I’ve kept a journal since I’ve been 6 years old.
My first journal had a cover with a red and white floral design, and it had a lock and key. The pages were lined, and I wrote (with lots of miss-spellings and really bad grammar) about my first day of school, the girls I was friends with, the bully in the class, my parents’ refusal to give me an allowance, my beloved grandfather who passed away that year and how I felt about all these things.
I remember so clearly the absolute delight I took in sharing my secrets and myself in those pages. The book – which was small in size – felt to me like a sacred and magical tool. My 6-year-old self believed it had the power to make my life better.
I still have that journal, and the 45+ others that I’ve filled since then.
The writing in those journals has evolved from small words written in print letters to more sophisticated thoughts written in cursive or sometimes drawn with pastels.
The stories told in those journals have seen me get my period for the first time, fall in love with (& get heartbroken by) my first crush, realize my parents weren’t perfect, get rejected from my college of choice, graduate college and grad school, deal with my mother’s illness, travel across the world, get and recover from Bell’s palsy, quit my job to start my own business, get married, birth two children, and everything in between.
And my 38-year-old-self can say without a doubt that journaling does have the power to make your life better, richer, and happier.
Throughout the years, my journal has helped me:
- connect deeply to myself and my desires
- tap into my inner wisdom and uncover my intuition
- create clarity out of confusion
- express my anger in safe and really productive ways
- release pain and frustration and disappointment
- connect to Spirit
- make better decisions
- cultivate hope
- cultivate self-love and confidence
- and so much more
Over the last decade, I have also used my journal to support me in every single aspect of my business, from my confidence level & ability to value myself, to my marketing and operations plans.
Journaling has helped me grow into a successful, soul-centered entrepreneur who (for the most part) knows herself and her desires really well, has the insight and clarity to make good decisions about offerings, marketing, rates, team and systems, and has the courage to take risks and make out-the-box moves.
Here are some of my "best practices" for successful journaling:
- Be consistent: There are periods of time when I journal every day, and then periods of time where I journal only every other week. Of course, when I am more consistent, I receive so much more from my journaling practice – each journal entry builds on the next and deep, deep insights are revealed over time. But even when I just check in for a few minutes, writing just for me has the power to transform my mood, provide me with hope and trust, and give me insight on next steps.
- Write fast: I have found that the faster I write when I journal, the easier it is to get past all of my mental gobbelty-gook and obstacles and go to a much deeper place inside of myself that holds the real wisdom. There’s something about writing as fast as you can that eliminates your filter and gets you to your truth.
- Write for yourself: In order to really allow your truth and wisdom to flow, it’s vital that you journal for yourself only, and not with the thought that someone else may read your writing. When you write with the knowledge that it’s just for you, you have permission to express any emotion that wants to be expressed, any idea no matter how silly it seems, and any big goal without being judged.
- Mix it Up: I personally get a little bored with writing from the same voice in every journal entry. I get stale that way. What has really helped me continually find deeper and deeper places inside myself is to mix it up – write from different points of view, sometimes draw, sometimes write in silence and other times with music playing, write letters, make charts, make lists, etc.
Not only have I used my journal for over three decades for my own self-growth and learning, but I regularly give my clients and students journaling assignments to support them and their businesses. It has been utterly amazing to watch my clients grow on the inner and outer levels through their self-discovery and through their journaling.
And this is what I want for you, too.
That is why I am thrilled beyond thrilled to share with you the Deep Insights Business Journaling Intensive:
Next week (starting Monday, July 7th), I will send you a journaling assignment each morning. For five days in a row, you’ll receive a specially-designed journaling assignment from me to help you gain clarity, wisdom and confidence about your business. Each assignment can take as long as a half-hour, but in order for it to be effective, you don’t need to write for more than 5 minutes. You are going to get so much from your writing, and then even more by participating in our Facebook group where I’ll be doing additional teaching and coaching each day.
You don’t need to register for the Journaling Intensive – as a member of the Soulful Coaching community, you’ll get it in your inbox automatically each day-my gift to you.
What you should do right away is join our Journaling Intensive Facebook group so that you can introduce yourself to the other women in the community and get ready to share your insights from the journaling assignments. I’ll be on the Facebook group a LOT next week to share my own insights with you and coach you! Here’s the link to join:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/801350099917050/
Can’t wait!
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