Journaling.  It’s such a beautiful and connecting practice that has made a huge impact on my life.  At certain points in my life, my mom used to make my sisters and I journal out our days as if it were a chore.  I’m still not really sure why she had us do it, since my mom never journaled herself (at least none that we ever found after she passed), but I’m so glad she did.  Even though I went through periods of journaling as a kid, it wasn’t until second year of university (end of 2017) that it became an active and regular habit for myself.

Creating a habit

I was going through a really stressful time during my first year – mental and physical health had taken a really severe and concerning hit – and I knew if I was going to survive another 3 years of BCIT, changes needed to be made.  Those two seemingly small, yet dramatic changes were 1. Meal Prepping and 2. Daily Journaling.

I bought myself the BestSelf Journal in January of 2018 and never did I imagine the impacts it would have on my life.  What drew me to the BestSelf journal were a few things:

1. The approach:  it’s set up to cover a 3-month time period and is designed to help breakdown larger goals into more manageable and realistic chunks.

2. The layout: each day it gives you a spread to map out your day, set 3 goals, places to check in with how the day felt + celebrate the wins, and spots to write 3 things you’re grateful for – in the morning and before you go to bed.

3. The flexibility: there’s no dates in the book. Anywhere. None. You fill them out yourself. This, along with the gratitude section, is probably my favourite.

How often do we find ourselves purchasing planners or journals with the intent to be super diligent, and fill it out every day of the year, only to find ourselves either forgetting or not feeling like it?  Those blank pages loom over you and make you feel like a “failure” for not being able to keep up something “so simple,” which then sets off the mindset of “well what’s the point in continuing to keep up with it if it’s not “perfectly filled out?””  It’s so easy to fall out of a practice if we feel we aren’t “doing it right.”  But that’s not how life works.  Consistency isn’t about doing something perfect every time; it’s about showing up as much as you can, and allowing those moments you do show up, to help build a habit and grow into the person you’re wanting to become.  Consistency is about keeping yourself accountable, but giving yourself a little grace for the days you only show up with 10%.

What journaling looks like for me

Journaling has evolved in many ways for me.  It used to be just your typical “and then I did this and this” (which is hilarious to me because I feel like that’s kind of the base for my weekly updates on ‘Bergen’s Adventure Tours’) , to now a very comprehensive tool.  I personally don’t use things like ‘habit trackers,’ as I found they’ve never really worked for me.  Habit trackers often look like grids where you fill out or cross off every time you work out, or drink water, etc., and you can see the evolution of it over like a week or month or year (depending on how you decide to set it up).  I sort of do habit track but in a different way, which I’ll explain a bit later.

Instead of using a pre-set journal now, with templates created by other people; I use a blank, hard-cover, grid paper, Moleskin notebook (I personally HATE writing on lined paper… idk why but I just do), and follow some very basic templates I’ve created for myself.  It allows for so much more freedom, and flexibility to change things up if I want to try incorporating something new, or decide something no longer works for me.  

The biggest key practice for myself has been not forcing myself to write every single day, but also not waiting to journal when I reach my lowest.  It’s become a practice of balance and noticing when my brain and body both needs and would benefit from it.  This often comes when I notice I have a lot of thoughts racing around; or have things/feelings/decisions I’m trying to figure out; or when I have moments I want to remember, or reflections I know I’ll benefit from looking back on.  This practice was not developed over night, and is one I’m still learning to recognize and accept.  There are many moments where I know I would benefit from journaling, but I don’t always do it.

Templates I’m currently using

I’ve created these templates for myself and have been using them for almost 2 years now.  The longest used one has been my Daily Journal.

Daily Journal is used on the days I need help planning, keeping myself accountable, remembering the tasks, and need some accountability. 

• Gratitude: I always start by writing out at least 3 things I’m grateful for – they can be as small as “getting a good sleep last night” or “not having to set an alarm this morning.”  Some days it’s a little harder to think of something, but just remember that they don’t have to be big things.  

• Today’s Goals: for this section, I only ever put 3 (THREE) points.  No more than 3.  More than 3, and it can begin to make you feel overwhelmed.  Use this spot to prioritize the most important things you want to get done today.

• Secondary Goals: use this as a space to jot down anything else you’d like to get done.  I use this as a place to write down things I want to get done but know I’ll forget if I don’t, things I didn’t finish the few days before, things that are both high + low priority.  Basically anything and everything else.  Be warned though… it’s easy to get carried away with adding a lot of things to this list… if it starts to get really long and overwhelming, I’ll go through with different coloured highlighters and to indicate which are high + low priority.

• End of Day (EOD): This is what I consider my “habit tracker” which I fill out at the end of the day.  Note that for here, it’s not about length of time (especially for movement, mind and play), but about getting quality time for myself (can be as short as 5min – you still took the time to do something for you.

  • Movement: can look like anything – walking to the store, going for a work out, hiking, yoga, etc.  Anything that involved moving my body with intention.

  • Mind: did I take time to feed my brain? Either through a podcast, reading, practicing guitar, meditating, or practicing my Duolingo Español.  This can mean whatever you want it to mean – but essentially it’s ensuring I didn’t just spend my whole day scrolling mindlessly, or binge watching Criminal Minds... (Bergen Adventure Tour followers know what’s up lol).

  • Nourish: Did I eat 3 proper meals today? This is not a place to track if I’m “only ate healthy food and were strict with your snacks.” No.  This is a place to ensure I’m not skipping meals, or only living off toast, smoothies, and quick-grab snacks. (note: I consider getting a burger with fries when going out a “proper meal”).

  • Hydrate: Did I drink 3+ bottles of water today?

  • Play: This can mean whatever you want it to mean to you.  So often as we grow up, we forget what it means to be a kid; to do something for the simple sake of pure enjoyment.  This is a place to make sure you’re making time for your hobbies.  Often this one goes hand-in-hand with Movement and/or Mind.

  • Gratitude: take this time reflect on the day, and jot down 3 or more things you’re grateful for.  You’re allowed to use the same from this morning if you’re struggling with this.

Few things to note about this daily journal:

• If I sort of attempted one of these EOD items – I’ll put a line through the box to remind myself I still tried; otherwise I put an x when completed.

• I try to create my goal list the night before, so that when I wake up the next morning, I’m not faced with decision fatigue. One of those “do something your future self will thank you for” practices.

• I don’t actually do it daily.  Sometimes I’ll take a week or even months off; but it’s the one I always come back to first when I need help creating some structure

Weekly Check-in is a slightly newer one for me, and one I’m re-introducing after more than 6 months off of it.  I don’t remember why I started doing this, but was probably partly inspired by the check-ins from Headspace and the weekly breakdowns for BestSelf (which I actually never used tbh…always felt kinda bad about leaving those pages blank).  I’ve come to really love this practice.

• How did this week feel? Bullet point words. Not a place to write out a reflection.  This one is always interesting to see how contradicting some of the feelings can seem, but it serves as a reminder that life can still be beautiful and wonderful amidst the crazy and the bad.

• Biggest wins?  Celebrate yourself here! What are you proud you accomplished this week? Could be a big career milestone or finally cleaning that dish you’ve had on your counter for weeks.  Wins look different all the time.

• Biggest lessons? Was there an overarching theme this week? What did you learn?

• How will I apply this in the future?  From this lesson, how will you make changes in the future to ensure you’re growing as an individual, and not staying stuck in unhealthy patterns/habits.

• Quote of the week: Could be anything.  A post you found online that resonated with you, or something someone said to you or that you overheard.  A quote that you want to carry into the following week.

• Goals for this week: Write no more than 4 goals here.  These are bigger things that you want to accomplish and can be broken down into steps throughout the week; OR can just be something you really want to do, and just want to ensure you get it done at some point during the week (like going on a hike, or getting a blog post written cough cough)

Reflections is a space for exactly that.  Reflections.  Your thoughts, your ramblings, your venting, your confusion. Anything and everything.  There is no template here.  All I do is write Reflection: and put the date on the far right along the same line, and then after I’ve finished writing, I’ll sometimes add a little “title” in between as a way to summarize what the rambling was about, for when I’m flipping through old writings.

Why do I journal?

Journaling has brought me some of the most healing.  It’s amazing the amount of times I begin writing all the feelings I’m having, and the confusion surrounding them, and then I find myself discovering clarity.  Like I can actually see the thought process go down, and am able to make sense of all the things that were building up inside.  It’s a way to release. Releasing is SO important.  When we spend so much time hanging onto and bottling up things that bother us (even things from years ago we thought we had moved on from/forgotten about), eventually a time will come where that bottle will break open.  Could be just a week later, or could be 30+ years later.  Unresolved shit never just disappears. It will linger, and wait for the perfectly worst moment to come out, and it will release at full force.  It will hurt you, and all the people around you.

While writing doesn’t always solve things, it’s the release that is most important.

Some pieces of advice for journaling

• It can look however you want and need it to

• It’s not about quality OR quantity. Just write. Whether it’s 4 sentences or 4 pages.  Write so you can get it out.

• In the same way that movement releases the built up energy in your body, writing helps release the built up emotions.

• Try new methods

• Buy a journal that you know you’ll use and love. Buy one that you’ll enjoy writing in.

• If you’re new to journalling, or want to save time - find a predesigned, templated journal to ease you into and help guide you through the practice.

  • Best Self Journal: this is a newer version to the one I started with almost 6 years ago

  • Intelligent Change and Chelsea Kauai's Mindfulness Journal

  • Some line's a day journal: a 5 year reflection journal

Other methods

Writing isn’t for everyone - I get that.  For me it’s been one of the most effective methods, but there are plenty others!  Like:

• Creating visual journals (like collaging)

• Recording yourself talk through your thoughts and feelings through an audio message

• Texting yourself your thoughts

• Creating a video diary

What’s most ideal is that the method you use is something that can be looked back on. So while talking to a pet can be really helpful, there’s no record for you to come back to.  Being able to look back on it allows you to reflect even further.  It prompts you to question if you’ve been implementing changes you wanted to create for yourself; it reminds you of how far you’ve come; it provides you will little tidbits of wisdom you didn’t realize you had; it allows you to recognize patterns.

While looking back isn’t always easy, confronting the painful past helps you create a beautiful future. 

Stay passionate and curious,
Hunter💛

PS. please don’t hesitate to comment, DM, or email with methods you use for journaling!