leap* by Dr. Gay Hendricks (link to podcast)
The questions Dr. Hendricks writes in this book are excellent in honing in on your purpose, your unique âzone of genius.â
Dr. Joe Dispenza Questions and Charts in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself & Becoming Supernatural
The questions in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, are foundational questions to begin observing your personality - the way you think, feel, and act on a daily basis - so you can then consciously choose how you want to think, feel, and act, thus redefining your personality.
Additionally, there are prompts for creating **intentions and the accompanying elevated emotions they evoke within you. Ultimately, so you can mentally rehearse that vision as it manifests.
Some examples follow to help you begin review and redefine:
What kind of person have I been? What type of person do I present to the world? What kind of person am I really like inside?
What is the greatest expression of myself that I can be?
Who in history do I admire? How did they act?
What would it take to think like ___?
Whom do I want to model?
How would I be if I were ___ (wholesome)?
What would I say to myself If I were this person?
How do I want to think? to feel? to act?
A.A.A, Intention, and Kylego Exercise in The Illusion of Money by Kyle Cease
I mentioned this in my travel blog to Hawaii.
A.A.A stands for your Average Amount of Alignment. Write down the activities you do in one day and rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 meaning it is very out of alignment with who you want to be i.e things that make you feel stuck and small. 10 meaning it excites you to do, such as your creative outlets, eating healthy, exercising and more. The goal is show you where in your life you are aligned with your intuition, so you can stop doing what's out of alignment.
The Kylego Exercise is to write a desired intention or vision in the past tense, as if itâs already accomplished. As explained in the video, writing in the past tense has a way of evoking the emotion that matches the desired outcome. This is important because it shows you that you can live that experience now, while also drawing it closer to you, instead of seeing it as some thing separate from you.
In this activity, you will take an area of your life and journal the following four aspects about it:
Belief - what do I believe about this area of my life?
Vision - how do I envision my life unfolding in this area of my life?
Purpose - why is it important to me to have this vision? Why am I doing it?
Strategy - how will I take action daily, weekly, and so on?
The Passion Test with Janet Attwood
Here is the Passion Test Template.
My Podcast Guest Barak Hullman mentioned in our interview that he did the passion test with his wife. In fact, he mentioned that his wife is great friends with Janet Attwood.
Gratitude Pages - Best Self
What are 3 things youâre grateful for? Write in the morning and in the evening.
Ask for Guidance
Experimental Journal - for more on this checkout my interview with Pam Grout, author of E Squared.
Review Questions for the morning, and for the evening
The article Keeping Your Head and Your Heart in the Game by Dr. Joe Dispenza provides excellent questions to ask by your bedside assuring one reflects on the day. Practicing this reminds the person what they did well during the day and where thereâs room for improvement, so that you can do it again tomorrow and better each day.
Evening to Afternoon - Ways to Journal by Time of Dayâąď¸
đ Dream Journal â Record your dreams
đĄ Journal to Vent â get those feelings out of you. They need to be acknowledged, but not to stay. The donât serve you. Get them out.
đJournal to create & vision
đŹ Journal ideas
Having ideas is a skill that can be exercised. Unfortunately, we donât always validate the ideas we have. Journaling down ideas - all of them; even the silly ones - letâs you know that you are worthy to receive novel ideas and that you take them seriously as opposed to thinking we donât have ideas like that.
After college I listened to Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale. In it he mentioned the following, written in my words, on recording ideas:
Writing 20 ideas a day to improve goal what now doing. If everything you have now is a result of 10% mental ability , imagine 20% or more. Successful people learn to solve their problems. Donât waste time worrying about needless things. The only thing thatâll take you to your goals is your mind. Itâs effective use and following through on the good ideas it supplies you.
Each day is a new page to write your story. How can you best use this day? If we waste 1 hour a day, it adds up to 250 hr a year that our Corp is shut down and earn nothing.
đ To pray
One thing that can be performed at the lowest of lows, the highest of highs, and all in between; it can be performed as giving thanks, asking for guidance, prior to and after meals, envisioning a desired vision, and other practices is prayer. There are everyday prayers, seasonal and holiday prayers, situational prayers like travel prayers, and many more.
This blog is about the prayer that returns us closer to our highest self and God. Recently, I finished reading Judaic Mysticism by Dr. Avram Davis and Manuela Dunn Mascetti and there was a chapter dedicated to prayer.
The chapter referenced this prompt (photo on the left) for prayer from the book, Renewing Your Soul by Rabbi David Cooper. In this chapter on Prayer, the authors share that the most popular prayer is petition because "there are so many things we want and don't get that we feel it is worth asking for divine intercession." What is beautiful about the prayer prompt (on the right) is that one is able to write a letter to God about his or her innermost thoughts and feelings, along with a request and how that request benefits the person praying, the world, and how important it is to them.
Mind Maps, Smart Notes, Capture & Create đ§
How to Take Notes for Rapid Recall by Jim Kwik
Doodling đ¨âđ¨
Sketch Noting to Internalize Information
Internalizing information is how we learn and retain info.
During my Nutrition Certification course, I discovered a way to helped internalize the wonderful information I was learning. I found that I loved all of the nutrition classes I had, but I wasnât retaining or comprehending all that was presented or that I wanted. One day, I learned how to make sketch notes and put it into action today during my science lessons.
Hereâs a TIP - Think. In. Picture.
If youâre looking to boost comprehension, try thinking in doodle pics.
TEDx Talk on Doodling