5 Ways to Journal

ChangeHappiness

May 11

If you want to change your relationship with alcohol, you have to get to know yourself. Journaling is a great way to do that. A journal is one of the best tools to uncover your deeper motivations, your deeper fears, your deeper thoughts, and your deeper beliefs.

There are a lot of studies that show that we can access deeper parts of our subconscious when we write things down. In fact, author Joan Didion famously said, “I don't know what I think until I write it down.” For me, journaling was a crucial tool in changing my relationship with alcohol. To this day, it is something I cannot live without.

I do a morning routine almost every single day. I try my best to journal and meditate and do affirmations and read and exercise. If I don't have time for my full routine—if I only have a quick 10 minutes to spare—the only thing I do no matter what is write in my journal.

It really has helped me process my feelings and determine what I really want in life. Through journaling, I am able to pinpoint my desires and identify my limiting beliefs and process them so I can keep moving forward and keep helping people.

Making best friends with your journal is really critical. You can use something online. You can download an app. You could get a beautiful, soft-bound journal. I like using a leather-bound journal with small lines. It makes me happy. I travel with it. I take it everywhere with me.

If you haven’t quite made a habit out of writing in your journal yet—if you know you want to be journaling but you’re kind of stumped—here are five ideas you can use to get something on the page.

1. Start a gratitude journal

The first one is gratitude. Gratitude is literally something that anyone can do.

If you write in your journal in the morning, write down what made you grateful the day before. It can be little things or big things. I’m grateful for the delicious coffee. I’m grateful for the cuddles with my pup.

Get into the habit of writing in your gratitude journal first thing in the morning. It can really help you start off your day on a positive note.

2. Journal about your dreams

Another great idea is to journal about your dreams upon waking.

Write about your dreams as soon as you wake up. This will help you remember and process them. These recollections can be as detailed as you like. Even a few sentences will help you make sense of them.

3. Stream of consciousness journaling

Stream of consciousness is this idea that it doesn't matter what you write. Just express yourself. Write a page or two without editing it—without worrying about what you're saying. This idea comes from Julia Cameron, who wrote The Artist’s Way. In it, she recommends writing three pages of pure stream of consciousness every morning. She calls these pages “morning pages.”

The point of morning pages is not to be eloquent, insightful, or beautiful. It's just to get the crap out of our heads to make room for really creative ideas. Even when you don't know what to write, you can literally say, I don't know what to write. It doesn't matter.

Stream of consciousness can really be good for those of us who feel a little critical about what we write down. Your goal is to write a page or two. That’s it. It’s not about quality. It’s a really great way to just process the crap. Write about an argument you had with someone. Write about what’s stressing you out. It’s all fair game.

4. Write Affirmations

The fourth one is one of my favorites, and this is doing affirmations and visualization in your journal. An affirmation is a statement where you say something that you want in the present tense like, “I am wildly abundant,” “I change a lot of lives,” or “I'm an author.”

Writing your affirmations is a beautiful way to embed them into your subconscious. You cannot become something that you don't believe is possible for you. When you start believing things on a subconscious level, they become possible.

Sometimes I will repeat the same affirmation over and over. Just write it a few times. Sometimes I write a lot of different affirmations. Then I might also visualize on top of that.

Visualization is when you imagine yourself in a future situation that is aligned with your bigger dreams. Maybe you're in the Maldives having a beautiful vacation. You look really chic in your white bathing suit, and you're having a great time. Maybe you're meeting a hero of yours at an event. Maybe you’re signing books at an event. Whatever it is, you actually imagine that future situation.

Another variation you might want to try when you write affirmations is to switch the “I” to “you.” That way, it’s almost as if the universe or God is saying to it you. You are so powerful. You are so beautiful. You are amazing. You are changing lives.

5. Use Prompts

The fifth way you can journal is another favorite. It's using prompts. A prompt is an actual question that you answer. You can find writing prompts in all of my courses. You will find prompts in my 8-week Become Euphoric course, my Dry Bootcamp, and in my new program for alcohol-free women who want to enrich their lives and meet their goals, Become Emboldened. In my book, Euphoric: Ditch Alcohol and Gain a Happier, More Confident You, there are reflection questions closing out most chapters.

A lot of other self-help books are structured that way, too. So, if you're always reading a personal growth book, you will never run out of prompts.

There are so many different ways to journal. Aim to make a journal your best friend as you're changing your relationship with alcohol and going after your dream life. Otherwise, we get stuck in our heads and we keep believing the same thing over and over and over again. A journal can act as a spotlight to help you determine where you're stuck and how to move forward. So get one today!

Removing alcohol is the secret sauce to unlocking your fullest potential and going on the wildest personal growth journey of your life. It’s a technique that has helped my clients uncover and go after the deepest desires of their heart. And give them the confidence to go after it.

If you’d like my help in changing your relationship with alcohol for good and discovering your greater purpose, book a call here.