Hello friends!
The number of times I have heard:
Autumn OMG! Your skin is flawless. Your glitter eyes give me LIFE. You make the best croissants I’ve ever had. You handwriting should be in museums. HOW DO YOU DO IT!?!
Well…that number would be ZERO.
But, I do have a lot of people who remark with awe on my ability to have a powerful insight for almost any gnarly situation.
My secret…
Are you sure you want to know?
If I tell you, I will expect you to try it for the next 7 days.
I’ll give you a moment to decide.
…
…
…
…
Ok. If you read further, you're committing to take 5 mins a day for the next 7 days to do this.
Ready?
I JOURNAL FOR 5 MINUTES EVERY DAY.
How are you feeling?
Happy you said yes or are you dreading making the commitment?
Don’t worry! You've got this, I promise!
Why does journaling for 5 minutes every day work?
It gets the thoughts out of our head.
When conversations stay in our head, they happen with the loudest parts of us, which can often be the icky gremlins who foster worry, guilt, shame, fear, and doubt.
You know that moment where you have been stewing on something for hours and you finally get on a call with your friend to vent and 5 seconds in you realize it isn't a big deal?
Yeah...that's the magic of getting things out of your head.
Here’s how I turn 5 mins of journaling into magic
Rule #1: Real Talk ONLY
This is not the place I go to hold my hand or give myself cuddles.
This is the place I go to tell myself what I NEED to hear, even if I don’t want to hear it.
I don’t bully myself but I will absolutely call myself out. It’s like when you talk to that best friend who will tell you “Girl, your breath stinks!”
Rule #2: If you THINK it, WRITE it
No perfection here! No one is going to see this but me. I can burn it after if I want to.
This is not the place to worry about grammar, punctuation, or things making sense.
If I switch thoughts in my brain, I switch the thoughts on the page. I go wherever I need to go, even if it is mid-sentence.
Rule #3: Write about what you NEED to get out of your head
There are lots of great journaling prompts out there. (I will even share some of my favorites in this newsletter!)
However.
The most effective prompt for me is: What’s the conversation I need to have with myself today?
If I’m upset about something, I dig into that.
If I’m worried about something, I explore that.
If I’m frustrated or pissed off or disappointed…well, you get it.
The goal is to give myself the opportunity to talk about what I NEED to talk about with the most important person to me…myself.
Rule #4: Be KIND
I may miss a day. I may even miss a whole week!
This is not a reason to beat myself up.
It’s is not a failure!
If it still feels like I failed…guess what?
I spend the 5 minutes journaling on that. :)
Rule #5: Rules are made to be BROKEN
If something doesn’t work for me, I change it.
It can be on paper, on your computer, a voice memo, a drawing.
It can be a dialogue, a list, a poem, a run-on sentence, a long essay.
It can be 30-seconds, 5-minutes, or a full hour.
Sometimes I just lay on the floor and talk to myself!
Your 7-day journaling challenge
Days 1-7: 5 minutes journaling on anything you want
Here are some of my favorite journal prompts
What’s the conversation I need to have with myself today?
What words do you need to hear?
What advice would your 70-year-old self give you?
What are you choosing this week?
What do you want?
What habits support your dream?
Write a thank you letter to yourself.
How will your life be different 2 years from now?
What big baddies are you fighting right now?
What strengths do you need to rely on right now?
What do you need to learn more about?
Did you know? Every Monday, I post a Journal Prompt with 2 songs to listen to on my Instagram. Here is the list of the journal prompts from past Mondays.
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