5 Tips on how to journal successfully!

So here it is guys… how do you effectively journal, so much so, that it will lead you to changing your life and finding your purpose?

Well I did this. I completely healed my heart (well I feel I’m close) and started on a trajectory that makes me feel so alive and happy every single day.

Here are my top 3 tips to help you journal your way out of heartache and into happiness and purpose:

Read uplifting literature.

This is your first step to changing your thought patterns, getting a new perspective and erasing the headnoise. What I started to do was to get up at 6am and go walking in the morning. I would listen to uplifting and motivational audio books. This really put a new spark in my step. I chose books that elevated me to another level and almost all of them recommended gratitude and journaling practice. 

Here are some of the books that really helped me get my glow on:

• Becoming bulletproof by Evy Poupouras
• The Key to Living the Law of Attraction by Jack Canfield
• Believe It by Jamie kern Lima
• Boundary Boss by Terri Cole
• The Fear Fighter Manual by Luvvie Ajayi Jones
• The Wall of Art by Steven Pressfield

I adored these books but really the above are a small selection. I listened to many books and heard many inspirational stories and ideas.

I just loved walking and listening to people's different perspectives, what they dealt with in their lives and how they ultimately overcame it. 

I really believe that you should start listening to powerful audio books especially if you travel to and from work…and spend a lot of time in the car, train or bus commuting. By listening to inspirational audio books you are creating your very own personal development course at a fraction of the cost of a therapist. You also don't infringe on anyone’s time except your own. It improves your mindset and lets the fog clear so you can see all the new pathways available to you.

From this process, I bought myself a journal…

Buy yourself the most beautiful journal you can find. 

I mean, one that you love holding in your hands and a journal that feels glorious to have on your bedside table. I went on Amazon and selected a beautiful Autumn Moon Journal that had the most exquisite calming design on the cover and the gold edged pages were a winner. 

I seriously couldn’t wait for it to arrive but when it did, I just looked at it and it took me days to start. It can be a little overwhelming for everyone but roll with the feelings of awkwwardness. It gets better!

So are you getting the gist that this is a process. 

First try listening or reading emotive material to stimulate your mind and heart, then select a beautiful journal then…how do you start?

How to start writing in your journal.

It is hard to start so just put down a title. 

I know this may seem weird but somehow it gets you off and running. The first words on your first page are the hardest and then your magical journey begins.

Here are some titles you can use to write on your first page:

• My Glorious Journal
• An Ode to Myself
• My Gratitude Practice
• My Heart Feels and Dreams
• Living My Best Life
• It Begins Now

For my own journal I simply chose the first title here - My Glorious Journal. I chose this because I knew it was going to be a ‘glorious journal’ taking me out of the storms into a sunfilled beach cabin hanging over the sea. I was so sure that doing this would make my life better and I was right.

So we have the title, what to do from here?

Poignant Quote plus Ten Desires

It’s still hard to launch right into it so what I did was find a quote that I loved and wrote it down after my title.

So I had the title and then followed with this quote:

 ‘When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love!’ Marcus Aurelius (121-180) Roman Emperor.

Next write down ten desires under the following headings:

1. Relationships
2. Health
3. Freedom and true purpose
4. Career
5. Appearance
6. Money
7. Investments
8. Material desires - clothes, car, home
9. Peace - from noise, responsibilities, pressure

1. Fulfilment - happiness and satisfaction

Under each heading write down your wildest desires. Do NOT hold back. This is for you and no one else has to see it or even know about it.

So for me under ‘Relationships’ I wrote:

To have an exceptional connection with my husband and children. To have wonderful relationships with my extended family and close friends.

It can be as long or as short as you want it to be but make sure it is from your heart and make sure it IS what you truly desire. It doesn’t matter if your desire changes down the track, just put down what you REALLY desire now.

For example, for my career, I wrote down that I wanted to become a Gut Microbiologist because I’ve always been interested in this field and through that I listed that I wanted to have my own blog, my own youtube channel, my own insta and my own podcast. 

Well I didn’t become a Gut Microbiologist, instead I became an author with three of my projects being released on Amazon next month. 

Sunbaked Zest was born and I do have my own blog, my own insta, my own youtube channel (even though I haven’t posted yet on the tube, I bravely opened an account and the creation of content is coming along nicely)…and a podcast is on the way. You see, sometimes the desire is there but the direction may take a few turns. 

Write it all down anyway. 

It is all so very exciting.

5. Ten blessings and Thank You Letters

Do you feel like you are on your way now ? You are! This is awesome.

The next thing to do is to write down ten blessings and they can be simple things. 

My first ‘ten blessing’ entry into my diary reads like this.

1. Beautiful Easter with family.
2. Weather is incredible.
3. Coffee in the sun.
4. All the children are doing really well.
5. Comfortable and safe home to live in.
6. Holiday to the ‘sunny coast’ in the making.
7. Living the van life on weekends.
8. Everyone I love and adore is healthy.
9. Thankful for all the love I have in my life right now.
10. Teaching a program in 5 different schools that I wrote and designed.

The thing is, you can get in the mindset that things are terrible until you actually write down your blessings. Before I started writing I thought it would be hard to get ten blessings. It wasn’t. There are so many things to be grateful for. 

You just have to focus on the good things and that breeds more good things and ultimately better emotions and feelings emerge.

Underneath the ten blessings I wrote a little thank you note to the day.

It went like this:

‘Thank you for this magical day - a beautiful walk on the beach with the sun peaking through. Thank you for the delicious breakfast with fresh banana, dates and passionfruit yoghurt. Thankyou for my catch up birthday date with Mum and Shell. Thank you for Glen collecting the Oodies from the post office and thank you for the great news coming today.’

I know this seems kind of weird but amazing things started happening for me because i write down ten blessings and thanked the day. I didn’t know if there was great news coming today but I just tried to expect it every single day.

You see, before I started journaling I was so sad and in a very bad place. 

I had been in an altercation with someone I felt I had given my right arm for, I felt betrayed, I lost a friendship, I didn’t know where my career was going, I was pining for all my children who had moved away. I felt lost, helpless and didn’t know what my purpose was in this world. My world was totally upside down and I felt entangled in the mess.

But journaling saved me.

Each morning I would get up and I would write out ten blessings and at night I would write a quick thank you letter to the day.

My first entry went in on the 6th April and I continued the above format of ten blessings and a thank you letter for two months. 

After that I changed it up a little because I found my purpose. In June 2021 I started writing poetry.

So now,  I would get up in the morning, write down 3 things I was grateful for, write down one quote or affirmation I loved, write down my workout for the day and the things I wanted to accomplish.

Your journal writing will evolve and lead you to where you need to go. For me, it led me to creating a whole new business…to my beautiful Sunbaked Zest. I decided I wanted to give back to the world and that would be through writing. 

I created a poetry/journal book, a Heart Clutch journal which is what I use now to journal in everyday, a beautifully illustrated caterpillar and butterfly book that teaches young children about self worth, I also wrote and designed some poignant ebooks on bullying, successful practices for children and body image. They came out better than I ever could have imagined.

I love my life in a whole new different way. I’m more aware and grateful for what I have and I feel like I've found my purpose. This all came about through writing…a few pen strokes on the page.

Try it my darlings. You will never look back. Don’t worry about grammar and spelling, just let the words spill out of your heart and onto the page.

I have the Heart Clutch Journal coming to you in April so it has leads and prompts to make it even easier to get started. I hope I have opened you up to the idea of journaling. I’ll never stop doing it and the value it has added to my mind, soul and heart is beyond incredible.

Here’s to new life experiences, writing down the things we are grateful for, the things we desire…and it all coming to fruition!

I am with you, always in your corner, clapping for you and your dreams.

SZ x.