A self-help journal can be a great way to manage stress, anxiety and find a hobby that you can enjoy in your free time. Much like a diary or personal journal, a self-help journal can be a fun pastime if you’re looking for something enjoyable to do in your life. But unlike the previous examples, a self-help journal has the intent of being a tool for self-improvement.
Here are nine steps to start your own self-help journal!
1. Pick a journal that resonates with you
A journal should be personal to you. It can have a cover that you find aesthetically pleasing. Whether it has tons of designs or is as simple as possible, what you like and enjoy is what matters most. It could be a notebook, journal, notepad or even a planner.
2. START WITH THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY
Your self-help journal should be an escape from reality for you. Start slow, don’t feel rushed. What’s most important is adding happy places for you. That could be quotes, people, places or more. Thinking about what makes you happy and what is going to take your mind away from the negatives in life will make your self-help journaling experience much more positive.
3. Track your days
Logging your days into your journal can be a game-changer. You can create a fun game out of every day by marking down if your day was good or bad, your anxiety level, the weather or anything you personally want to log for yourself. A self-help journal should be personal to you. It’s all about freedom, happiness and making your day better.
4. ADD PICTURES
Much like a scrapbook, a self-help journal can include pictures. This could be of people you love, drawings, pictures ripped from magazines or pages ripped from books. Even little doodles can make your journal expressive. This can be a fun exercise to take your mind off things that are stressing you out.
5. add motivational quotes
Writing down what you stand for can help you work towards goals more easily. It can be a way to give you a reason to stay motivated, especially if there is a collection of quotes. You could quote family and friends, find quotes you relate to or find quotes from your favorite forms of entertainment.
6. WRITE DOWN THINGS YOU’RE GRATEFUL FOR
When we think of things we are grateful for, we can feel happier in our everyday lives. Whether that be family, friends, a pet or even a TV show we’ve just watched, it’s always nice to think about who and what we love. By writing these down, a self-care journal can remind us that we are loved and what we love.
7. create a self-care list
It’s very important to take care of yourself. By adding a list of important self-care steps, you can help your mental health out. The overall goal of a self-help journal is to take care of yourself while doing something you love. Treat it like a checklist to mark off throughout your day, or bullet points of what you need to do or improve on to take better care of your wellbeing.
8. WRITE DOWN YOUR THOUGHTS
An important aspect of a self-help journal, if not the most important, is to write down your thoughts and ideas. It is important that no matter what kind of day you have, you have a safe space to come back to and vent as much as you want. There is no limit to how much you write in a self-help journal. It’s meant to be a way to ease your stress and make your day better. It could be done in bullet points, a diary entry or random words on a page describing your day.
9. set your goals
By setting goals, your self-help journal will give you a reason to come back. We can feel more motivated to complete a goal if it’s written down in front of us. A personal strategy I use is highlighting the most important goal in my favorite color. You must always take your goals one step at a time. Never overwhelm yourself by trying to complete too many goals at one time. Taking on too many goals at once can make it easy to give up, so focus on one at a time. There should never be a need to rush.
Always remember that a self-care journal is personal to you. Never treat it as an overwhelming quiz that you’re required to answer every single day. It’s OK to skip a day, and it’s OK to feel like you don’t always have the energy to log every day, either. Have fun, and remember to take care of yourself.