Journaling to Increase a Growth Mindset
Journaling to Increase a Growth Mindset If you have been keeping up with my blog, I can feel you rolling your eye from here. “Another journalling post! Does this woman do nothing but write in her journal? Yes, pretty much.” I can almost hear a collective suspire and the words being spoken “who has time for that?” Try my structured journaling process for four to six weeks. Then you can compare your growth and progress to where you would be without that practice. Having a journaling habit is not an idle activity, it’s actually quite intentional and meaningful, and, in fact, it may be one of the most positive things you can do in your daily life as a mom. Journaling has helped me tremendously in expressing my emotions, especially when I’ve been alone or feel alone – like no one understands what I’m going through. I’ve also used journaling in finding a sense of direction when I feel stuck, hopeless, and lost, in getting through something that feels impossible. And that is where growth mindset journal prompts come in. These growth mindset journal prompts are designed for moms like you, to help you put yourself first, take care of your mental health, increase your emotional intelligence, and improve your mindset so you can harness the power of positive thinking and face life struggles and difficult times. Using these growth mindset journal prompts will help you get back on track and find happiness once again and will send a clear message to your subconscious mind that you: are willing to step out of your comfort zone, matter are open to trying new ways to practice self-care. Journaling Template It is a lengthy template, but I journal twice a day. I rarely go beyond one page (front and back in my 9X7 journal). So it is not much writing. There are many areas, but my reflections are brief. I synthesize. I have adapted my template from Michael Hyatt’s daily journal template. The first page of Journal: One of the first pages in my journal lists my goals in each key area of my life and at least three sub-actions (commitments) that must happen in order to achieve those goals. My areas for goals are Spiritual, SELF, Children, Family and Friends, Home/Finances, Business, Coaching Skill Development. Morning Journaling Session Sleep: I note how much sleep I obtained the night before. This compels me to ensure that I sleep the hours that I need to function optimally. Moreover, there are interesting correlations between sleep and outcomes of the day based on adequate or deficient sleep. Word of Day: – I am a logophile, and I love learning new words. Spiritual Reflection: A short reflection based on Scripture or a short spiritual reading. “Yesterday I…”: I describe the events that happened yesterday…sometimes in as little as two or three sentences. “What I learned…”: Here I reflect on the insights from yesterday. How can I leverage yesterday to be better today? “Today I am grateful for…”: It is always good to start the day with gratitude. I do this by writing one sentence of gratitude (meaningful or seemingly inconsequential things that make life beautiful). Today’s Goals: My daily goals are 80% informed by my goals for the year, which are recorded on the first page of my journal. As I create my daily goals, I look at my goals page and draw from there. I only allow myself three goals. I accomplish (work towards) more than three things. However, the ones designated as goals for the days take precedence over everything. Evening Journaling Session I write the word Examine and then reflect on the following: “I am reading/learning about ….”: I always want to be learning, reading something, listening to a podcast, thinking deeply about concepts. Moreover, I record a couple of sentences for that. Review of Clarity, Focus, and Intensity: This is where I reflect on my time and energy use. My three words for the year are clarity, focus, and intensity. So I reflect on whether I approached my three goals with clarity, focus, and intensity. “Tomorrow, I want to be mindful of …”: I desire to do better tomorrow than I did today. My intent is to grow. Therefore, I set an intention based on my insights of the day. My win from today: Always, always end on a positive note. So no matter how small or grand the win –document it. Some people sleepwalk through life. When you are investing time to journal about life and reflect twice a day you will awaken. You will become conscious of all the unconscious things that are working against you. You will not only awaken to internal factors that hinder you, but you will also awaken to external factors that hinder your progress. Moreover, you will be able to avert those. Keeping this system of journaling, you will have a journal filled with entries documenting your life, how you gave of yourself to others and to your work, of your struggles, and triumphs. You will have your goals and the works that you did towards achieving them at your fingertips. Moreover, you will have documentation on the progress of those goals. I hope that your year-end synthesis and reflection will amaze you and fill you with gratitude because you lived the year well…with a growth mindset. Conclusion The idea here is to put forth effort for continuous self-improvement, and developing that habit means developing a growth mindset. Those with a growth mindset can change their life through dedication and hard work. Like all skills, it takes time and practice, but the return on your investment in yourself is lifelong. Are you ready to activate a growth mindset? Manifest in the Midwest
