Here at CreateWriteNow, we've spent the first part of this year with a strong focus on journaling for self-discovery. We've looked long and hard at the many ways journaling can help us expand our self awareness.
Now, as the spring ripens and summer is just around the bend, we'll be turning our attention more to the ways that journaling can support our efforts to improve. Because there's being, and then there's becoming.
Self-discovery tells us tons about who we are and what's involved in our being. But guess what? None of us is immune to change. Who we are today is not the same as who we will be tomorrow, because the experience of today will change us, however imperceptibly.
It's good news that personality is always changing. We want to have the capacity to improve; we want to believe in perfectibility. We want to look back and know we have progressed.
While we constantly endeavor to expand self-awareness, it is when we focus on self-development that the practical power of journal writing takes center stage.
When we turn to journaling for self-improvement, suddenly our regular journal entries are far more disciplined, and we never lack for content ideas.
Have you ever used a journal to help you achieve a goal? If so, maybe you followed a procedure like the following:
1. State the need – What makes you want to change?
2. Describe the goal – What will change look like in your life?
3. Sketch out a timeline – How long are you allowing for this change?
4. Dedicate to writing updates – How deep is your commitment to change? That is, do you really want this thing? Are you willing to work on it even when you don't feel like it?
5. Dedicate to inner coaching – Take the time to comfortably establish the inner voice of support and encouragement that will always be there for you.
6. Review updates – Once a week, every few weeks, once a month … whatever schedule seems reasonable, pause to re-read your entries. Add a bit of musing time at the end of your reading, to summarize your impressions on a fresh page in your journal.
7. Track progress - Once a week, every few weeks, once a month … whatever schedule seems reasonable, pause to evaluate where you are in relation to your original goal. Make notes about your progress (or lack thereof) and carry on.
8. Celebrate – Once a month, every few months, once a year … whatever schedule seems reasonable, pause to celebrate your advances! Have a party with your inner coach, and give each other awards.
9. Start over – Maybe you were hoping that once you achieved this particular goal, you would never have to work at anything again in your life. 'Course, that's not true at all. You will start again with a new or expanded goal, because you know that life is nothing if not a long and fascinating series of learning experiences. Your journal makes learning fun.
Please comment about your own process with journaling and self-improvement. How has your journal writing made goals easier to attain?
Learn more about Journaling for Self-Improvement
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