Mindfulness, self-awareness, and self-reflection are immensely important practices towards experiencing the best life you can, so discovering new methods that can help you maintain these habits can be important. Stanley Fur, father of three, has seen the progress his youngest daughter has made since keeping a personal journal and writing in it consistently; but with the continuous use of the same thing overtime, it can be hard to stay motivated and driven towards keeping up with journaling. So, here are three wonderful ideas that can be incorporated into your typical journal, making self-reflection fun again.
An important part of self-care and mindfulness comes with self-awareness, as keeping track of your daily habits, moods, and feelings can allow us to get to the root of certain issues and find methods towards improving those rougher areas. This is where creating a mood chart comes in, as keeping up with each mood shift you experience can allow you to really dig deep inside your own emotions.
“My daughter created her mood chart on her own, so no one really needs to search far and wide for a specific template,” Stanley Fur says. “She originally assigned each specific mood to a certain color, and as each night comes to a closing, she fills in little blocks with the color and mood of choice. She admits that it helps her truly reflect on the things that make her happy or sad, frustrated or excited; it seems to be a wonderful method towards achieving mindfulness!”
Adding mood trackers to your personal journal can be completely customizable, as you can use any type of pattern, design, and colors that compliment your taste and overall liking. Seeing your emotions right there in front of you can be of big help when trying to track your daily moods, so try incorporating a mood chart into your diary, and become one step closer to self-awareness!
Similar to the results that come with using mood charts, having a gratitude-themed section in your journal can help you discover what it is that leads to your happiness and excitement.
“Every night, my daughter writes down three things she was thankful for that day, whether it was a specific person or something random that occured out of the blue,” Stanley Fur states. “Her list has become extremely long overtime, and it brings her comfort knowing how lucky she is to have so much to be thankful for.”
Adding a gratitude section to your journal can be especially helpful for those feeling down or in a rut; instead of dwelling on the negative, we can simply focus on all that positive and smile-inducing. This can allow us to incorporate more of what makes us feel fantastic, and it can also lead towards us giving back to those we are so very grateful for.
Having a to-do list isn't a brand new concept in today’s society, but tweaking your own typical task list can help you become a lot more self-aware in the long run.
“My daughter writes down everything she has to get done for the week,” says Stanley Fur. “When the next week arrives, she reviews those tasks that haven’t been completed yet and takes into consideration if those certain tasks are still worth her time and effort. Once understanding that it’s necessary to dwell on and stress about one task, it’s completely crossed out, making it a worry of the past.”
These types of to-do lists can really help with overall organization, allowing you to properly prioritize certain events within your life. If you tend to stress over the little things, try out this type of journaling method, and discover what’s truly important to you.
Journaling is a great habit to keep up with on the daily, but adding new, beneficial concepts to your daily recordings can aid in changing certain aspects of your life for the better. Stanley Fur agrees that mindfulness is substantial towards happiness, so take these ideas, and try adding them into your own journal for further, deeper self-reflection.
