Want to Reach Your Goals and Realize Your Dreams Faster? Write Them Down
Explore how to do journaling — and more — in a way that feeds your spirit, raises your vibe, and crushes your goals.
When was the last time you wrote something?
I don’t mean just a “remember to buy cat food” or “Zoom meeting at 10:30 am” on a post-it note. I mean when was the last time you really sat down with a pen and paper and wrote out your thoughts, dreams, ideas, or plans for something?
If you’re like most people, it’s been a while. Maybe even years.
With nearly every aspect of our lives having gone digital, writing has passed from an everyday activity to a once-in-a-while, if ever endeavor. And it’s not hard to see why. Compared to the speed of typing (and a little assist from auto-complete), writing by hand feels clunky and just excruciatingly slow.
So, why spend time writing something out when you can just make a few taps on your phone?
Because slow is the point. Bringing focus, care, and intention to every kind of task is at the heart of a mindfulness practice for a reason — it produces literally life-changing results.
There’s no magic to it. It’s a simple matter of cause and effect. Let’s look at some of the amazing, life-altering effects that writing things down can produce in your life, starting from the moment you touch pen to paper.
Writing things down is clarifying and organizing
Our minds are the ultimate echo chambers. Ideas, memories, and random thoughts all bounce around, getting jumbled up with one another, often losing clarity and coherence the more we let them run wild.
But once we start putting our ideas into actual words, something powerful happens.
Whether it’s jotting down notes on the back of a napkin, writing a journal entry longhand, or typing out a detailed plan in a digital PDF, our thoughts start to take on real shape and definition. We can put our finger on things and get a hold of what we actually think, want, and hope for.
The result? It instantly becomes 100% easier to separate the wheat from the chaff. The good ideas sparkle with clarity and potential and the half-formed, murky, scattered thoughts have nowhere to hide.
Writing things down is cathartic and therapeutic
Increased mental clarity is just the beginning. Emotional clarity also starts to unfold when you start to use writing as self-care.
This is why so many anxiety experts recommend treating insomnia by writing your worries down on paper before going to sleep. This simple process takes them out of your brain and contains them, making them seem a lot more manageable. The energy that you spent going over and over the same thoughts is now free to be directed to better things, such as making your visions of success into reality.
Journaling for self-empowerment is just one option among many
Maybe you’ve read this far and thought to yourself “sounds great, but I just can’t stick with a journal — it’s not for me.”
No problem. Even if you don’t know much about how to do journaling for self-empowerment (and don’t feel called to it), you have plenty of ways to tap into the power of writing things down.
Here at Good Vibes Only, we’re big believers in the idea that personal rituals and self-care practices should work for you. If they feel like a slog, they’re probably not in alignment with your specific vibes. But that doesn’t mean you should stop looking. It just means you need to find what works for you.
Lots of people love making lists, creating business plans, mapping out goals, etc. Anything goes, as long as you bring focus, care, and attention to what you’re doing, infusing it with intention.
Tools for writing as self-care
You don’t have to start from zero when journaling for self-empowerment. One easy way to get the momentum going is with ready-made sheets, journals, and workbooks that will inspire you to get started and to stick with it.
To support you on your self-care journey, I’ve developed a range of digital PDFs and books that you can use to plan, dream, and strategize pretty much every aspect of your life, from to-do lists and mood trackers to schedules and budget planners.
These digital PDFs are available for instant downloading and printing from my Etsy shop. Hard copies of my journals for self-love, self-care, and brainstorming are also available on Amazon.
Happy writing and good vibes,
Lizz