How to begin a consistent journaling practice

One of the things I hear often when I talk about journaling is that people don't know where to start or what to write about. My answers range from 'just what write what's on your mind' to 'try workshopping the pitch to your boss for a raise!" Maybe you feel uncomfortable putting a solid voice to your deepest fears. Maybe you struggle with where to begin because there's just so many things that need to come out. As a health and wellness coach, I believe in your intelligence; you don't need me to tell you to take the stairs, track your intake and stay hydrated. These are things that you can learn through google, you are looking for meaningful practices to add to your routine to make these things stick. Why do you have trouble with the consistency of health routines? Which ones resonate with you and which ones don't? That's the job of a health coach- help you find what works and how to keep it going, even when it's hard, even when it's boring, even when you're tired.

I for one love a list, so here's a list of things to lean on to start your journaling practice (or to uplevel, or refresh your current one!)

1. If you're an evening journal girlie, what you accomplished that day. If you keep a running to do list, it can feel like an unending uphill battle day over day. The list gets thrown out and then a new one starts. You start to feel like Sysiphus pushing the rock uphill. How often do you make a done list? How do you look back at the week, the month, or the year and analyze just how much you go done and how much progress you have made?

2. If you're a morning girlie, what you are looking forward to that day. Sometimes we get caught up in all the things that we have to go, we forget the things that we get to do. Seasonal coffee at our favorite coffee shop? A walk in the sunshine? Dinner with your family? You favorite shirt is clean for you to wear to work? A little gratitude in the morning can help reframe your whole day

3. If you're an experienced journal-er (idk if that's a word), maybe a glance at previous journals and see what you were doing one year ago today. Maybe that's too daunting, take a glance and see what you were doing last month, three months ago or six months ago. Sometimes a little reflection is good for the soul.

4. Moon phases, iykyk

5. MBP: This is something I picked up early on in my health journey when I was starting out with Noom. My Big Picture. What does success look like to you? The ultimate day. The big goal. It's a quiz you take to help align with your goals early on. But for me it's something that I add to the heading of every journal entry. Sometimes it changes but for the most part, it's pretty stable. It's a daily manifestation, its an affirmation, it's a statement of intent. Take some time to come up with your own!

6. Letter writing: Send a letter to your future self, your past self, your partner, someone you are in a disagreement with.

7. Burn Book.

8. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, especially if you have racing thoughts and are finding it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.

9. Start ranking things like quality of sleep, quality of workouts, the stress level of the commute to work, etc. At first rankings might seem random, take time to dig into them. I like to rank the overall stress of my day. All days start at 0, and then a perceived stressful incident adds a number. Quantifying stressful events helps me to put them into perspective. Sometimes I start with a 7 for the day, but once I've disected the day, it's a 3 or a 4. Was the commute really that bad? Was your workout that hard? Was you child's behavior that extreme?

10. The Micro-goal. The weekly goal.

    1. This week I am going to work out on Tuesday and Thursday

    2. Today is Tuesday I am going to work out after work

    3. Today is Wednesday and yesterday I has a successful work out.

    4. Today is Thursday and I'm a bit sore, but still gonna get my workout in,

    5. Today is Friday and I'm pretty sore, next week I'm going to plan on working out Monday and Thursday to give my body more time to recover between sessions.

Happy Journaling y'all! Remember to be your own best friend!