In 2015 I started working with a mindset coach. At this time I had very little direction in my life and was just existing day-to-day. I didn’t have any goals or plans. I’m a small business owner and my day consisted of just getting up, procrastinating and then fighting whatever was the latest emergency that needed my attention.
One of the first things my coach had me do was journal. I started with a brain dump – where you just write down everything that’s on your mind. It used to be that my mind was so cluttered that I’d forget appointments. Once I got my thoughts down on paper, I was able to organise them better. I could put dates in my diary and set goals that I wanted to achieve.
Through journaling, I was able to write about my dreams and what I wanted to achieve. I was then able to set goals based on those dreams and use the logical part of my brain to think about how I could go about making those dreams a reality. After all, they say a goal is just a dream with a deadline. I was able to journal on how I was progressing towards those goals. It gave me a clear pathway to see what worked and what didn’t and how I could go out replicating my positive results.
Journaling helped me when I felt like procrastinating. It helped me gain awareness of why I wanted to procrastinate and to realign my mindset. When I felt like procrastinating, I would write about why I felt that way to gain a logical perspective on my behaviour and get me into action again. Journaling helped me recognise when I was in a pattern of procrastinating and how to get out of it.
Journaling helped me build new positive patterns in my life. I got clear on what I wanted to happen in my life. One exercise my coach had me do was write a Painted Picture for my life. The Painted Picture was first devised by Cameron Herold. A Painted Picture is how you envision your life to be in business and other areas like relationships.
I reread my Painted Picture every week before I set my goals for the week and it really gets me into a space of abundance. My coach also had me write about my ideal day and see if I can bring any aspects of that ideal day into my present life. Another exercise I’ve been doing a lot to motivate me is to write about the future as if I’ve already achieved my goals. It lights me up every time I write about it.
Two years on from starting my mindset work, I’m like a different person. I’m so motivated. I use my time productively. I set goals and more often than not I manage to achieve them. Journaling has been an integral part of the process.
What effect has journaling had on your productivity?
You can download Carol’s Journaling for Productivity workbook here!
Author Bio:
Carol Brennan is a journaling instructor for women entrepreneurs. She helps women use journaling techniques to gain confidence and achieve their goals.
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