How to Start a Morning Journal Practice
By: Anna Michelle
Tags: Productivity, Journaling, Lifestyle, Self Improvement, Health

Photo by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

How to Start a Morning Journal Practice

About a year ago, I woke up one day and realized I needed to be more intentional with my life. Although it hit me all at once the cause of this “awakening” was really a slow series of events culminating into me realizing I was burnt out and felt as if I was floating through life like a feather trapped in a never ending wind tunnel, desperately trying to reach the ground.

I started investing in all of the self and personal development content one could get their hands, eyes and ears on such as books, articles, and podcasts. I started seeing a therapist/life coach, and have learned valuable lessons that have caused me not only to be in the captain seat of my life again, but also be a much more effective and happy person, the person I used to know.

I instilled a structured morning routine dedicated to my own wellness and happiness. One of the habits formed during this time was journaling. While at first I thought to myself, the last time I journaled was more of a “Dear Diary” situation writing out the list of my crushes, or what juicy gossip happened in social studies class that day, once I put pen to paper, I realized how meaningful this practice thousands of people and self-help professionals talk about truly is.

There are so many options for journaling but I thought I would provide this simple journaling technique I’ve used for the past 10+ months and the impact it has had.

Steps:

1. Buy a Journal

Easy enough… I originally bought an Amazon Basics classic lined notebook for $9.60 and have filled all 260 pages of it. After proving to myself this journaling habit has in fact become a part of my morning routine and didn’t end up sitting on top of the stack of self improvement books beside my bed only to become something that gathers dust, I thought I deserved to treat myself and splurge an extra $3 to upgrade to a Moleskin. There are so many options out there, so don’t overthink it and pick one you’re comfortable with.

2. Schedule Time in your Calendar

This is probably the most critical step in the journaling journey. Time. We all have the same hours in the day but it’s what we choose to do with it that makes the difference. Within my morning schedule, I set out 30 minutes for meditation and journaling. It is scheduled in my google calendar so that I can’t ignore it.

3. Create a template

Before getting started, I found it helpful to create a template based on the research I had done on effective journaling. Below is the template I created to get started. Before using this, ask yourself why you’ve decided to journal, and make sure the template you use aligns with the reasoning.

Gratitude: Get specific, think about the past 24 hours and write down 3–5 things your grateful for. This can be people, experiences, a moment in time, etc. Gratitude can be something as small as your warm morning cup of coffee, or peaceful night of sleep.

Goals: Writing out your goals helps not only keep you focused on what is important as you plan for your day, but also contributes to manifesting that these goals will become a reality. I break my goals out into 4 categories.

1. Long term tangible goals | This can be a career, financial, or life goal (i.e. buying a house, starting a business, contributing to savings, etc.)

2. Long term intangible goals| I look at this as a long term personal development goal. For me this is where I jot down how I want to live by my core values and visualize who I want to be. (i.e. act with confidence, compassion, and kindness)

3. Daily tangible goals | Write down daily goals/activities that help you achieve your long term tangible goals. This helps keep you focused each day and enables you to chip away at these goals.

4. Daily intangible goals | Write down how you’ll work towards achieving the mantra you set for yourself. i.e. if acting with confidence is a goal, a daily goal could be focusing on your posture as you enter meetings.

Affirmations: Setting daily affirmations help to rewire the unconsious mind for success. They act as reminders to keep you focused on your goals and can also generate a sense of joy, gratitude, and happiness. After you’ve determined your goals, create daily affirmations to well, affirm these goals and write about them in the present tense.

For example, if a goal of yours is to turn your side-husstle into a full time gig, a daily affirmation can be “I am so happy and grateful to be running my business full time”.

A few other tips:

Start with “I am”

Tie them to your goals (both long term tangible/intangible and daily tangible/intangible)

Be specific

Be concise

Use present tense

Intention: Hone in on one intention for the day. This can be related to your goals, or as you look ahead at your day, the way you want to feel throughout each moment.

Lessons Learned: This area can be completed in the morning and reflect on the previous day or save it for the evening of the same day. Either way it’s a space for you to write down any lessons learned.

This can inlclude: what you could have done better that day, an interesting fact, word, quote, you found inspiring or interesting. It can be whatever you feel is meaningful to you and your long term/daily goals.

4. Get started

After completeing steps 1–3, get journaling! Grab your morning tea, coffee, or beverage of choice, light a candle, and start jotting down your thoughts, aspirations, and dreams.

5. Start feeling the benefits of journaling

For me, I found the following once I started journaling:

Happiness

Through the practice of gratitude I’ve noticed a shift in mindest and have started to see the positivies in my life vs. focusing on the negatives. I am more aware of the little joys throughout my day. As I walk my dog in the morning I catch myself smiling at the neighborhood waking up, the soft glow of porch lights, savory smell of breakfast, the cute elderly couple sitting enjoying a cup of coffee at their kitchen table while they read their newspapers. While I have long term goals for myself, I am content and grateful for where I am now.

Growth

Through setting tangible and intangible goals each day, you’ll find you start making progress towards these goals. By writing them down, you put them out into the world, you hold yourself accountable, and by focusing on these goals each day you are intentionally dedicating time towards them.

Reflection

“A life unexamined is not worth living” — Socrates

I realized if we don’t stop to reflect on our lives, it will pass us by. Journaling enable us to be present in the moment, relish in gratitude and joy, to understand who we are, our truth, the way we experience the world and what we’re meant to do and be. With that knowledge we can do anything.

An Anchor

Journaling helps me set my anchor for the day. No matter what happens I have already “claimed my calm” through this practice and am living the day I choose to live vs. letting life happen to me.

So, whether you buy a journal or have a digital one, get started today because once you start writing things down, they beging to become a reality.