reflecting - Alyssa's Creative Lifestyle

Posted on March 17, 2023March 18, 2023 by Alyssa — 6 Comments

How to Start a Journal | The Ultimate Guide to Building a Journaling Habit

I’m gonna let you in on a secret. I used to suck at keeping a daily journal.

Almost every single one of my new entries would start with “sorry I haven’t written in a while…” I also used to have so many empty journals collecting dust on my shelf. Never in my life had I actually fully filled a journal.

That was the case, at least until just a few years ago.

In college, when I first got started on my personal growth journey, was when I finally got the habit to stick.

And in less than a year I finally filled up one of my journals.

Journaling has now become one of my favorite ways to start my day. After making a cup of coffee, it’s the first thing I do in my morning routine.

It helped me realize that I needed to drop out of college. It helped me get gain clarity on my goals and dreams for my life.

Journaling can help you in so many areas of your life (but more on that in a second).

If you are new to the world of journaling, this is article is designed to help you get started. You’ll learn how to start a journal from scratch, the different journaling methods and strategies, and how to make it into a habit.

Or maybe you’re like me – you like the idea of starting or ending your day with journaling, but for the life of you, can’t make it into a daily habit.

Well, I’m going to let you in on a few secrets that will help you start the habit and keep it. So you can finally fill one of those countless empty journals around you house.

I’ll warn you, this is a long and detailed post, but I know you’ll get a lot of value from it. I would recommend pinning this article so you can come back to it again.

I’m so excited to welcome you to the world of journaling.

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A girl writing in her journal | How to start a journal

How to Start a Journal: Find Your Why

The first step to start journaling is really simple. All you need is an empty notebook and a pen.

Yep, that’s it.

Well, I guess there might be a bit more to it.

Firstly, I recommend you dive deep into why you really want to start a journal in the first place.

Just like when you get starting building any new habit and routine, you need some way to keep you motivated, and that’s why I always recommend coming up with your “Why Statement”. This why statement should clearly articulate the reason or purpose behind why you want to build this new habit.

Start my asking yourself the following questions:

Why do I want to start a journal?
What do I hope to get out of it?
What do I want to accomplish?

It’ll be much easier to build this new journaling habit if you understand WHY you actually want to do it. Once you have an answer, write it out as a full sentence like this:

I want to start journaling to better understand my thoughts and feelings and gain more clarity
I want to start keeping a journal on a regular basis to document my life and my memories.

Once you’ve done that, write it on a post-it or piece of paper that you can stick on the inside of cover of whatever you’re going to journal in. Read this statement every day to remind yourself why you are trying to build this into a habit.

Do you have your why? Awesome, now let’s actually get started.

The Benefits of Journaling

There are so many benefits of journaling.

My favorite benefit is that it allows me to slow down in this stressful and ever-changing adventure we call life.

As you realize how beneficial it is to journal daily, you’ll want to do it first thing every morning.

Here are some more journaling benefits to get you motived to start your journaling journey:

Gain clarity and focus
Increased productivity
Improves your mood
Makes you more likely to chase your goals
Boost confidence
Increase self-awareness
Decreases stress and overwhelm
And sparks creativity

There are No Rules When Journaling!

The best part about journaling is there are absolutely no rules.

You don’t have to be a good writer or have good handwriting.

Allow for mistakes, grammar errors, and messy handwriting. It’s all you.

Just let your stream of consciousness flow freely.

One of the main points of journaling is to learn how to express yourself in a carefree way when no one is watching.

There is no judgment in your journal because it’s your journal!

Different Types of Journals

Alright, now for the fun part. Let’s figure out which type of journaling you should start with.

Remember that you aren’t marrying this type right now. Pick one form to test out for a couple of weeks and then you can evaluate whether you want to stick with it or try a new one.

Every person will journal differently and the type of journaling you decide is best for you will be based on your WHY.

Remember how we discussed your why just a bit ago? Use the answer to those few questions to help you figure out what type of journaling will be best for you.

Here are 9 types of journals to choose from:

Bullet Journal

Bullet journaling has grown a lot in the past few years. Many people use it as a journal for productivity and goal setting. The overall concept was invented by Ryder Carroll and is best described as a mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system. Head to Pinterest to see examples, there are tons of them over there.

Morning Pages

The idea of Morning Pages originated from the book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, and the main idea is to do stream-of-consciousness writing. The morning pages are usually done in the morning when our brains are the most creative. No thinking allowed, just start writing until 2-3 pages are filled.

Gratitude Journal

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Many people recommend starting and ending the day by writing what you are most grateful for. If that doesn’t resonate with you, try asking yourself what made you the happiest today.

Dream Journal

Dream journals are devoted to your dreams. They can be dreams you have while you are sleeping or what you daydream about throughout the day. Either way, write down a few sentences every morning about a dream you had or what you dream of for your future self.

Brain Dumping Journal

A brain-dumping journal is the only type of journal that I’d say you should keep with you at all times. It is meant to be a place for you to jot down any new ideas whenever they come to you so you don’t forget about them.

Go here to learn more about brain dumping

Scrapbooks

Not many people think of the scrapbook as a journal type but it’s more than just a place for photos. You can gather memories, dreams, or create mood boards. Basically, a scrapbook is where you can gather a bunch of images and put them together in an artsy way that’s just you. And you can write about the images to add a story to each page.

The Dear Diary Journal

The most basic and common form of journaling. I probably don’t need to explain it. But for just a quick explanation, I like to think of the dear diary journal like you are telling your future self about anything you want. What you did that day, what you hope happens if you do something. Basically anything.

Guided Journals

If you still don’t know where to start, you could try a guided journal. The most popular one out there is the Five Minute Journal. It only takes 5-minutes every day to fill out. I’ll talk more about it soon.

When to Journal

It can be really easy to just toss your journal off to the side and save it for a rainy day, but most of the benefits we talked about earlier come from daily journaling.

It can be hard to implement at first if you are new to it. The best way to start a habit is to do it in small doses.

You don’t have to journal for a whole hour or aim to fill a whole page.

If you make a habit overwhelming, you will never actually start it.

Instead, start with setting aside just 1 minute every day to journal – just to start with.

Write about anything.

A minute isn’t a lot so the excuse of ‘I don’t have time’ won’t exist.

I would also recommend you journal at around the same time every day if you can. That way your brain can associate a time with a habit which will make it easier to be consistent.

You can also link it with an activity you already do – like drinking your coffee or right after you give your pet breakfast.

Whatever it is, linking journaling to an already existing habit will make it a ritual of your daily routine.

Journaling Supplies

Like I said at the beginning, you really don’t need a lot to start a journal. Just a notebook and a pen.

However, you can make journaling more appealing if you have a pretty journal and your favorite pen to write with.

Here are some supplies ideas to get you started:

Pretty Journals

Pens

Pilot Gel Pens – Assorted

Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen – Micro Point 0.38mm

Whiteout

Fun Stencils

Ultimate Productivity Stencils Set

9 Piece Drawing Templates

Inspirational stickers

Planner Stickers

Famous Guided Journals on Amazon

The Five-Minute Journal

This is an un-dated guided journal that will boost your happiness in just 5 minutes a day. Each page includes thoughtfully designed prompts that include: gratitude, prioritizing your day, 3 amazing things, inspiring quotes, daily affirmations, and end of the day self-reflection. The Five-Minute Journal is known as “The Simplest Way to Start Your Day Happy”.

Buy Now

The Best Journal Ever

The Best Journal Ever is a guided 3-in-1 journal that includes a place for gratitude journaling, habit tracking, and monthly reflection. This undated journal has enough pages to get you through 6 months without needing to buy another journal. Each daily page includes a place to track your sleep, an inspirational quote, gratitude, affirmations, and a half-page for daily journaling.

Buy Now

A Year of Zen: A 52-Week Guided Journal

A Year of Zen Guided Journal combines the practices of Zen Buddhism with journaling to help you live mindfully, gain clarity and perspective, and let go of stress and worries. This journal includes journal prompts for every day of the year that inspire self-exploration, reflection, and mindfulness that will help you live a happier more fulfilled life.

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The Untethered Soul Guided Journal: Practices to Journey Beyond Yourself

This guided journal is based on the New York Times bestseller The Untethered Soul. It offers new practices for inspiration, freedom, and joy. The exercises and prompts included in the journal are paired with the original passages from the book. The prompts will help you to live more in the present moment, and achieve lasting joy and self-realization.

Buy Now

Use Journal Prompts

If you are still struggling with trying to figure out what to write about, journal prompts can be a great way to get started.

Journal prompts are simple questions you ask yourself and then answer in your journal.

I have tons of different journal prompts on my Pinterest board to help you get started.

Or sign up for my email list below to get a pdf printable of 30 personal growth journal prompts in checklist form to get you started right away.

Other Journaling Tips

Here are a couple more tips when it comes to starting a journal:

Start slow
Include journaling in your morning routine
Use journal prompts
Just try it and don’t make it a big deal
Go back and review what you’ve written to learn more about yourself
Draw, create art, use stickers; it doesn’t just have to be words
Have fun with it!

Final Thoughts on Journaling

Journaling should not be something you dread doing every day. Please don’t make it feel like a chore.

Journaling is a type of self-care that you do for yourself. Enjoy it.

I hope you found this guide on how to start a journal helpful and that you are excited to start developing your new journaling habit.

Let me know in the comments your favorite type of journaling and how it works for you.

Journaling has truly changed my life and I know it can change yours, too.

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Are you ready to start your personal growth journey but don’t know where to start? This guide is for you: The Ultimate Personal Growth Guide. Learn the strategies you need to work on self-improvement and become the best version of you!

Quotes Stickers

Planner Stickers

Famous Guided Journals on Amazon

Use Journal Prompts

If you are still struggling with trying to figure out what to write about, journal prompts can be a great way to get started.

Journal prompts are simple questions you ask yourself and then answer in your journal.

I have tons of different journal prompts on my Pinterest board to help you get started.

Or sign up for my email list below to get a pdf printable of 30 personal growth journal prompts in checklist form to get you started right away.

Other Journaling Tips

Here are a couple more tips when it comes to starting a journal:

Start slow
Include journaling in your morning routine
Use journal prompts
Just try it and don’t make it a big deal
Go back and review what you’ve written to learn more about yourself
Draw, create art, use stickers; it doesn’t just have to be words
Have fun with it!

Final Thoughts on Journaling

Journaling should not be something you dread doing every day. Please don’t make it feel like a chore.

Journaling is a type of self-care that you do for yourself. Enjoy it.

I hope you found this guide on how to start a journal helpful and that you are excited to start developing your new journaling habit.

Let me know in the comments your favorite type of journaling and how it works for you.

Journaling has truly changed my life and I know it can change yours, too.

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Posted on December 5, 2022December 8, 2022 by Alyssa — 1 Comment

End of the Year Reflection | Getting Ready for the New Year

Another year is about to come to a close. But before we start celebrating, it’s a good idea to do a big end of the year reflection.

The end of the year can bring on different emotions and feelings. One part of our mind is taking over with memories, highlights, and experiences of the past year, while the other is gearing up for making this next year the best one yet.

Many people often focus on the second part and dive straight into making new year’s resolutions. Now I like planning new goals as much as anybody else, but we often forget about the most important step; self reflecting on the past year.

I believe that skipping this important step is the reason many forget about their new year’s resolutions by the end of January. Their new goals don’t end of being as exciting because they didn’t take the time to figure out what is the most important next step in their life.

You really can’t plan ahead without looking back. We may feel determined and optimistic when that calendar flips to January 1st, but our experiences, skills, and mindset don’t change overnight. That’s where reflection time comes in.

Before we can jump into planning mode, we must first take some time to reflect on the past year.

Grab a coffee (or tea), your journal, and a pen, and join me in reflecting on 2022!

Why You Should Do an End of the Year Reflection

Doing an end of the year reflection is a great mindfulness practice that helps you track your personal growth over the past year and get into a place of gratitude.

If we let it, time can pass us by super fast. That’s why it’s important to take time to reflect on our past accomplishments and learn from the ups and downs in life.

Self reflection can also help get you into a space of gratitude which helps provide insight as you move into the next chapter of your life.

How to do a New Years Reflection

There are many ways to do a New Year’s reflection, from in-depth free journaling to answering a variety of journal prompts. You could even talk with your family or friends and reflect together on the past year.

There is no right or wrong way, you just need to find the best method that works for you.

With that being said, my personal favorite way to reflect is to journal with no prompts. I just grab my pen and paper and let my mind wander over what I did the past 12 months.

I usually end up with five pages of memories, accomplishments, and lessons learned by the end of it. It’s also fun going back and rereading these pages at the end of each year.

You can also use self reflection journal prompts.

Use some journal prompts that help you specifically focus on accomplishments and disappointments, lessons learned, and things you would like to improve on for the next year. Below are 10 of my favorite end of the year reflection journal prompts.

End of the Year Reflection Journal Prompts

1. What challenges did I overcome this year? What did I learn from them?

2. What new skills did I learn? How do I want to continue to develop them into the new year?

3. What is your favorite memories from the past year? (if you want, take some time here to go through photos you took and print them out or scrapbook them)

4. What new habits did you start? Will you continue to work on them next year?

5. What are you most proud of about the past year?

6. What did you learn about yourself this year?

7. How did your relationships (friends, family, partners) grow this year?

8. What did you fail at this year? How did you pick yourself up after?

9. What would you have done differently? What can you learn from it?

10. What advice would you give to yourself one year ago?

Want to dig a bit deeper into different areas of your life? Try these reflection questions.

Deeper Reflection Questions

Big Accomplishments: Did you graduate college last year? Get a new job? Buy your first car or house? How did you feel when that happened and what obstacles did you have to overcome to get there?

Big Disappointments: What didn’t go your way last year? What were you hoping for that didn’t happen? What happened that you weren’t prepared for? How can you be grateful for these situations? What lessons did you learn?

Major Life Changes: Did you move to a new state or a new country last year? Did you get married? Did you start a new routine? What major life or lifestyle changes are you most proud of that you made this year?

Personal Achievements: What are you most proud of that you did for yourself last year? Are you better at managing your anger? Do you find yourself complaining less? Did you make an effort to spend more time with family and friends? Did you spend more time on a hobby you love?

Best Memories and Moments: What are the moments that were special to you that want to remember forever?

Areas You Want to Improve: What are things you know you can do better at this year? Do you need to manage your money better? Exercise more? Are you too critical of yourself?

Gratitude: What happened last year that you were thankful for? Write down 20 things you were grateful for from the past year.

End of Year Reflection Activities

Here are few more fun ways to review the past year.

1. Review photos you took this past year.

As you look at pictures you took this year, think about the moments that you captured and be grateful for them.

Think about how you felt and who you were with at the time. Maybe write a few notes in your journal. Or if you’re really ambious, make a small scrapbook of memories.

2. Review this past year’s goals.

What goals did you set out to achieve last year? Did you achieve them or completely forget about them?

Don’t beat yourself up about the goals you didn’t reach. Reasses what happened. Maybe the goals don’t align with who you are anymore.

Use what you learned from last year to set goals that align with your future dream life.

3. Reread your journal entries from this year.

If you kept a journal this year, (and if you didn’t I highly recommend you make a goal to start one this year) reread some, or all, of your journal entries. You’ll be surprised how much happened this year that’s worth remembering.

Maybe you’ll even discover something you forgot about that you want to bring back into the new year.

Related: How to Start a Journal

4. Write a gratitude list.

A great way to end any year is to remind yourself of the things you are grateful for. Even if you thought this past year kind sucked, this practice will help you be thankful for even the more difficult years.

Maybe you got to spend more time with your family, or you picked up a fun new hobby. Maybe you had more time to read again.

Take the wins from any part of your life and reflect on how grateful you are for them.

Ending the year with gratitude will help you start the new year with a better mindset.

5. Journal

Like I mentioned before, I love journaling about the past year. It’s a great way to reflect on the good and the bad times of the past year, review life lessons you learned, and what goals you achieved. Sit down for about 15-30 minutes and just write anything that comes to mind.

Wrapping Up Your End of the Year Reflection

As we come to a close on 2021, don’t forget to cherish the memories you made this year. Some years are harder than others, but it’s important to stay positive as we head into a new year.

A new year is a new start but only if you make it be. Learn from your past, remember what you accomplished, and look forward to the future!

Happy New Year Everyone! Make 2022 the best year yet!!

Get ready to crush your New Year’s Resolutions with the biggest planning party of the year. Check out the Love Your Goals Workshop ⬇️

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Posted on June 16, 2022December 8, 2022 by Alyssa — 1 Comment

Personal Mid Year Review | 5 Ways to Reflect on Your Year so Far

We are almost halfway through 2022. Can you believe it? At this point in the year, I love to do a Mid Year Review. It’s a good time for me to hit pause on my crazy life and go over what has happened in the past 6 months. I also take time to plan how I want the last 6 months of the year to go, too.

It’s time to go over the goals we set at the beginning of the year, celebrate how far we have come, and plan out the rest of the year.

Ready to do your mid-year review? Grab a pen and notebook, your favorite coffee or tea and let’s get started.

Why do a Mid Year Review?

The middle of the year is a great time to take a step back and review the goals you set six months ago. And then set yourself up for success for the rest of the year.

In the craziness that is life, it can be easy to forget about our goals. We get caught up in the daily tasks we need to get done that we forget to look at the big picture.

By hitting the pause button, and taking some time to reflect, we can focus on our longer-term goals.

Also, our goals may need to change. You are not the same person now as you were at the beginning of the year, so you need to make sure your goals still reflect where you want to go. Your goals are not static so you can change and adapt them as you need.

And a mid-year reflection and review will help you do just that.

Now that you know the importance of a mid-year review, I have some tips to help you during your reflection time.

5 Ways to Reflect During Your Personal Mid-Year Review

Rather than giving you a bunch of questions to ask yourself, I have 5 ways to reflect on your past 6 months. Grab a piece of paper and start your mid-year review with these 5 ways to reflect.

1. Celebrate all that you’ve learned and achieved so far this year

You should always start your self-reflection time with reviewing your accomplishments for the year so far.

A lot can happen over six months that has likely changed you as a person. Whether you finally built that emergency fund or you simply learned to make that perfect cup of coffee at home, you need to celebrate your wins first.

Grab a piece of paper and write down all of your accomplishments, no matter how big or small they are, include them all.

If you are struggling to remember, look back through your journals or events in your calendar to refresh your memory.

Related: How to Start a Journal

2. Be honest about what you want

Make sure you are being honest with yourself as you go through your self-reflection time. The person you were back in January is not the same person you see in the mirror today.

For example, the person you were just a few months ago didn’t have that list of achievements you just wrote down.

With all those achievements, you gained different experiences, and your outlook on life has changed. Because of that, you need to make sure you are rethinking the goals you set 6 months ago. Ask yourself these questions:

How do I feel differently than I did 6 months ago?
Are my goals helping me grow into the person I want to be by the end of the year?
Where do you envision yourself being at the end of the year?

By answering these questions, you can assess if you are headed in the right direction, or if you need to change your goals a little bit. Be sure to keep the goals that still work with your future vision for yourself and get rid of the ones that don’t.

3. Be critical of the year so far

Now that you have reflected on your accomplishments and know exactly where you want to be in 6 months, it’s time to assess what has worked so far this year and what hasn’t. Evaluate why you haven’t stuck with some goals and if they are still relevant to your vision. If so come up with a different strategy and plan of attack.

One of my favorite books, Atomic Habits by James Clear, discusses how it is not our goals that fail us, but the process we use to achieve them that fails. If you have a plan that caused friction in your life, you are less likely to actually work towards the goal.

For example, let’s say you had a goal to write a rough draft of a book by the end of the year. You planned to get up an hour earlier every morning to write, but you found that you are not awake enough to really focus on the tasks.

So instead you need to find a time when your brain is at optimal creativity and a time that fits your schedule. Like maybe writing during 30 minutes of your hour-long lunch break. Or if you’re a night owl, writing for an hour after dinner.

Taking time to reflect and analyze what isn’t helping you is an important part of the mid-year review. By reviewing and reflecting on your systems set in place, you can increase your chance of reaching your goals.

4. Embrace changes

I like to think of the middle of the year, like a mini new year. Not only are you reflecting on your past goals and making plans to achieve them, but you can also set new exciting goals.

You don’t need it to be January to set New Year’s Resolutions. Set new goals today that align with your new self.

Remember that just setting goals won’t get you anywhere. You also need to make a plan of attack for each goal.

Take it a step further and plan some monthly check-ins. I like to have a monthly reflection session with myself at the end of each month. That helps me make sure I’m still on track with my plans for my goals.

You should be constantly upgrading your goals to make sure they are aligned with who you are and your long-term plans.

5. End with positive affirmations

It’s always a good idea to end these reflection periods in a positive state of mind. The best way to do this is by utilizing positive affirmations.

Saying some of the following affirmations aloud and with confidence:

I will never give up on my goals and dreams.
I have nothing to fear, because I cannot fail. I can only learn, grow, and become better than I ever have before.
I am building my dream life and growing every day.

Then take it a step further and find, or write, an affirmation that reflects each of your goals. Recite them every morning to start your day with a clear end goal in mind.

For some more guidance on writing affirmations like that, check out The Miracle Equation by Hal Elrod. In this book, he dives deep into his formula that combines Unwavering Faith + Extraordinary Effort to reach your goals. This formula uses an affirmation that can be used for every goal in your life. I highly recommend you check it out.

Want to stay focused on your goals for the rest of the year? You’ll have to keep them top of mind every month. Do that with the monthly review and reflection workbook. Check it out ⬇️

Final Thoughts

I hope these 5 tips helped you reflect on the past 6 months and plan for the final 6 months of 2022. I would love to hear about your goals and cheer you on through until the finish line.

Let me know in the comments, what you got out of this mid-year review and what your goals are for the rest of the year.

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Refresh Your Goals with a Mid Year Review

Posted on June 1, 2022September 12, 2022 by Alyssa — 4 Comments

How to Do a Monthly Reflection | 15 Questions to Ask Yourself

It’s almost the end of the month so it’s time for a monthly reflection. News flash, the beginning of a new year is not the only time you can set goals for yourself. In fact, you should be reviewing those big yearly goals every month.

By doing a monthly reflection each month, you can observe your personal growth and development on a smaller scale and adjust it to fit your lifestyle as you grow throughout the year.

I started doing a monthly reflection about 2 years ago and it has helped me tremendously to know myself better and make sure I’m always focusing on my goals.

Many people make goals or New Year’s resolutions in January, but by February they’ve lost motivation or completely forgotten what that goal was at all. By doing monthly reflections, you’ll have time to review those goals and plan for what your next steps are every month. Just imagine how many goals you could get done in a year if you stay focused every month.

Monthly reflections are not hard to do and don’t need to take a lot of time. I’m gonna walk you through what I do to review and reflect every month. Plus I have 15 monthly reflection questions for you at the end to help you dive deeper into your monthly check-in.

Want a PDF download of this post? Click Here!

Before we get started grab my monthly reflection workbook below and follow along with me.

What is a Monthly Reflection and Why Do One?

A monthly reflection is a time to review and reflect on your past month’s accomplishments, your goals, and where you are at with them. This is when you can take time to hit the pause button on life for a moment to decide how you want to keep moving forward.

Maybe you noticed you didn’t spend as much time on your goals as you would have liked. Or ate out too much and didn’t save as much money as you had hoped. Or you didn’t get to hang out with friends and family as much.

Each monthly reflection gives you a chance to start over, re-evaluate, and make a new plan.

You can set time to reflect every week, month, quarter, and year if you would like. But today we are just talking about a monthly reflection. This is the time for you to reflect on your routines, habits, and smaller goals.

Things To Reflect On Each Month

Monthly Wins

When sitting down to do a self-reflection, it is always a good idea to start with something positive about yourself. We often forget about our big accomplishments throughout the month cause we are always in a state of “go, go, go, go”. This reflection time is supposed to be a time to hit pause and acknowledge your hard work. Make sure to recognize your big and small wins.

On the flip side, if you didn’t have as many wins take that as a time to learn more about yourself and how you get things done.

Review Current Habits and Routines

Now it’s time to go into the details of your everyday habits and routines.

Did you make a plan to go to the gym 3 times a week and it didn’t end up working out at all? Are you finding yourself to be tired all the time cause you aren’t getting enough sleep?

Use this time to brain dump all the habits and routines in your life that may or may not be working for you. Then if something needs to change, make a plan.

Do you need to set out your gym bag the night before so you remember to go after work? Or do you need to buy a cute water bottle to encourage yourself to drink more throughout the day?

Make your habits and routines work for you.

How to Build New Habits with 8 Easy Steps

What is a Routines? Why are They Important?

Review Your Goals

It is a great idea to get in the habit of reviewing your goals every month. This will keep you on top of them and make you more likely to achieve them in a timely matter.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when reviewing your goals:

Did I achieve my goal?
Did my approach work? Why or why not?
Is it something I still want to pursue?
How can I improve on actually getting it done?

One Positive Lesson

It is also good to end this reflection time on a positive note. Go back over your notes for the month and pick out one lesson you want to take away and learn from it.

Ask yourself how the lesson made you grow as a person and how you are going to apply it to your life this next month.

Your #1 Priority

Now that the reflection is basically done, go over your notes and decide on your #1 focus for next month.

You want to try and have just one main thing to focus on each month. Whether that’d be a project you’re working on or a certain area of your personal growth to work on, pick just one thing to prioritize next month.

15 Monthly Reflection Questions

After you go through the 5 things to reflect on above, grab a piece of paper and answer the rest of these questions. Each one will help you dive deeper into your monthly check-in.

Answer each question like a journal prompt. Take some time to really think about each question.

What went well this month? What did I accomplish? How does it make me feel?
What didn’t go so well? How can I improve for next month?
What lessons did I learn this month? How did I grow as a person?
What challenges did I face this month? How did I deal with them?
What am I spending too little or too much time on?
What didn’t go as planned? And how can I improve on it?
Review any goals you set for this month. Did you reach them? Why or why not?
Was there anything holding me back from reaching my goals?
What goals do I have for next month?
List 5 things that made you feel most grateful this month.
What habits did I focus on this month and how did I do?
Which habits should I continue working on next month? Why?
Are there any bad habits I want to work on next month? Make an action plan.
What new habits do I want to try and implement next month? Why?
Overall, am I satisfied with how the month went? Why or why not?

Final Thoughts about Monthly Reflection

Try doing a monthly reflection every month for the next few months in a row and see how much more productive and motivated you are. By keeping up with it you have a higher chance of actually completing the goals or resolutions you set for yourself at the beginning of the year.

Wouldn’t it be cool to look back at 2022 next January and see that you actually completed all the goals you set out to do? Or even better, completed more goals than you thought you would?

It’s time to get ahead of your goals!

What goals do you have for the next month? Let me know in the comments below.

Ready to dive deep into self-reflection and get focused on your dreams this month? Check out the ⬇️

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Posted on March 30, 2022December 8, 2022 by Alyssa — 1 Comment

How to do a Quarterly Planning Session

Quarterly Planning is something I’ve been doing for over a year now and it has changed my life. I originally got the idea of quarterly planning from Brian P. Moran’s book The 12 Week Year.

Most people plan their entire year all at once, in January. By doing it this way, you aren’t taking the time to review how your goals are progressing over the year. Instead, many get discouraged or fall off the wagon by February or March and just say “oh, I’ll just wait until next year to try again”, even though that’s literally 9 or 10 months away.

By dividing your year into quarters, you are more likely to achieve your goals and stick to your plans. You can also experience that “New Year, New Me” feel every 3 months which really gets me motivated to keep going every quarter.

Now how do we plan for just 3 months? Let me show you.

What is Quarterly Planning?

First of all, let’s define quarters. Each year can be divided into 4 quarters. Making it easier to see the entire year on a smaller scale.

These quarter breaks are laid out like this:

Q1 – January 1st to March 31st
Q2 – April 1st to June 30th
Q3 – July 1st to September 30th
Q4 – October 1st to December 31st

Now that you know when each quarter starts and ends, we can discuss quarterly planning.

Basically, once every three months, you will set goals, document your progress, reflect on your lessons learned, and celebrate your accomplishments.

Each quarterly planning session should include time to reflect on the past 90 days and time to plan for the next 90 days.

Why Quarterly Planning is Important

By following a 90-day plan, you are more likely to stay motivated and on track because the goals are more manageable. With a quarterly plan, you can break down your big goals into smaller, short-term goals that will drive you towards your long-term goals. This keeps you motivated because you are seeing progress on your goals every quarter. This makes you less likely to procrastinate because the tasks are more manageable.

Quarterly Planning vs. Annual Planning

There are benefits to both quarterly and annual planning. And these strategies can be used to complement one another. Essentially, quarterly planning breaks down your big annual goals into easier and more manageable tasks.

Benefits of Quarterly Planning

Sense of urgency for tasks to be completed because they aren’t that far out
Focused time to hone in on specific tasks for each 90-day plan
An opportunity to reflect on your growth and make necessary adjustments throughout the year

Benefits of Annual Planning

Provides the foundation and direction for the goals that are set each quarter
Helps you decide what your overall mission is for the year

How to Effectively Plan Each Quarter

When you sit down to do your quarterly plan, there are 6 key things you should do:

1. Revisit Your Annual Plan Goals

This is where annual planning and quarterly planning go hand-in-hand. Review what goals you set at the beginning of the year and see if they are still relevant in your life.

2. Reflect on Your Annual Goals

For the goals that are still relevant to your life, review how close you are to achieving them. If the goals still seem very daunting, break them down into smaller, mini-goals that are more manageable.

3. Decide on your goals for the upcoming quarter

Once you have decided which goals you are continuing to work on this year and broken them down into mini-goals, decide which ones you will focus your attention on for the next 90-days.

4. Create action steps and benchmarks

Now that you have decided which mini-goals you are going to focus on for the next 90 days, you need to break them down into smaller actionable steps.

5. Set expectations and timelines

Set specific timelines for when you want (or need) to have the smaller steps completed during the quarter. This keeps you from procrastinating until the end of the quarter to start working on a task.

6. Plan out your rewards

My favorite part of quarterly planning is making up small treats to reward myself for when I complete a goal or task. This is just another way to keep you motivated.

Example of a Quarterly Planning Session

To help you understand each step, here’s an example:

Steps 1-3:

Let’s say that one of my annual goals for this year was to become an early riser who can get up at 5 am most mornings. During Q2 I decide that is still something I want to work towards so I am going to break it down into smaller mini-goals that will contribute to my goal.

Three mini-goals could be to make a morning routine that I look forward to, go to bed earlier, and work on getting up earlier every day.

Then I’m going to decide that this quarter I am going to just work on making a morning routine and going to bed earlier.

Step 4:

I will break this down even further into action steps.

Morning routine: research the benefits of getting up early, pick 3 things I want to do in the morning, decide what time I will get up every morning, set an alarm for that time, do morning routine for 5 days in a row, do morning routine for 15 days in a row, do morning routine for 30 days in a row
Going to bed earlier: decide what time I should go to bed every night, research evening/bedtime routines, pick 2 things to do before bed that will wind me down, go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual for 10 days in a row, for 20 days in a row, for 30 days in a row, pair this will my morning routine

These may seem like a lot of steps and tasks but notice how they are all small, easy actionable steps.

Step 5:

After that, I would plan some timelines and due dates for each small task to be completed during the quarter and put that into my calendar or my running task list.

Step 6:

And now I would decide on some rewards for when I complete my two mini-goals.

For example, maybe once I have completed all my smaller tasks for creating my morning routine, I would reward myself with buying a new personal development book that I would love to read.

Final Thoughts on Quarterly Planning

Quarterly planning is something that I definitely wish I would have implemented into my routine sooner. I have gotten so much done in this first quarter of 2022 because I planned smaller actionable steps that got me closer to my goals. And while my big 2022 goals aren’t even close to being completed, I know that I am just one step closer every quarter.

I hope this helped you understand what a quarterly planning session should look like and why they are so beneficial to your overall success and productivity.

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desk calendar for planning a super productive quarter

Posted on February 28, 2022March 16, 2022 by Alyssa — Leave a comment

How To Do a Brain Dump for Mental Clarity

Have you ever had 7 billion things on your mind at once that you can concentrate on a simple task like checking your email? It’s exhausting, isn’t it?

Well, there’s a way to dump all that clutter out of your brain so you can concentrate and get things done faster, and it’s called a brain dump. (how creative huh, lol )

In this blog post, you’ll learn exactly how to do a brain dump properly so you can work with a clear mind and be more productive.

Let’s get started.

What is a Brain Dump?

Before we go any further, let’s define exactly what is a brain dump.

A brain dump is simply a tool to help you dump out all the thoughts clouding your brain by putting them on paper. It can help you organize, store, and process the information later.

This is a little different than a traditional journaling exercise, there are no prompts and no structure, just write anything you want to get out of your head.

By doing this, the hope is that you can:

Rember things you’d likely forget without writing them down; like things you need to buy, or birthday gift ideas
Put everything in one place to access later
Encourages creativity and problem-solving by addressing concerns rather than ignoring or forgetting them

Brain dumping can help you start your day with a clear focus by writing out everything on your mind.

Why Does Brain Dumping Work?

I mean writing things down without structure at all doesn’t sound like it will give you much benefit right? Wrong!

There are so many benefits of brain dumping.

Writing things down can:

Help improve memory
Help you process emotions better. There are studies that show writing down emotions can help improve mental processing
Put you in a better position that makes you more likely to achieve the things you write out. Notetaking is a more effective memory and learning aid because you’re taking the time to think about the process that you need to take to complete said task
Helps organize information so you can clearly decide what the best action to take next is

In a way, brain dumping is almost like a functional stream of consciousness exercise.

Benefits of Using a Brain Dump

How can using a brain dump help you become a more productive person?

Helps improve your focus and productivity levels
Makes you more likely to remember the information
Can reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression since you aren’t keeping them in your mind
A tangible place to access your extras when you have time and the ability
Helps provide perspective and encourages problem-solving
A great to-do list opportunity

Supplies to Start a Brain Dump

Traditionally, most people will simply use pencil and paper. Here are my favorite inexpensive supplies on amazon:

College Ruled Classic Notebook

This journal is only 5.5″ by 8.15″ so it can fit nicely in your purse or bag for brain dumping at any time of the day.

Five Star Spiral Notebook

I keep one of these on the kitchen counter as I always get my best ideas while I’m cooking dinner for some reason. The Five Star brand notebooks come in so many designs so you can have a beautiful brain-dumping notebook sitting out all the time.

Pilot G2 Gel Pens

These are by far my favorite pens to write with. They write so smoothly and seem to never run out of ink. And they’re super inexpensive, Bonus!

Now I prefer to write out my ideas as I find it better to remember things when I write them down. However, there are people who prefer technology for various reasons. One of them is that notebooks can take up a lot of room as you fill them.

Here are some ideas for digital brain dumping:

Google Docs: It’s free and you can access it from anywhere. What more could you want?

Notes App on your Phone: Your phone already comes everywhere with anyway so why not also make it a place to dump your ideas; maybe on the bus to work, or while you’re on your lunch break.

Notion: I LOVE Notion! You can do so many things with Notion other than brain dumping and it syncs to any device with the app. Brain dumping doesn’t have to look great but with Notion, you can easily organize thoughts by dragging them around the page. Seriously go check out Notion!

*not sponsored; I just really love using Notion more than any other digital note-taking app and I really think you guys should check it out!

What to Include in a Brain Dump

Really, you can write anything, the sky is the limit. But if you’re still not sure how to start here are some ideas:

Thoughts
Feelings
Things you need to do later this week
Something that happened in your life
Ideas for future travels
Quotes/song lyrics you want to remember later
Goals
Dreams
Aspirations
Things you want to look up later
Books you want to read
Movies you want to watch
Grocery list
To-do list

The list can go on and on, Just start writing!

When to Brain Dump

Ok, you have a notebook and pen or a digital way to take notes, now when is the best time to brain dump? Well, honestly there really isn’t “the best time” to use one.

But here are a few different ways people use them throughout the day:

In the morning: I prefer this cause it clears my head for the rest of the day and I can get out all the ideas I may have dreamed up overnight
Before bed: same as right in the morning, brain dumping right before bed can clear your mind or put you at ease so you can fall asleep easier
Anytime an idea comes to you: this is where it’s nice to have something to brain dump with at any hour of the day, cause who knows when that million-dollar idea is gonna come floating into your brain, and you don’t want to forget it!

Final Thoughts about Brain Dumping

Brain dumping is a great strategy to organize your thoughts floating around in your brain. It helps clear your mind when you otherwise might be afraid of forgetting something important.

Now a brain dump can become totally useless if you never come back to the notes you took. Try to put it into your schedule; just a short 15 minutes or so, to look over your notes from the past week and organize them or cross stuff off if it no longer applies.

Make a plan to go through your brain dumping notes on a regular basis. This is where it becomes super beneficial. Often times people write things down to get them out of their heads but if they never come back to them, they’re lost as if you never wrote them down.

Brain dumping can transform your life if you stick to it properly.

Have you been wanting to figure out how to clear your mind and focus better? Find a place to start brain dumping now. You won’t regret it!

Have you tried brain dumping before? How has it helped improve your life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

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