Wait, what now?!? I can journal ONE SENTENCE each day? Or once a month? 🤯 Why has no one let me in on this secret before? Every single time I journal, I feel better. Every single time. But my perfectionistic standards always intervene, convincing me that I have to pour out my soul every time. Or write every night before bed. I feel like some actual freedom just broke open inside my core with this new perspective on what consistency means. And it applies to everything, right?!? Not just journaling! So grateful for this post! ❤️
Voice recording is my preference. Besides helping me increase my self-awareness and emotional intelligence, it's boosted my communication skills in my day-to-day life! Great read!
I found this message to be on target about journaling and being inconsistent. I have kept journals since I was a teenager and recently revisited the writings. I gain insight on somethings that felt impossible during those times but proved differently. Journaling has been important to me and after reading this I can decide how I want to my journaling. Thanks again for sharing.
I really needed that Nugget, thank you so much! I am a recovering perfectionist and I come down hard on myself when I feel "inconsistent" with my journaling. I feel like you mentioning the difference between consistency and frequency really clarifies for me that I need to be ok with how much I am able to journal now in the present. There is a comparison that happens in my brain like "I used to write 5 pages at a time, what's wrong with me?" but also I didn't have the responsibilities then that I do now, and I don't have the time now that I did then. My take away from this will be: I can journal and be consistent without feeling guilty for the frequency with which I journal. Thank you again.
I’ve recently been revisiting journals from when 7 years ago when I first started therapy and they are honestly some of my most valued possessions now. Like you, I’m so thankful to have a snippet of that moment to look back on, no matter how ugly some of the things I thought about myself were back then.
Three game changing things for me around journaling were:
1. Finding a pen a like--Pilot G2 BOLD in Black (it’s the former teacher in me I can’t help it)
2. Finding a journal I like--I prefer dotted journals not lines. The dots are just *enough* structure. I tend to doodle a lot when I’m trying to get the thoughts flowing.
3.Giving myself permission to use the notes app on my phone to record thoughts on the fly.
I love your suggestions. Prompts were a lifesaver for me when I was super uncomfortable with the idea of free-writing and needed some structure.
Prompts are so helpful when you're unsure what to say and when you run out of ideas. In the newsletters, I include them to help with getting started and hopefully, they lead to more profound thoughts.
I feel like you are inside my brain! I have been journaling more lately as part of the journey of healing I’m on. And I recently committed to doing morning pages again. Knowing that I get to journal first thing before doing anything else helps me get out of bed on these icy cold mornings in Toronto!
This is such a timely message on journaling. I have been trying to establish a consistent practice. I journaled for a long time through a rough period of my life and reflecting I agree it really shows a lot of who you are and were then. I have grown. Now I want to establish a new series of journaling in this new season of the peace and joy I have begun to experience….still evolving but much better than before. Thank you Nedra. Your words always bless me.
Wait, what now?!? I can journal ONE SENTENCE each day? Or once a month? 🤯 Why has no one let me in on this secret before? Every single time I journal, I feel better. Every single time. But my perfectionistic standards always intervene, convincing me that I have to pour out my soul every time. Or write every night before bed. I feel like some actual freedom just broke open inside my core with this new perspective on what consistency means. And it applies to everything, right?!? Not just journaling! So grateful for this post! ❤️
Voice recording is my preference. Besides helping me increase my self-awareness and emotional intelligence, it's boosted my communication skills in my day-to-day life! Great read!
Hey! This was helpful.
When I start writing I end up editing it in my head and then I hate it. I lose the original feeling. I hope you get my perspective here. Thank you 🌼
I found this message to be on target about journaling and being inconsistent. I have kept journals since I was a teenager and recently revisited the writings. I gain insight on somethings that felt impossible during those times but proved differently. Journaling has been important to me and after reading this I can decide how I want to my journaling. Thanks again for sharing.
I really needed that Nugget, thank you so much! I am a recovering perfectionist and I come down hard on myself when I feel "inconsistent" with my journaling. I feel like you mentioning the difference between consistency and frequency really clarifies for me that I need to be ok with how much I am able to journal now in the present. There is a comparison that happens in my brain like "I used to write 5 pages at a time, what's wrong with me?" but also I didn't have the responsibilities then that I do now, and I don't have the time now that I did then. My take away from this will be: I can journal and be consistent without feeling guilty for the frequency with which I journal. Thank you again.
I’ve recently been revisiting journals from when 7 years ago when I first started therapy and they are honestly some of my most valued possessions now. Like you, I’m so thankful to have a snippet of that moment to look back on, no matter how ugly some of the things I thought about myself were back then.
Three game changing things for me around journaling were:
1. Finding a pen a like--Pilot G2 BOLD in Black (it’s the former teacher in me I can’t help it)
2. Finding a journal I like--I prefer dotted journals not lines. The dots are just *enough* structure. I tend to doodle a lot when I’m trying to get the thoughts flowing.
3.Giving myself permission to use the notes app on my phone to record thoughts on the fly.
I love your suggestions. Prompts were a lifesaver for me when I was super uncomfortable with the idea of free-writing and needed some structure.
Prompts are so helpful when you're unsure what to say and when you run out of ideas. In the newsletters, I include them to help with getting started and hopefully, they lead to more profound thoughts.
I feel like you are inside my brain! I have been journaling more lately as part of the journey of healing I’m on. And I recently committed to doing morning pages again. Knowing that I get to journal first thing before doing anything else helps me get out of bed on these icy cold mornings in Toronto!
This is such a timely message on journaling. I have been trying to establish a consistent practice. I journaled for a long time through a rough period of my life and reflecting I agree it really shows a lot of who you are and were then. I have grown. Now I want to establish a new series of journaling in this new season of the peace and joy I have begun to experience….still evolving but much better than before. Thank you Nedra. Your words always bless me.