When you think of journaling, does your mind take you to ‘Dear Diary’ moments from your childhood?

Does it feel like it’s a gossip column about your life… or like you have nothing interesting to write about?

I felt that way too.

Now, I truly believe that journaling is an essential part of my entrepreneurial journey as I’ve seen my mindset improve and my business expand. My journal has been by my side every step of the way – and it’s wonderful to reflect back and see the growth too.

Journalling started as an outlet for when I felt overwhelmed at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey… which was most days.

I was constantly overwhelmed and my ego (that rude inner mean girl) was loud and holding me back. Writing my thoughts down helped me to process the emotions I was feeling, notice the mean girl thoughts (so rude and hurtful!) and choose better, more empowering thoughts! It was the most incredible release.

Journalling has been an incredible ritual for me to expand my self-belief and confidence, manifest my goals, and to ultimately grow and scale my business. It’s been a total game-changer.

So I want to share 7 ways that you can effectively journal for your business – to support your mindset, your energy, your consistent action and your spiritual connection.

What is Journalling?

Journalling is simply a writing practice that allows you to explore your thoughts and feelings.

There is no right or wrong way to journal, it’s a form of self-expression.

I see journalling on two levels. It firstly connects you with your mindset, to allow you to consciously see and experience your inner thoughts and beliefs. And once you are aware… that’s where the magic can happen… as you can consciously change and release thoughts that no longer serve you!

On a deeper level, journalling supports you on your spiritual and manifestation journey. The power of writing connects you with your desires, your future self and so much more (if you’re ready for it!).

What are the benefits?

There are so many benefits to journaling, which include to:

• Calm and clear your mind
• Release feelings and tension from holding on to emotions
• Notice negative thoughts and let go of anything not serving you or out of alignment
• Strengthen beliefs (or introduce new empowering beliefs)
• Focuses you on your goals + desires to propel you forward
• Make important connections between thoughts, feelings and behaviours
• Boost your mood
• Enhance your self-awareness to notice and identify patterns + triggers
• Track progress and reflect on successes + growth
• Boosts your sense of gratitude + appreciation
• Supports your confidence in writing as you, discovering your voice and improving your unique writing style
• Strengthens your spiritual connection

As a female entrepreneur, I’m sure you can agree that these things can be an incredible asset to your business and experience of growing a business.

When you are creating the business of your dreams, it often means stepping outside your old comfort zone and quantum leaping into a new version of you. Journaling can support you as you explore this beautiful journey.

When is the best time to journal?

From a mindset perspective, it’s really transformational to journal first thing in the morning or just before you fall asleep.

This is when your brain waves are in ‘theta’ – a relaxed state that supports subconscious change. This allows you to journal when you have the greatest clarity and when you have the least distractions in your day.

From a spiritual perspective, you will always have access to the Universal magic and your higher self. You can create a morning ritual or journal whenever you feel called to connect and release.

Explore different ways to find what serves you best… you don’t know until you try!

Do I have to journal every day?

I personally love variety and I’m very intuitive driven, so I journal in different ways each day… and not always every day. I connect to how I’m feeling and which outlet will support me most. I also have rituals – like the Sunday Scripting and Moon Rituals included below.

You may find that one journaling style serves you and that’s your go-to way to journal. That’s fine too, it’s your creative expression and it’s important to do what feels good for YOU. Because if you enjoy it, and look forward to it, you’ll consistently do it.

Equally, you may go through seasons of time where journaling is not calling you and there is another outlet for your self-expression. That’s fine too – don’t let it become a “should”. Follow your heart and do what feels good.

7 Incredible Ways to Journal

So let’s dive in to 7 ways that you can start journaling today.

As with any habit, there can be a lot of resistance to getting started. A blank page can feel overwhelming and intimidating. So let’s dive into the different ways to journal so you can take daily action to feel good! The magic is in taking action.

1 – Morning Pages

Morning pages are where you write 3 pages of anything in your mind on to paper in a stream of consciousness. Meaning no conscious thought, no need for articulate sentences or poetic words. Think of it like a “brain dump”. It’s releasing what’s on your mind on to paper to clear your thoughts and create space for ideas and inspiration.

Some of these thoughts may be important, but many will be simple thoughts that are on repeat in your mind. Releasing them daily brings you clarity.

Try it – every morning, allow the pen to flow effortlessly for 3 pages. No conscious thought required!

2 – Questions & Prompts

You can choose daily prompts to connect with yourself, expand your thoughts and challenge your thinking. You may have a journal ready with prompts, or you can choose your own based on what you are going through right now.

If you are choosing your own, you can research them in advance or be guided in the moment with what questions to ask yourself.

This journaling approach is more intentional and allows you to explore something specific. It’s a great practice for self-discovery, self-awareness or reflection.

Daily examples could include…

• How do I feel right now?
• How do I want to feel?
• What can I do to feel more like this?
• What will I commit to doing right now?

The more you journal, the more these questions will intuitively come to you during the practice. You will be self-coaching yourself to explore deeper and deeper.

3 – Gratitude, Goals & Affirmations

Did you know that when you are feeling grateful, you cannot feel a negative emotion at the same time? This is the power of gratitude!

Create a daily journaling practice where you list out 3-5 things every morning you are grateful for. Once you have written them, take a moment to really feel the gratitude in your heart and body (this avoids it becoming a tick-box exercise!).

While your mind and body is in this place of grounded gratitude, connect with your goals and goal affirmations. Write them down and lean into those feelings of thankfulness and appreciation for this being your reality. You can also do a simple 1 minute visualisation here too to really feel the emotions – great for daily manifestation.

This journaling practice can take less than 10 minutes and creates an instant confidence and focus booster for your day!

BONUS TIP – I love to write my goals “I am so happy and grateful…” to lean into being grateful for my goal being my present reality.

4 – Scripting

Scripting is when you journal on a moment you desire for the future as if it’s already your reality.

For example – you write in your journal in the present tense connecting with the moment your goal is real. You can write the future date, connect emotionally with how you are feeling in that future moment and write about it as if you’re feeling it now, describe what you can see around you and write the positive thoughts and words that you will be thinking.

This transformational journaling technique encourages you to tap into the power of your mind and emotions. Your mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and imagined, it simply processes the feelings and visuals as fact.

This can be brought into your daily journaling practice by writing your future as if it’s already your reality. A creative visualisation which supports you manifesting your desires – you’ll be a vibrational magnet for your vision.

BONUS TIP – I love to script on Sundays to set intentions for the week. I write about the following Sunday and celebrate my goals and intentions manifesting. It’s a beautiful ritual to complete and also reflect on as your desires manifest as expected.

5 – Dear Universe

This is a freestyling option to write what’s in your mind and on your heart. I adore starting the page with ‘Dear Universe’ as it allows you to write freely in conversation with this wonderful world. And it opens you up to receive intuitive, magical answers too!

You can share how you’re feeling, describe your experiences, look for answers or solutions to problems, celebrate wins, seek guidance, ask for a sign.

And the wonderful thing is you can also hand situations over to the Universe. Remember, you are a powerful co-creator, you are NOT meant to control everything. Ask for support and trust that your words are received, and magic can happen.

It can be whatever you want it to be. Trust where your mind and pen takes you. I’ve had some of my biggest breakthrough moments in these ‘Dear Universe’ journaling sessions where I’m ready to receive a lesson.

6 – Higher Self Journalling

This can also be called ‘Future You’ journaling. The focus is connecting with your next level self – whether it’s spiritually (your higher self) or a future version of you (e.g. in 10 years time).

When you have a new goal or you are up-levelling within your business, this is a powerful journalling style for creating subconscious change in your mindset, behaviour and actions.

Connect with your desire and write about the version of you where this is her new normal. What does she believe? What action does she take? What does she prioritise? How does she protect her energy? How does she feel about money?

Keep asking yourself questions as you embody this version of you. Write your future. Write your new normal.

And at the end write – “My role in aligning with this version of me is…” and make a commitment to show up as your higher self or future self.

7 – Moon Rituals

The New Moon and Full Moon is a fantastic opportunity to journal on your emotions, thoughts and goals.

Each moon is beautifully different, but the general focus is:

• New Moon – set intentions, connect with inspired actions, create new affirmations to support process
• Full Moon – release any thoughts and emotions no longer serving you and your intention, forgiveness and gratitude

There are beautiful rituals too to magically transform the journaling experience – like placing your intentions under your pillow, or burning what you are releasing. I adore these practices – especially in group sessions as the collective power is magnetic!

Alongside your daily journaling ritual, this is a wonderful practice to explore your self-expression with powers of the moon.

BONUS – Success Journalling

I love to have a separate journal for celebrating myself and logging my successes. The entrepreneurial journey can feel quite fast-paced and it’s so easy to move on to the next desires as they manifest with ease, without celebration and acknowledgement.

Alongside gratitude journaling, I adore success journaling. As goals manifest, as miraculous things happen for you, as you learn + grow, as you reach milestones, as you reach accomplishments… you can write about them in one place.

On days when your ego is louder, you have a journal to read through and remind yourself of your brilliance. It’s a great practice to also reflect on how far you’ve come and celebrate your growth over the last 6/12/24 months.

Celebrate your success right now!

Have fun with journaling

Create a sacred space to journal, free from distractions and noise, and have fun with the process!

Set an intention and consciously see how you feel before and after journaling. Notice which techniques make you feel your best – it may be different for high-vibe days compared to days where you are feeling more emotional.

Enjoy the journaling process… and just think, Future You will be able to reflect back on your journey and see your expansion, step by step, challenge by challenge.

As it’s a universal truth that successful entrepreneurs don’t stand still. There’s always growth, there’s always something new to expand your consciousness or business. Journaling can support you with this beautiful journey.

If you would love to dive deeper into my 5 steps of manifesting (which includes journaling prompts), download this FREE RESOURCE for 5 manifestation rituals for each step. Remember there’s power in taking ACTION and BEING that version of you that follows through!

Come and follow me @beckystanton_mindsetcoach as I share more mindset and manifestation tips to support you manifesting the business and life of your dreams!