Many successful, famous people worldwide—Leonardo da Vinci, Marcus Aurelius, Albert Einstein, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, and Emma Watson—have journaled and openly professed its contribution to their improved quality of life and their noteworthy achievements. Some of their journals even got published, like Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations and Frida Kahlo’s The Diary of Frida Kahlo. However, they didn’t just journal; they did it with clear objectives through intentional journaling. Let’s dive deeper into intentional journaling and how it benefits you, and learn how to do it effectively from successful people.
What is intentional journaling?
In one sentence: Intentional journaling is the practice of journaling with a specific purpose. Unlike simply jotting down thoughts and ideas, intentional journaling involves starting with a clear goal.
For example, if I aimed to understand my strengths and weaknesses, I wouldn’t just recount my day. Instead, I would pen down my strengths and weaknesses, provide examples, delve into why I perceive them that way and explore how to apply these insights to improve myself and my life.
The benefits of intentional journaling
1. Calm down yourself and organise your thoughts
Getting out of the mindset can be difficult when you are anxious, stressed, or upset. However, journaling can help you calm down and organise your thoughts.
I often turn to journaling when I struggle with negative emotions. With intentional journaling, I analyse what could be the triggers and reasons. This process helps me detach from it so that I don’t continue to spiral. Sometimes, I can reframe the bad emotions into motivation; other times, I gain insights that help me improve my responses to future challenges.
2. Understand yourself more
Social media, companies and people constantly ask us for attention. Hence, it is crucial to sit with your thoughts, opinions, and ideas and explore more.
As journaling is for your own eyes and not others, it provides a sacred period for self-discovery. This dedicated time helps you learn more about yourself and fosters a deeper understanding of your inner world.
3. Transform and expand your perspective on life
Intentional journaling, especially gratitude journaling, trains you to seek good things in life. Over time, this practice makes you more appreciative and happier.
When you explore yourself and life through journaling, your unfolding wisdom will continuously expand your understanding and perspectives. Like reading, journaling humbles you—the more you learn, the more you realize there’s so much you don’t know. This newfound wisdom equips you with resilience and confidence to manage difficult setbacks more gracefully.
4. A path to self-improvement
I used to be a highly sensitive person and easily impacted by my surroundings. But with the help of journaling and meditation–both fostering self-discovery and personal growth–I’ve learned to detach and reframe challenges as an opportunity to improve my resilience and strength.
Through journaling, I have become more patient, wiser, and stronger. So, use journaling practice as a tool to improve yourself. Before you end each journaling session, affirm that you have gained new insights and that you are putting your pen down as a better, more enlightened person.
How to start intentional journaling for beginners
1. Choose your journal format (digital or paper)
First thing first: choose your poison. I started with a paper journal but didn’t like the inconvenience of carrying it around, so now I use an iPad with the Goodnotes app and a digital journal.
For those who like to write on paper, you can start with a new paper or any notebook at home. If you are looking for new journals, here are some great options:
- PAPERAGE Hardcover Lined Journal, 160 Pages, 100 GSM Thick Paper, A5
- RETTACY Leather Hardcover Journaling Notebook,192 Pages,100 GSM Acid-Free Paper, A5
- Lined Spiral Journal Notebook, 140 Pages, A5
- CAGIE Lined Journal Notebook, 256 Pages, A5
- Hardcover Lined Spiral Notebook with Tabs, 240 Pages, 7″x10″
- BEECHMORE BOOKS Hardcover Leather Lined Journal Notebook, 160 Pages, 120 GSM Thick Paper, A5 (perfect for gift as gift box included)
For those who are looking for a digital journal, there are plenty on Etsy. I created a printable digital reflection journal with over 500 journaling prompts, perfect for beginners or seasoned journalers. It covers career development, creative writing, gratitude, self-care, relationships, and more. With a clear objective set by each prompt, this journal is designed to guide your intentional journaling journey.
2. Use journal prompts if blank pages scare you
Thinking about what to write can be daunting, even for seasoned journalers. Take the stress out by embracing journaling prompts. Pick the prompt that suits your intention for the session, and then you can start right away!
3. Start with 5-10 minutes per session
If you are overwhelmed by the idea of writing one full page per session, start by setting a time that you are comfortable sitting down to reflect and write. As a beginner, it is crucial for journaling to be fun and easy so that it eases you into building it as a habit.
4. Experiment with journaling prompts and different types of journaling.
As you gain more experience in journaling, it’s time to introduce freshness into your practice with new prompts and types of journaling!
Types of intentional journaling
Intentional journaling can be fun and limitless. I’ll share a few unique journaling methods to help you discover more about yourself. If these methods are too difficult, check out these 15 beginner-friendly fun journaling ideas.
1. Limiting beliefs journaling
Feeling stuck by your current self and eager to break free? Start by listing your challenges and the underlying beliefs that influence your mindset and responses to the setbacks. Analyse the origins and challenge the truth of the beliefs.
Once you identify untrue beliefs that are hindering your success, challenge them and reframe them in a positive light. This process helps you break free from self-imposed constraints and unlock your full potential.
2. Future self journaling
Start by visualizing where you want to be in 3, 5, or 10 years. Imagine your ideal life, including your relationships, careers, home and country you are in, and so on.
Then, write journal entries as if you’ve already reached your goals. Describe your daily routines and accomplishments. Make sure you highlight the feelings associated with your ideal life and use the present tense to make it feel real.
This method is fun and engaging, as you get to feel the excitement of living your ideal life now. Other than clarifying your aspirations, it is also a manifestation tool to align your current actions with your future vision.
3. Shadow work journaling
We all have a shadow self—parts of ourselves that we repress, avoid, or deny. Without acknowledging and integrating them, we are not fully embracing ourselves, hence unable to reach true happiness and unlock our full potential.
Shadow work journaling helps confront and understand the shadow parts of yourself. Start by recognizing behaviours, emotions, or traits you often avoid or dislike. Ask yourself reflective questions like, “What am I avoiding?” or “How does the thing I don’t like about others reveal about myself?” Leave your ego at the door, write honestly about these aspects, and explore their origins and impacts on your life.
Our shadow self holds the negativity so that we are shielded from them. To be fully ourselves, we must learn to integrate these aspects by reframing them positively and recognizing their role in our growth.
Once you start to address and balance these shadow aspects in your daily life, negativity, such as fears, insecurities, or unresolved issues, will gradually stop manifesting.
4. Conversation with your highest self or God/The Universe
This journaling practice involves having a dialogue with your highest self, God, or the Universe. If you believe in a higher power, ask that power for guidance and counsel.
Start by setting an intention—whether it’s a challenge you need clarity on, a situation where you seek guidance, or simply a desire to connect with your highest self or a higher power. Write down your intention and emotions.
After posing your questions, take a moment to ground yourself, then write a response as if it’s coming from your highest self or the divine. Let the words flow naturally without hesitation. If the response feels loving and encouraging, it’s a sign that it’s from your highest self or the divine.
Read through the responses and reflect on how you can apply the insights to resolve your issues or improve yourself and your life. At the end of your journaling session, take time to express gratitude to your highest self or higher power for the connection and guidance.
Intentional Journaling Secrets from Famous People
Let’s stand upon the shoulders of giants and turbocharge our intentional journaling journey.
1. Just start writing
Ryan Holiday, the author of The Daily Stoic, shared on 5 Life Changing Journaling Habits from the Stoics that his first journaling secret is to just do it. Here are a few ways he recommended to kickstart your momentum:
- Write just one sentence a day
- Use a 5-minute journal book
- Practice journal that is tied to your lifestyle, like a workout journal, habit journal, reading journal and recipe journal
2. Take out time at the end of the day to reflect
Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations stands as a testament to his commitment to daily reflective practice. Stoic philosophers like Marcus, Epictetus, and Seneca made a habit of journaling at the start or end of each day, asking profound questions to guide their reflections.
For example, Epictetus would ponder, “What am I?” and “What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion?” Similarly, Seneca asked himself, “What bad habit did I curb today?” “How am I better?” and “Were my actions just?”
By building an everyday ritual of conscious reflection, you notice what contributed to your happiness and quality of life and what reduced it. This practice helps you clarify what to do more tomorrow for your and others’ good and allows you to track your progress over time.
3. Use journaling prompts
Emma Watson shared in British Vogue’s In The Bag how important journaling has become in her life. “This is my ritual…Every single day I write in this,” she says in the video. “If I had to choose one thing that I went on the plane with, with my passport, it would probably be this because [journaling] has been really important.”
Journaling prompts aren’t just for beginners but incredibly valuable even for seasoned journalers. Well-crafted prompts help you delve deeper into self-discovery and gain insights about life. Emma also shared three journaling prompts she uses daily—give them a try:
- 3 things from the day before that were fun or joyful
- 3 things that happened that were kind
- 3 things that I did well or that I like about myself
4. Focus on the objective and be perseverant
Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, meticulously kept laboratory notebooks throughout her groundbreaking research on radioactivity. These notebooks, still highly radioactive today due to the materials she worked with, had significant contributions to her scientific legacy.
Her notebooks only had one objective: to document her experiments and methodology to continuously advance her scientific knowledge. By adopting this focused approach to intentional journaling, you can gain invaluable insights through the records to drive your personal and professional development.
Her notebooks also showed us how her perseverance through countless painstaking experiments helped her achieve scientific research breakthrough. This teaches us that any quantum leap in life requires perseverance. Just as Marie Curie was relentless in her pursuit of scientific discovery, being consistent and intentional in your journaling practice is essential if you want to see meaningful results.
5. Embrace curiosity and connect the dots
Leonardo Da Vinci’s journals were a treasure chest of observations, sketches, questions, and ideas spanning a wide range of subjects, from anatomy and engineering to art and nature. His insatiable curiosity and ability to connect unrelated ideas by asking probing questions, digging deep into what,how, and why, and considering different perspectives empowered him to achieve legendary achievements.
In your intentional journaling practice, channel Leonardo’s curiosity and expansive thinking. Don’t just record your thoughts. Dig deeper by asking questions like, “Why does this matter so much to me?” or “How is this connected to my limiting beliefs?” Explore topics that fascinate you, even if they seem unrelated to your immediate goals.
By challenging yourself to think more, you can spot patterns that help you connect the dots between different aspects of your life and generate new insights and creative ideas beyond your current level of understanding.
FAQ about intentional journaling
How is intentional journaling different from regular journaling?
Regular journaling often involves free-form writing without a specific focus, while intentional journaling is structured and purposeful. Intentional journaling typically includes prompts or particular topics to guide the writing process and achieve targeted personal growth.
How often should I journal?
Journal every day if you can. It is better to do it every day with just one sentence than writing paragraphs once a week. Consistent participation is what will bring meaningful results from journaling.
How long should my journaling session be?
It doesn’t matter, as long as you achieve your set goal!
Digital journaling vs paper journaling
Writing is better than texting, so paper journaling is the most accessible. But if you want portability, opt for a tablet with a stylus pen and note-taking app. I use iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and Goodnotes app.
Can I combine intentional journaling with other self-care practices?
Yes, you can! Combining intentional journaling with other self-care practices can enhance both your journaling experience and your overall well-being. Common practices include meditation, breathwork, physical exercises, aromatherapy, oracle card reading, creative pursuits, and nature walks.
Where can I find more journaling ideas and prompts?
Many resources are available online, including blogs, websites, and social media pages dedicated to journaling. You can also find books and guided journals specifically designed for intentional journaling. Here are 30 journaling prompts for you to get started with.
How do I know journaling is working?
A clear sign is that you feel calmer and gain new insights after each journaling session. When you use this wisdom to rewire your brain and align your actions, you’ll start to see more opportunities, even in challenges. Over time, you’ll notice you become freer and happier and your desires begin to manifest.
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