You hear a lot about journaling when you are in the personal development and/or coaching industry and if you are new to it, you will probably think:
“Wow, it is that easy? Writing my thoughts in a diary will actually change my life…?”
…Until you try it out. I have invested in several programs from several leading business coaches and mentors and all of them journal, in order to
- Get clarity about all life areas (including their work of course)
- Reframe limiting beliefs into empowering ones
- Get intentional about goals
- Write down action plans to actually achieve those goals
- Heal emotional pain by writing about it
- Clear your mental space
- Assess your current life circumstances and see where you would like a change
- Practice gratitude
When I started to get into a routine to do it consistently, not only did I find it very enjoyable, I actually also felt some huge shifts in my thinking and life.
My most favorite journaling prompt is
“Who is the future version of yourself?
What does she believe about herself?
How does she feel?
What is she doing on a daily basis?”
Those questions are so powerful because they
- Make you dream and visualize about your future
- Make you think about how you can feel, act and believe today already in order to embody this future version
- Make you realize what you have to let go of in order to get where you want to be
- Make you realize what you have to implement in your life to get to your next level version of yourself
I will give you an example:
If your future version is successful, happy with herself, rich, sporty, impactful… whatever it might be for you
- Would your current version lie in bed until noon if you want to be successful in the future?
- Would you allow yourself to have negative self-talk if your future self is loving herself deeply?
- Would you hold yourself back from sharing openly on social media if your goal for your future is to make an impact in many lives?
- Would you get stuck in a scarcity mindset and never treat yourself to something you would like to buy if you want to become rich?
Foundation for your belief system
So, as you can see, the journaling is the solid foundation for everything else. It will help your brain make decisions in your daily life. It will rewire your belief system because if you constantly ask yourself those questions and they do not align with your current reality, it will be a wake-up call to change some of those things. And you can empower yourself with affirmations (e.g. “I am powerful, I am beautiful…”)
Abundance mindset
Another great journaling exercise is gratitude to get into an abundance mindset and start your day on a high frequency (if you do your journaling in the morning). Write down things you are grateful for even if those are just little things.
Closing the gap
I also recommend writing out your current desires onto paper. As a next question, ask yourself, why those desires are not manifested yet and what you can do today to make those desires a reality?
I would love to hear from you if you ever tried intentional journaling on a consistent basis?
By Alexandra Zuber
Alex is one of our Remote Work Mentors – a certified coach and NLP Practitioner in Training.
She is able to help you overcome any limiting beliefs that hold you back from stepping into your full potential and from bringing your passion project into this world. Her big passion besides traveling the world is devouring everything related to the subconscious mind and how we can use it to create the personal and professional life we dream of and deserve.