Journal to Micro-Manage Your Goals

One of the best journaling habits that can help you make a wanted change in your life is micro-self-management. If you have too many goals that are too vague, your dream may lose momentum. But if you write, not only your idea, but also write down one small thing that you can do right now to move forward on your dream, then you are already moving in the direction that you want to go.

Life is not a walk in the park for most people. The yin and yang of the human experience will bring us both joy and suffering. Many studies on the long-lived lives of centenarians determined that people who live to one hundred often have these three things in common: sense of purpose, optimism, and resilience. It can be hard to keep all three of those balls in the air. Sometimes it feels like we need to be super-heroes every day just to hold some sort of balance in our lives. But it is possible to shrink it all down to more digestible bite sizes.

A fantastic journaling habit that I've come across is learning how to we can split what we are setting our sights on to manageable micro goals.

Examples:

If your monthly goal is to exercise more, break it down into weekly and daily goals. This way your goal won't seem so out of reach and overwhelming.

If one of your yearly goals is to plan a week-long vacation, use your journal to create a chart, listing what a vacation feels like to you. Start in "square one" and work your way through the details, one by one. Then it won't feel like some huge overwhelming task that you have to get through.

Life is lived, moment by moment. Even if we wake up thinking that we are going to accomplish twenty-five things on our to-do list, ultimately, we can only do one thing at a time. Writing in a journal is truly an effective way to narrow in on our thoughts and dreams, one word at a time.

This type of micro-managing is not about breathing down your own neck. You are not micro-managing yourself, just specific goals. This is effective with both small and big dreams and a journal is an excellent tool to do this with.

A Body Journal

Journaling is a gift to your mental health and can help your body too!

You can double the benefits by journaling about things that you do or want to do for your physical health.

Examples:

Goals for eating healthy

A commitment to any kind of exercise

Log how you move your body each day. It can help inspire you!

A goal to sleep more

Giving up something that you know does you more harm than good.

Monthly Journal Themes

January - Mindful financial expenditure

February - Expressing love

March - Mindfulness at work

April - Thinking before speaking

May - Mindful eating exercises

June - Expressing gratitude to loved ones

July - Summer journeys

August - Checking in with yourself

September - The joy of music

October - Friend connections

November - Coziness

December - Mindful holidays

Create your own

Just like the menu at your favorite pizza place, you can choose to create your own journal.

The pages are blank and waiting for your imagination!

A Date with Yourself

Planning a date for yourself, with yourself, is a great form of self-care. It allows you to make choices based on what you love to do. Choices where you are considering your own well-being and happiness.

Design your own

Use your journal to describe, in detail, a perfect way to spend the day with yourself.

Go to a cafe with your journal. Splurge on a nice coffee/tea and maybe a croissant to make it feel like you are in Paris. You can be an observer in your own town. Write about what you notice

around you. Before cell phones, that was how we would enjoy the world around us.

Book yourself an overnight stay-cation. One night in a local hotel, a room with a big bathtub, candles, and a do-not-disturb sign hanging on the door. Bring your favorite snacks and of course your journal!

Plan a nature day

Go to a botanical garden, take a hike, walk anywhere outdoors that feels peaceful to you. Keep your journal close by so that you can record things that you see or that are of interest to you. You can also choose to write about how you felt after your time in nature. You can just enjoy the serenity and then go home and journal in that peaceful state.

Schedule an extended meditation somewhere special. Meditation is a good way to relieve stress.

Research shows that meditation helps with insomnia, headaches, and ADHD. Time spent in relaxed focus equals a less distracted mind. Consider it a mental self-date, and then journal about the experience.

Another alternative for a date with yourself: Schedule a day off to do NOTHING!