Do You Have The Guts - Episode 3
Journaling & How To Use it for Self-Mastery
Today we’re talking about a tool which happens to be one of the most effective tools for self-mastery and transformation…I thought we’d jump in with journaling first as a tool of self-mastery because it is so socially acceptable. Journals are everywhere and it’s encouraged by teachers, counselors, therapists, and mindset & health coaches!
We are chatting today about several different types of journaling from dear diary version of journaling which is a way to keep a record of the day to mind dumping to food journaling to twilight journaling to my favorite which is journaling with questions or prompts. And we are going to cover the differences and how each format is helpful.
Why bother with journaling?
I encourage journaling for self-awareness and releasing thoughts. Big surprise, right? It becomes easy quickly. It is free! Sometimes we uncover brilliant notions about our lives and how we are living them by getting our thoughts out on paper. We also get thoughts out of our heads and into a space where they can be observed and questioned. Even dumping the day onto a piece of paper in words, tearing it up and throwing it out can reduce stress, boost the mood, help create space in between our thoughts AND help us process in general. Like I mentioned, it’s one of the top 3 tools for self-mastery.
Journaling with questions that prompt you to look within is POWERFUL. and I do this daily – at least 5 or 6 times a week. What I uncover each time I sit down to answer “What is the issue?” never ceases to amaze me. My list of questions builds one upon the other until I get right to the heart of the matter. It’s a full-blown discovery more than once or twice a week. This past week I uncovered what that big underlying stress I’d been feeling was coming from. And I had no idea. Until I thought through what happened the day before, it had never occurred to me exactly how helpless and out of control I’d been feeling over a certain situation. I’d NEVER have known that if it were not for journaling.
Journaling right after quiet time in meditation or after a guided meditation can blow your mind. I know - if you haven’t done this it might sound crazy or woo woo. Just hear me out! I thought that at first too.
Answers pop out of the blue once our thoughts are even a little unscrambled. We create that bit of space I mentioned, and clarity shines through. Imagine a practice of unblocking your thoughts every day and the ideas and aha moments you might have.
I wonder…what happens when we give half of our attention to our mindset and reframing our thoughts, and half of our attention to our body - feeding and sculpting it with nutrition and exercise…but we give no time or consideration to our spirit… what happens? Perhaps we get stuck, not truly knowing ourselves or why we quit or give up…
How much transformation can happen if you are out of tune with the real you - the witness to this life who has access to the answers you are seeking?
Journaling is a practice that will tune you in to the real you.
This quote from Elmer Towns summarizes exactly why I love to journal.
Free Flow, Mind Dump, Dear Diary Journaling
Let’s get started with a universal journaling style: Journaling free flow dear diary style is almost like record keeping. it can help eliminate stress of the day by getting thoughts out of your mind and on to paper. This could also be considered a mind dump where you simply get your thoughts out onto paper – perhaps out of order or as they come to mind.
Seeing thoughts on paper offers you a way to let go of things that happened over the day and a way to analyze what’s running through your mind. Once you see the day before you in words, it creates awareness of thoughts and feelings.
I run a workshop for kids where we do this kind of journaling each class and once done we rip it up and throw away the pieces. It’s called write and rip. It’s a fantastic way for them to get feelings and emotions of the day off their chest so they can tune in to the class we’re getting started on. All of those thought loops can release a bit once they’ve been physically thrown away. So that is free flow journaling which is known as dear diary style.
Food journaling might be a new idea for you. This literally changed my life between the ages of 31-33. This style of journaling that allows you to record what you are eating to discover patterns in your food world. You don’t need to record calories or amounts. The tiny step of getting what you are eating onto paper is all we are shooting for. You don’t really want to do this in an app and I’ll explain why. You can also jot down moods and feelings. If you lean towards the moody side of life, this can be insightful.
I recommend Keeping this journal in a style that allows you to view a week at a glance This is what I’ve found most helpful for me and many clients.
You can use a weekly calendar of any kind, or you can use a simple notebook and divide a piece of paper into 7 sections - one for each day. (See example below)
A sample page of what I offer clients is below and you can download this through The Consistency Club files in our Facebook Group. I hope you will join us there to grow into this supportive community! Click here to join - no cost and no obligations.
Once you’ve figured out where you’ll journal, you simply jot down what you are eating at each meal and snack. You can be as detailed as you like about your food but know that I encourage tiny steps as you begin. Do not overwhelm yourself with detail - especially if that will make you less inclined to log your food.
Keeping the food journal as simple as possible and just jotting down about when and what you ate is great.
Include liquids as well. All of them! Your coffee, water, sodas, sweet tea, regular tea…
The reason for this is we want to make it easy to do - bc you are so much more likely to do something if it is easy for you. Once you’ve done this for a week, you can review your entire week’s intake at a glance. Next up, circle anything that is the same. For example, if you have a diet coke several times a day most days, circle that diet coke. If you eat the same thing for lunch every day, circle it. If you have 3 cups of coffee throughout the day, circle it.
What will emerge are your patterns.
All of a sudden, you’ll know you are drinking 32oz of diet coke a day. No wonder water is so unappealing - you’re full of diet coke all the time!
Or maybe you’ll notice that you eat pizza out for lunch 2-3 times a week. Well, that adds up in nutrients that do not serve you.
Maybe you are drinking 36 oz of coffee a day (3 12 oz cups)...that is dehydrating!
Knowing your food patterns is empowering because when you don’t know them, you may know you don’t feel well, but it’s difficult to pinpoint the cause of why you don’t feel well. Seeing your patterns is insightful as to how you are feeling.
Maybe you’re like me and you’ll see ‘bag of gummies 7 diet coke’ 4x a week mid afternoon. I always had stressful negotiation calls around 2 pm during the week. I’d schedule it that way so I could get input from my boss in the morning, plan my strategy and email the other side of the transaction, and then be prepared to discuss it on the phone in the afternoon. I also updated the client in the afternoon. The diet coke and bag of gummies from the vending machine was a reward for doing the hard stuff of negotiating. I hated it, but wanted to be good at it.
This practice became such a pattern for me that to this day I want to munch when working through the afternoon at the computer. Isn’t that crazy? I had no idea it was a pattern until I tracked my food and could see the week at a glance. Knowing my patterns gave me the opportunity to change them. Those red circles became blanks after a few weeks of practice. My water intake improved, my snacks improved, and my caffeine consumption went down - because I was aware of it!
I didn’t count calories, but I began to change habits and lose weight AND FEEL BETTER as a result. Food journaling was a helpful tool for years. It showed me when I was off track, my food behavior under stress, and my food behavior when functioning optimally.
It also showed me my food style on the weekend - which was holding me back. The journaling helped me understand what foods were holding me back and see a new path to take to get to the next level of fitness
The point is, I never could have changed any of these behaviors with food if I were not aware of them first.
Food journaling created an awareness for me, and it was the beginning of mastering myself when it comes to food. Once I understood my habits, I was able to change them and level them up.
Journaling with the Subconscious
Another type of journaling is Journaling with the subconscious - this is when you journal right when waking up. Even before you’ve sparked your body with that first sip of coffee. You are in what is known as the twilight state – especially if you journal FIRST THING when you wake up
If you find this an interesting idea, it’s really fun to ask yourself a question in your journal as you go to bed. Ask your subconscious a question. Then the next morning, FIRST THING, you wake, read the question and write for a page or 5 minutes – whatever works for you timewise.
This twilight journaling is also based on the notion that you have the answers you are seeking inside of you. That time between being really awake and almost asleep is the twilight state and
you’re not in judgment mode of yourself yet so you are allowing your spirit to shine through before you’ve quieted it for the day. Get ready for some interesting answers.
Thomas Edison actually did this on purpose. He’d fall asleep sitting up with a fork in his hand and a metal plate right under. Once he dozed off he’d drop the fork and startle himself awake, and record whatever came to mind. It’s been written in books that he had profound insights during this time of twilight journaling.
Now, food journaling was truly effective for me and I love sharing that technique. Journaling with a poignant questions or prompts is my current favorite journaling style.
If You’re Blocked when Journaling…
I have a friend whose inner critic is intense when it comes to journaling. She has a hard time just writing because her mind tells her the sentences need to flow, the grammar and spelling should be on point, it should be legible later, and that she’s not good at it. She has a perfectionist inner critic.
One way to overcome this kind of block or critic is to ask the critic questions. Yep, chat it up.
When you ask questions of yourself you cannot help but leave judgements behind. Curiosity is one of the best all-time cures for judginess. Of you and others. When you are pondering and answering the question, the judgment is negated and new thoughts flow.
Maybe you deal with a critic, or just a block when it comes to connecting to your inner wisdom when journaling. Questions can be so helpful and insightful.
Here are some examples of questions or prompts you can use for questioning the critic and for getting out of judgement. Use these to Get obstacles out of your way. Find insights on moving forward.
Curiosity is powerful.
Journaling Questions & Prompts
1. Why am I feeling this way?
2. Why do I always say this to myself?
3. Where did this mantra come from?
4. Where did I learn that?
5. Who told me that?
6. Is this my belief or does it belong to someone else?
7. Who does this sound like?
8. What are you protecting me from?
9. If the truth be known, what's really going on?
10. Is this who I am or who I'm attempting to be?
11. What pain am I avoiding?
12. What stubbornness am I holding onto?
13. What is it that I don't yet understand?
I love each of these questions for getting started on a journal entry. You don’t have to answer them all in one sitting! One per entry is a great use of your time! Personally, I have a list of 6 questions that I ask every day. They help me identify what I am dealing with that I may or may not see and moving through it
It’s easier let go of judgment and disempower the critic once you understand it. Journaling with one of your ‘choir’ - one of those negative or critical voices you hear a lot will offer you an opportunity to hold a constructive and calm inner dialogue as you flush out the answers when you question the critic.
Using questions or prompts is a fantastic way to connect to your insight and hear from your intuitive wise voice. Journaling offers a focus that can be practiced, it is mistake free because no one is evaluating your performance, but the aha moments, the solutions and ideas that will unfold through journaling require you to tune in to the work of it.
When the body, mind and spirit find a synergy in everyday life, we experience transformation. Journaling is a way to add your spirit into the effort of transformation. Most of us have strategy for the mind and body, journaling is a great strategy for our connection to spirit.
It’s time to start healing from the inside out. Do you have the guts to try?
Ideas for the journaling Habit
The motions of the Body - From journaling in the twilight state before really waking up to food journaling, or journaling after meditation or prayer, your body is more likely to adopt this daily motion if you create a space for it. There is the space where you journal and there’s a space where your body goes to journal. A simple notebook is FINE! A fancy journal is fun! Decide where you will record your thoughts. Keep your journal in one spot in your home. A cozy space where you can relax and tune in to you. Eventually the space and notebook will call you to the action as you repeat the task over and over. I miss journaling at this point - if I skip a day. If you choose twilight journaling, keep the journal RIGHT by your bed, toothbrush or coffeepot. Wherever you go FIRST thing is the best place for that type of journal so you don’t forget!
Any sort of week at a glance calendar is great for food journaling. Or click here to join the consistency club and download the food journaling page. It looks like this. With regards to when and where you food journal, that is really specific to the individual. I’ve carried the page in my purse, inside my calendar, and kept it at my bathroom sink to download everything at the end of the day. Be honest. No judgement. This journaling is to reveal patterns and it will CHANGE your life forever!
Mindset Strategy for Journaling
The strategy of the Mind: Asking poignant questions when journaling pushes the rutted thoughts out. Question everything about your negative thoughts. You might spend a few days simply writing down the mantras you are observing and questioning them. A journaling strategy for your mind is a great first step. HOW would you like to journal?
1. Why am I feeling this way?
2. Why do I always say this to myself?
3. Where did this mantra come from?
4. Where did I learn that?
5. Who told me that?
6. Is this my belief or does it belong to someone else?
7. Who does this sound like?
8. What are you protecting me from?
9. If the truth be known, what's really going on?
10. Is this who I am or who I'm attempting to be?
11. What pain am I avoiding?
12. What stubbornness am I holding onto?
13. What is it that I don't yet understand?
Heather’s 6 Questions for daily journaling
What is the issue?
What is it I don’t understand yet?
What is it I am really feeling?
What is it that I don’t see yet?
What voice is speaking? (Inner Critic or Wise voice?)
What do I need to do next?
The Spirit Connection to Journaling
The connection to Spirit: Journaling tunes you in to you. so don’t be afraid to know thyself. Offering your spirit an opportunity to chime into your everyday life is way bigger than a tiny step…and it will lead to transformation in how you are feeling and dealing with life. Getting in tune with feelings can be uncomfortable, but it is also one of the best ways to overcome that discomfort. Knowing the feeling and what thoughts are causing it allows you to change what you are thinking…to change your everyday feelings and outcomes.
Until next time!
