Imagine waking up in the morning and feeling thankful, grateful and excited to start your day. Imagine starting your day without a single negative thought or fear. Imagine how that feels. If feels great, right? You feel lighter, less stressed, more motivated...you just feel better when your mind isn't weighed down by the negative thoughts that parade through all day long.
I know it sounds like it's too good to be true, especially with the world the way it is and all - but this is how I feel every morning. And it hasn't always been that way. I, like many of you, struggled to keep positive and happy over the last few years. Despite what some news articles are saying, the life we were living from 2020 and through this moment did have a huge effect on our mental health and all of the life changes we all still had to deal with during this time have really ground down our positive attitudes.
Not long after having my daughter, I started seeing a great therapist because I was really struggling. I didn't feel like myself anymore and nothing was making me happy. The world was heavy and I felt like I was carrying it all on my own shoulders.
One thing she suggested was to start journaling. In a few words, the suggestion was to start journaling how I feel, just so I could reflect on my emotions and we could discuss it in our sessions. And yes, that was a wonderful practice for our purposes.
In addition to attending regular therapy and journaling my thoughts & emotions, I started up with daily affirmations. Each morning I had been picking a theme, coming up with 3-4 affirmations around that theme, and repeating them to myself throughout the day.
Now here's where it all comes together. Somewhere along the line, the journaling and the affirmations merged together. I realized that when I do them together, first thing in the morning, my entire mood is better.
So now, first thing in the morning, while I sip my coffee and before my daughter wakes up (yes, this means I'm up before the sun most days), I write. And you know what, it takes me LESS THAN 15 MINUTES every day.
I write down my affirmations for the day, I write down thoughts I have, dreams, visions, goals - I write down whatever comes to my mind. And the last thing I like to do - and this is what really gets me going - is write a little "manifestation paragraph." I write a short paragraph based on my daily theme that describes my dream life as if I'm already living it. Why? Because writing it in this perspective helps me connect with the feelings of living my dream life, reaching my goals, and that brings my mood UP instead of bringing me down by constantly saying things like "one day I will have..." or "I want to do XYZ before I die."
Does it sound confusing? Let me break it down for you into steps.
Step 1: Come up with your manifestation/affirmation/mood theme for the day. For this example, let's use "Money."
Step 2: Write down 3-4 affirmations that you will repeat to yourself throughout the day. Example: "Money comes to me daily in large amounts." "Money is not shameful, and I invite it into my life." "I life a life of financial abundance and I deserve it." "Money flows to me effortlessly and consistently."
Step 3: Write out any thoughts you're having about this theme. Example: "Last night I had a dream that I won the lottery - it felt SO real." or "Last week I got an unexpected check in the mail from an old class action lawsuit - how cool!" or even "lately I've been daydreaming about quitting my job and starting a crochet business - I wonder what it would take to make this successful!"
Step 4: Write a paragraph that describes your dream life in the perspective of YOU already LIVING this life. Example: "Today is the last day of 2023. I am excited to share that my crochet business took off in only a few months, and I am on track to make enough with this business to be able to quit my corporate job by 2024. I have already started putting the plans in place to do so, and I feel the joy and excitement that goes along with this big, positive life change. Every day I wake up to sales of my products and new people registering for my new beginners course. This feeling of joy and euphoria that comes from doing what I love every day is enough to get me going every morning and I don't mind staying up late at night to do some extra work. In fact, I love it! this new abundance of money is allowing me to free myself of my financial burdens and lower my stress! I'm so happy with my life, and I am already preparing to buy my dream home in the next 5 years."
See what I mean when I say "told in the perspective of someone already living that life? It makes ALL the difference!
I have been journaling this way for a few months now, and it has been a huge mood changer. It's rare that I wake up in a bad mood. It's rare that I don't have motivation to work towards my goals. Even on my bad days, I still feel motivated to move forward.
Have you tried journaling before? What were your thoughts? What would you like to know about my method?