How to Start a Journal for Beginners

Journaling is a great way to reflect on your thoughts, habits and emotions. By writing in a journal, you’re able to be vulnerable and open with yourself in order to better understand who you are as a person. If you find yourself wanting to go down a path of self-discovery, journaling is the tool for you!

When you journal, you express your thoughts and emotions down onto paper. This allows you to discover things about yourself you may not have previously known. Not only are you able to reflect on yourself through journaling, but by becoming better aware of your thought patterns and habits, you are able to step on a path of personal growth and development.

So how do you start a journal to help improve your life?

Table of Contents

Choose a journal

This might sound obvious, but it’s important to choose the right journal. Whether you’re drawn to leather bound or spiral, choose a journal that reflects you. Do you like bright colors? Inspiring quotes? Wacky patterns? Make sure you choose a journal that makes you feel good when you look at it.

Create an intention

Each time you create space in your life to journal, it’s important to have an intention as to why you’re journaling in the first place. Are you looking to get something out of your head? Or maybe you’re searching for a way to better manage your emotions or document an event or situation that you’ve experienced.

By having an intention for your journal, you give yourself direction. This way you won’t be staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration to strike (It could take a while, trust me).

Find your style

Everyone has a different journaling style. Some people like to fill their journals with only writing entries, while others like to decorate their journals with colorful markers, pens, and even photos. Maybe you like doodling, or maybe you prefer to have a classier sort of journal. Whatever it is, finding your journaling style is a great way to personalize and feel more connected to it.

If you don’t want to have a traditional journal, you could also try something different. From gratitude and manifestation journals to habit and health trackers, there is bound to be a type that works for you.

Create a daily habit

Journaling once a month probably isn’t going to do you much good, so it’s important to make journaling a habit. Try creating a weekly or daily routine to journal. Even if it’s just a couple of minutes a day, having a journaling routine is a great way to stick with it.

Each day is new, which means each day you have new goals, experiences and emotions to record. Jot them down in your journal and look out for any signs of repetition. As you begin to notice habits and behaviors you may not have seen before, you are able to embark on your path of self-development and personal growth.

Go into a quiet space

Journaling in a quiet, comfortable space is great to help you to fully focus and reflect on what you are doing. Cut out the noise for a couple of minutes a day if you can, and be fully present with yourself and your journal. When you cut out the distractions of the world, you are able to more easily connect with your thoughts and emotions.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable

Being vulnerable helps you to better understand yourself and makes for a more raw and heartfelt journaling session. However, being vulnerable can be scary, especially if you are used to having your walls up. If you’re looking for a way to be more vulnerable and honest with yourself, talking to someone you trust can help you to achieve this, but even that can be difficult.

If you find yourself uncomfortable with even the thought of being vulnerable with someone else, that’s okay. With journaling, you are able to fully express yourself and there’s no need to feel guilty or ashamed of what you write. You are under no obligation to share your journal with anyone if you don’t want to. Your journal is meant to be explicitly for you. Think of it as a personal space where you can be completely and authentically yourself without fear of outside judgment.

Reflect

Every now and again, you may find it helpful to look back on your past entries and re-read what you wrote. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, (for instance, if you’re embarrassed by something you wrote or if you don’t want to relive a situation you documented) but reflecting on your journal can be a helpful way to, first of all, notice how far you’ve come, and second, to see your journal entries from a fresher perspective. You may find yourself learning new things about yourself by reviewing past journal entries.

Reflecting on your journal helps to expand your personal growth and self-exploration. You might find that you understand yourself just a little bit better by re-visiting your past writings.

Save your journals

If you become consistent in your journaling, chances are you’ll finish your first journal in no time. Although there is no more space to write in, don’t throw it away! Saving your journals allows you to look back in the future and realize just how far you’ve come. By revisiting old journals, you’ll be able to notice the growth and change you’ve gone through. You may not even recognize yourself in those past entries because of how much you’ve grown!

In the End…

Journaling is a wonderful tool to help you dive deeper into your own mind and emotions and discover who you truly are. It’s easy to think we know ourselves, but if we really look within, we may find things we didn’t know we could think, do, or accomplish. So, it’s okay to not know everything about yourself. We are constantly evolving and discovering, life is a constant adventure, and journaling can be a great way to document your story.

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