13 Journaling Goals That Everyone Can Benefit From

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Journaling can feel silly to do if you don’t see progress right away. That is why it is so important to have journaling goals so that you can see even minute progress.

If you are looking for the best way to create a killer journal, then you are in the right place! Building a deeper understanding of yourself and developing healthy habits is never a bad thing. New skills are often overlooked and passed by, but when you take the time to develop them, it can change your life. Consistent actions make up who you are. Showing yourself that you are important by showing up for yourself every day can be so powerful.

At the end of the day, having a sense of accomplishment by writing in your own journal can help you feel proud. Feeling this pride will spring you forward to continue moving and grooving! 🙂

This Post Is All About Journaling Goals That Everyone Can Benefit From

1. Create A Mood Tracker

When thinking about something to do every day in your journal, a great place to start is a mood tracker. It is exactly how it sounds, tracking your mood. Using a template that you find or make you can use your journal to keep a finger on the pulse of your emotions. When you see a lot of stressed days in a row then you know that you have to start up on some extra self-care rituals.

The best way to create a mood tracker is to look at Pinterest. Mood trackers are all over Pinterest and Instagram so you will have no trouble finding a great mood tracker that will fill your needs.

2. Write What You Are Thankful For Everyday

One simple thing you can add to your journals is to write what you are thankful for every day. A really simple journaling goal is to be more thankful in general. Being thankful can improve your overall mental and physical health. According to the Mayo Clinic, expressing gratitude can decrease your rates of depression, improve your sleep, and decrease symptoms of disease.

Expressing gratitude is super important and doesn’t have to be complicated. You can make it look pretty and aesthetic, but it doesn’t have to be. I found a great template on Canva that you can download onto your iPad for a pretty template or use as a resource to gather inspiration.

Gratitude Journal Download

If you don’t like super structured journaling, then just writing “Today I am grateful for…” will give you the perfect opening to exactly what to say. Sometimes all it takes is writing a few words on the paper and it will open the floodgates completely!

3. Brainstorm How You Can Get Closer To A Goal

I would start writing about where you are now and where you want to be in the future. By having these two things down you can start brainstorming what you need to do to get from your current position to where you want to be. This can be a powerful tool to help you reach goals you didn’t realize you wanted.

One thing I learned in art therapy was one exercise where on one side of the paper I drew how I felt then and on the other side I drew how I wanted to feel. Then in the middle, I drew a bridge made out of actions to get me from one side to the other. Here is an example of what this can look like in a journal if you are the artistic type.

If you aren’t into art journaling or bullet journaling, then write out where you’re starting at the top of the paper and where you want to be at the bottom, and then filling in the paper with ideas on how to get from top to bottom is a simple way to do this. Don’t feel pressure to go too into depth because it will get easier the more that you do it.

Goal setting is so important, and having some simple steps to help you achieve those goals can be super helpful.

4. Write At One Time Everyday

Choose a time for your journaling and stick to it. Don’t let yourself get off schedule because it will make it so much easier in the future. If you decide to journal in the morning then you might feel relaxed throughout the day, or you might feel stressed because you didn’t plan far enough ahead.

The other side of the coin is that if you plan too far ahead you may over or underestimate the amount of time it takes to complete a task.

No matter what you choose, stick to it. You will cut down on the stress from either tactic if you practice and continue to use the same strategy. The complications from any one strategy will cut down dramatically if you can continue to do that strategy day after day.

Having actionable steps like writing every day is the first step to personal growth and developing smart goals.

5. Fill. Every. Page.

Filled pages make journaling so much more satisfying and it is an essential step. Don’t worry about writing a certain amount every day, instead pick up where you left off day after day. If you fill only half a page one day, then the next day you should finish that page and start writing on the next if you need more space.

Trust me when I say that filling the pages keeps you going and doesn’t allow your mind to get discouraged by the days that you write a little less or a little more.

You can add stickers, washi tape, stamps, to-do lists, and anything that will take up space will make your journal look super filled and used.

6. Use Journaling Prompts

If you are struggling with what you need to write, then find journaling prompts that will help you get started. The biggest struggle with journaling is consistency. If you can get yourself to put pen to paper every day then it will become a routine and will be super easy to stick to.

I think of my blog as a way of journaling for me, which means that my content calendar is like my journaling prompts. When I have an outline on what I should write then words just flow out of me.

Here is a list of 200 journal prompts that take 5 minutes to write. I love my journal, but some days it is harder than others to get myself to write!

200 Of The Best 5 Minute Journal Prompts

7. Do Stream Of Consciousness Writing

When you need to let your mind breathe and rest, try stream-of-consciousness writing. This just means not worrying about complete sentences or making any sense… Just write whatever comes to mind without worrying about what you are writing.

This can be freeing for those who are stuck in their head and thoughts. Without worrying about what words hit the paper, you can know that you are sticking to your journaling goal and giving your mind a quick rest to just think. Go into as much detail as you can before your hand falls off!

8. Write Where You Are And Where You Want To Be

This goes with what I said in number three, but I think this has transformed my journaling. Adding drawings and color can be made super easy with this goal. If you can take a minute to see where you are and your goals you might be able to see things that you can do quickly and easily to get you to those goals.

Simply seeing what your goals are, you might see a simpler way to get to that goal or how you would feel if you reached that goal.

Sometimes, when you have a goal you are craving a feeling and not an actual outcome. If you can take a minute to think that through and see what your actual goals are, then you can find other ways to reach that feeling that may cut your goal timelines down dramatically.

9. Reflect On Achievements

Sometimes, if you don’t have people who celebrate your goals with you, it can be easy to forget what you have achieved.

It is a good idea to reflect on what you have achieved on a monthly basis. The best part about journaling is having a record of your past and seeing how far you have come. You shouldn’t use the journal as just a way to record the present but also set time aside to reflect on the past. Every single day is an opportunity for improvement, but if you don’t look back you will never see how far you have come.

10. Set Daily And Weekly Goals And Tasks

Setting smart goals along with daily goals can help you maintain the lifestyle you are trying to cultivate. If you haven’t tried making a to-do list in your journal, you are missing out!! Having a dedicated space for goals and tasks has been a game-changer for me and my routines. The whole process of taking time to lay out what I want to do and what I need to do makes me feel so put together and organized.

A great way to set goals is to have monthly pages. If you look on Pinterest, there are a million ideas on overview-type pages that you can use to keep track of your goals and how you are progressing. Here is my favorite inspiration image for my monthly tracker!

11. Monitor Your Habits

Your first time trying out a habit can either crush the habit or encourage you to keep it doing. First impressions are important for maintaining habits that you want to have forever.

There are many different ways a journal can be used to monitor a habit:

Tracking how often you complete the habit/task
Discussing your thoughts and feelings about the habit
Thinking of ways to adapt the habit to your lifestyle

12. Reflect On Your Identity

As a Christian, your identity is the basis of your faith in Christ. If you aren’t a Christian, you can still find this helpful without the religious basis behind it. But! If you are a Christian, you know that the core of who you are is rooted in being a Child of God. Reflecting on this and why it is so special can grow your relationship with God and with yourself.

IF YOU AREN’T A CHRISTIAN: think about who you are and what qualities come naturally to you. Thinking about these is always good because you can also contemplate ways to use those qualities to better yourself, your life, and those around you.

13. Create Timelines Of Traumatic Events

One thing I learned in therapy is to map out trauma. Making a timeline has helped me slow down and not just picture a blur of emotion, but look at traumatic events as a whole. Take the whole day, week, month, or year. Make a timeline. Then make notes based on that.

Be very cut and dry with this. Do not go into the emotions yet, that can come later. For now, simply look at what happened and when. The first time you do this will feel weird to not attach emotion to the event/events, but it is super helpful to look at the event from a different point of view.