At the beginning of the year, I was a journaling machine – killing my daily affirmations and jotting down my random thoughts and ideas. Daily affirmations became weekly affirmations, which I was fine with until my affirmations disappeared altogether.  Ace wisely reminded me the other day that thoughts become things. So I want to get back on my journaling game.

Journaling has a positive impact on physical well-being, including reducing stress and increasing emotional intelligence, memory and comprehension. Read about other benefits here.

My goal is to sit down once a week (I think I’m saving Sundays for this) for the rest of this month and July and spend 20 minutes journaling. Then I’m going to make it twice a week, but baby steps, people. Anyways, if you’re interested in journaling here are a few prompts to get you started. 

 

10 Journaling Prompts To Get You Started

1)What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

2)Pick a favorite inspirational quote and design a journal page around it.

Write about the wisdom this quote awakens in you and how applies to your life. Why is it important for you at this time?

3) Write a gratitude list.

4) Write your sources of stress.

Write as many things as you can think of. When you are finished, reflect on how long the list is and how strong you are to be dealing with all of it. If you list is long, you may want to sort them into categories.  Sort stress-sources into categories like ‘life’, ‘money’, ‘people’, ‘school’ etc.  Brainstorm solutions to at least one stress source in each category. If your list is relatively short pick one or two that you can tackle fairly easy and jot down ways to alleviate that stressor. 

5) Write a pep talk to give yourself the next time you feel sad, upset, or full of doubt.

6) Find an image or two in a magazine that draws you.

Cut it out, and paste it on a blank journal page. You can write two sentences or two pages. Just let it out. Let the image speak to you. You may be surprised at how much lighter you will feel.

7) Journal about your unhealthy habits.

8) I am amazing because…

9) Find some lyrics that you love and jot them down. Write about why the lyrics resonate with you. 

10) Create a list. Here are a few ideas:

• Places you’ve enjoyed visiting or would like to visit
• Your favorite books
• All of favorite movies
• Your favorite songs
• Your top five short term and long term goals

Join me on this journaling adventure. Feel free to journal more frequently than what I’ve set. If you want to share some pics use the hashtag: #JournalingJuneandJuly.