Daily Journaling

Happy New Year, everybody! Welcome to the first blog post of 2019. As New Year’s resolutions are the hot topic this time of year, I thought it would be nice to introduce this practice here on the blog. 

Daily journaling has been part of my morning and night ritual for almost two years now and has become something that I look forward to every day. I was first introduced to the idea by a YouTuber named Alex Ikonn who, along with his wife Mimi, created the 5 Minute Journal. The idea is quite simple: journal for five minutes in the morning immediately upon waking and five minutes again at night before going to sleep. While I did not buy a copy of their fabulous journal, I was able to easily create my own at home with a simple notepad copying down the same prompts each day. This is by no means the only way to journal, it is just one way that I have found that I like, fits my schedule, and helps me map out what I want from each day.

Below you will find the format of each journaling page. Note that the morning and night prompts are a bit different.

1.1.2019

Morning part

1. I am grateful for:

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

• ____________________________________

2. What would make today great:

• ___________________________________

• ___________________________________

• ___________________________________

3. I am (3 positive affirmations):

• ___________________________________

• ___________________________________

• ___________________________________

Evening part

1. 3 good things that happened today:

• ___________________________________

• ___________________________________

• ___________________________________

2. 3 Things that I could have done better:

• __________________________________

• __________________________________

• __________________________________

Feel free to fill in the blanks above however you like, with just one word, a picture, or multiple sentences- it’s your journal.

Starting each day by writing down three things I am grateful for has really shifted my perspective and made me much more aware of all the good that surrounds us, rather than dwelling on the negative. Overtime, this became a habit that I practiced even outside of my journaling and I noticed big changes. I believe that our thoughts and words have power and that we should be aware of which we give our energy to, be they positive or negative. If we continually focus on the negative and complain, our perspective of the world will follow suit. However, if we train ourselves to be grateful and look on the upside of each situation, we can build an environment that we enjoy and a future that we are optimistic about.

One cue I would like to recommend you all use (if you choose to follow the journal format above) is writing down things that you have full control over. This cue particularly applies to the second prompts in both the morning and night sections. For example, for the morning prompt, think of what you will do that day (e.g. workout, give a stranger a compliment, spend time outside, etc.) that you have full control of. For the night section, think of how you reacted that day and how you wish to be better the following day. I have found this to be an invaluable part of the journaling process. By reflecting on your day and writing down what you could have done better, you are training yourself to be better the next time. 

Remember, it doesn’t matter what kind of journal you use so long as you are consistent. Make time for it each day as you would exercising or eating, because good things come to those who practice. 

Thanks for reading this week, everybody. If you have any of your own journaling tips or suggestions for future blog posts, please leave them down below or send me a DM on instagram (@alexandratempletonfit). and I’ll get right on it :)

See you all next week!

xoxo,

Alexandra