My super simple, super effective journaling habit

I know you’re busy. I know you have shit to do. You have a Success Revolution to achieve! 

And, if you’re anything like me, sometimes doing things like meditating, journaling, therapy, exercising, eating well, all of that great stuff, can fall to the bottom of your priority list.

But I find that my ability to get things done - whether they are in my business, around the house, taking care of other people like my immediate family or my parents - strongly depends on me having taken care of myself first.

But I, like you, don’t have a ton of extra time kicking around for a one hour meditation session, sitting down with my journal and writing pages and pages, heading to the gym for a couple of hours a day. I prioritize self-care, but I also need to be strategic about it.

That’s why I’ve developed a journaling routine. 6 topics that I do everyday. And I’m going to share it with you now. It takes me maybe 5 minutes a day. And it’s totally structured so I’m not staring at a blank page, trying to figure out what the hell to write.

It’s got everything I need to keep me keep the spotlight on what’s important and what I need to focus on for the day. And it helps me bring my thoughts together before I turn in for the night.

This isn't something I've come up with on my own, not really. It's actually pulled from a few different sources - something called the 5-minute Journal, a bit I’ve learned from Denise DT. And I’ve modified it to meet my own needs. 

It’s divided into six parts - four that I do each morning before I get out of bed, two before I shut off the light (or before I grab whatever novel I’m reading before bed). 

Morning Topics

• Today I’m grateful for...

First I'll write down what I'm grateful for. I'll write down at least five things, but I usually shoot for ten. These things could be big, they could be small. Often it's something like being grateful for the snoring puppy at my side. Or I'm grateful for the coffee that my husband just brought me, or I'm grateful for the birds singing outside my window. On a cold day like today I’m grateful for my warm house. Or it could be big things. It could be things like I'm grateful for the new client and grateful for a successful launch.

• My goals. 

The second thing I write are my goals. These are goals that don't change every day. I've picked 10 goals, and I write down those exact same 10 goals every single day. And the only time that I stop writing down a goal is when I've met that goal, or if I've decided that goal isn't really my goal anymore. 

Some examples of the types of goals I’ve written down are things like revenue goals for my business. I’ve also written down action goals for my business, like hiring a specific team member, or launching a new product or service by a specific date. My goal could also be personal, like selling our VW van to a specific type of person for a certain amount of money.

It can be whatever goals you want to achieve. 

But the trick is to write them down every single day. Too often we do goal setting at the beginning of the year, or even at the beginning of a quarter. And then we don't look back at our goals until the next year or the next quarter, and then we're like oh shit, I forgot about that goal. And, oh gosh, I didn't meet it. Hmmmm, I wonder why? Oh, I guess I'm just a loser. No, you’re not! You’ve just literally forgotten your goal because life has taken over! We don't want that to happen. I want you to look at your goals every single day. And if you're writing your goals out every single day, they are definitely top of mind. And you're thinking about okay, what actions Am I taking today to make this goal happen? That's pretty life changing. 

• Afformation (Why am I…?)

Not affirmation but afformation. This is something pretty new to me and I love it. I was never a big fan of affirmations. I felt they just seemed a little out of reach to me or something. But afformations feel more solid to me. 

Afformations are similar to affirmations but they're just in a different format. So, instead of saying an affirmation like, I attract new clients with ease. Instead, you ask a question and the question is positive and starts with ‘Why am I…’ so the question would go: Why am I so good at attracting new clients? 

I love that! For one thing, it rolls off the tongue a little bit better. And more importantly, it gets your mind thinking why am I like that? What is it about me that attracts so many clients? And you can start thinking about it. You can be like, wow, you know, I'm a great listener and I really understand my client's needs, and they often refer me to their friends and colleagues. Like all of a sudden it brings up all of these reasons why you are whatever it is you just stated. I learned about afformations a couple of months ago from Denise Duffield Thomas and I've stuck with them ever since. 

• What can I do to make today great? (3 things)

 The fourth thing I journal about in the morning is What can I do to make today great? I love this question because it puts the responsibility for my day squarely on me and I'm a firm believer that our happiness, our success, our joy, our peace, all that good stuff is 100% our responsibility. No matter what's going on around us. It is 100% our choice in how we are going to respond. 

I try to write at least three things down. Sometimes they’re simple things, like going for a walk, or calling my parents. Sometimes they are work related, like getting a task done that I’ve been procrastinating on.

So those are my four journaling items that I do before getting out of bed in the morning. I might write about other things, if I’ve got more to write about, but those are the 4 minimum. And the majority of the time, that’s all I do. 

Evening Topics

Once I climb into bed in the evening, I grab my journal again and cover two quick topics.

• Three amazing things that happened today...

First, I write down three amazing things that happened in the day. They don't have to be mind blowing, they don't have to be like, I won the lottery. They just have to be three wonderful things because amazing and wonderful things happen to us every day and we don't even pay attention to them, or celebrate them. This is your opportunity to make note of them.

Last night one of the things I wrote down was a great conversation with my daughter. It was wonderful.

• What could I have done to make today even better? (3 things)

 And the last item is ‘what could I have done to make today even better?’ We can always do a little bit better right? And a small reminder of what we can do tomorrow to make our day better is what this topic is all about. This topic isn’t about beating ourselves up, it’s about welcoming new habits into our lives. Yesterday I wrote down: “Drink more water, less scrolling on social media, and less time reading bad news.” Last night was definitely not the first time I’ve written those three things down. But I just keep reminding myself and I think I’m getting a little bit better every day. 

So that’s it - that’s how I do my daily journaling. It works for me - I love it. I wanted to share it with you. It doesn't take much time out of my day but it really, really has a big impact. 

AND to help you out even more, I’ve made some beautiful wallpapers for your phone and your desktops that have my 6-part journaling routine printed right on them so that they are right at your fingertips. There’s even a fillable PDF for you! Download them here for free right now!