How to Journal: Embracing the Art of Conscious Boredom
Journaling often feels more complicated than it needs to be. The truth is, you can journal about anything and everything, and it doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you. It's a personal space where you can let your thoughts flow freely.
Allow Yourself to Be in Your Boredom
We live in a world that constantly pushes us to be busy. Typically, we distract ourselves with books, podcasts, or any form of activity to avoid feeling bored. But here's a thought: boredom is the foundation of creativity. When we allow ourselves to experience boredom, we give space for our creative juices to flow.
Embrace Consciousness
My life motto is to be conscious—be aware, do everything with meaning and intention. When we are busy, we often avoid boredom because we don't like the discomfort it brings. We listen to podcasts, music, or socialize to escape it. But what if we stopped running from ourselves? What if we embraced conscious boredom and allowed the dust to settle?
When you stop escaping and truly allow yourself to be bored, you can discover who you are. This is why it's so important for kids to experience boredom. So, next time your kids say, "I'm bored," smile and let them be just that—bored.
Creating Deliberate Boredom
I'm consciously working on creating more deliberate time to be bored. By doing this, I can be at peace with my thoughts and connect with who I am meant to be. When was the last time you allowed yourself to be bored?
The Benefits of Journaling
Journaling offers numerous benefits:
- Improves self-awareness: Helps you see limiting beliefs or patterns in your behavior.
- Stops higher dreaming: Grounds you in reality.
- Reduces stress: Removes the mental load from your brain.
- Helps solve problems: Provides clarity and solutions.
The Mindset of Journaling
Always journal with the mindset that no one will ever read your journal. This frees you to be completely honest and open. Here are some tips to get started:
- Brain Dump: Write down all your thoughts and to-do lists.
- Gratitude: Note what you are grateful for and where your mind is wandering.
- Sensory Details: Doodle, describe your environment, smells, feelings, and perceptions. Ask yourself, "Is this real? Any insights or emotions?"
- Body Awareness: Note what you feel in your body (e.g., tingling in your arms, heaviness in your chest).
- Stress Management: Reflect on how you manage stress (e.g., breathing, working, distracting yourself).
- Thought Patterns: Notice your thoughts (e.g., anxious, positive, negative).
- Limiting Beliefs: Identify any limiting beliefs you had about yourself today.
- Challenges: Write about today's greatest challenge and how you approached it. What opportunities did you see as barriers?
Check-In with Your Emotions
Rate your current emotional response. Use the Abraham-Hicks Emotional Guidance Scale:
- Joy/Appreciation/Empowerment/Freedom/Love
- Passion
- Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
- Positive Expectation/Belief
- Optimism
- Hopefulness
- Contentment
- Boredom
- Pessimism
- Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
- Overwhelm
- Disappointment
- Doubt
- Worry
- Blame
- Discouragement
- Anger
- Revenge
- Hatred/Rage
- Jealousy
- Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
- Fear/Grief/Desperation/Despair/Powerlessness
How Are You Feeling?
Check in with yourself. Understanding and acknowledging your emotions is a powerful step toward self-awareness and growth.
Journaling doesn't have to be perfect or profound. It's your personal space to explore, reflect, and grow. So grab a pen, embrace the boredom, and let your thoughts flow!
Journal Prompts
Journaling daily has many benefits, but knowing how to begin can sometimes feel a little daunting. Always remember, there are no rules. There doesn’t have to be any structure and whether you write, scribble or doodle, it only has to make sense to you. Always journal with the mindset that no-one will ever read your journal - ever. Allow yourself to be truly vulnerable and in return you will receive self-awareness in abundance. Use these journal prompts below to help guide you.
Personal Growth
- What do you need more of in your life?
- What are some limiting beliefs that may be holding you back?
- What personality traits would you love to cultivate for yourself?
- What does your ideal day look like?
- List your biggest goals in life if money wasn’t an issue. The top things you’d love to accomplish for yourself.
Career
- What is your dream career? List 5 things that you’d need to get done in order to accomplish that goal.
- How do you define success? Describe in detail.
- What are the ideal hours of your ideal job and how many hours per week would you work?
- What past traumas may be clouding your concept of your career path?
- What is your desired financial income?
Family
- Consider your favourite family vacation. What made it special?
- You can only keep one memory about your family. Which one would you keep and why?
- Our family values are…
- What makes your family different from others?
- What do you love about your family? What makes you proud?
Spirituality
- What are you most grateful for right now?
- What does spirituality mean to you?
- When have you felt most connected to your spiritual side?
- What do you believe makes the world a better place?
- What gives your life meaning today? What leaves you feeling purposeful?
Relationships
- What does love mean to you and how does it feel?
- What does intimacy mean to you?
- What actions can someone take to make you feel seen?
- What relationships do you have in your life? What would you like from these relationships? Describe the bond you wish to have with these individuals.
- Describe what a healthy relationship looks like to you.
Health & Fitness
- Write about a time when you had your best workout. What were you doing? How did your body feel?
- What are the two biggest obstacles to exercise in your life? How can you work to eliminate them?
- What health and fitness activities do you need to make more time for?
- What are two of your body’s greatest strengths or abilities?
- Describe your favourite meal in detail.
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