We had it rough in 2023. No wonder most of us is finding it hard to transition from a difficult year to another 12 months of a new year. In this blog, my hope is that I can help you start anew on a blank canvas to gain new and better perspectives. Taking what we’ve learned from the previous year and apply the lessons this year.
If we remain stuck with the negative energies of 2023, it will be challenging to invite openness and kindness that helps in our personal growth and development. So, where do we start?
Personally, I’ve let go of New Year’s resolutions and turned to vision boards instead. Rather than pressuring myself to accomplish goals that are easily abandonable, after only two months of promising amidst fireworks lighting up the sky, I wanted to visualize my dream life in pictures. The main advantage of a vision board is that it allows me to illustrate what my dream life looks like through images, allowing my imagination to be free. Essentially, it makes me hope that somewhere in the future I’m living a comfortable and meaningful life.
But if I really want things to happen, I have to start somewhere concrete yet deep within me. All great changemakers know that self-reflection is needed in the process of fulfilling anyone’s goals. It’s not enough that we have a collection of Pinterest pictures, but we need to understand who we are, identify the “Why” of our goals, determine the action steps and the support we would need to do those actions. This is where journaling comes in handy. It’s a tool for self-reflection, self-responsibility, and self-compassion, which in turn, will give you a great head start for 2024. Let’s take a closer look.
What is journaling?
WebMD (2021) defines journaling as “the act of keeping a record of your personal thoughts, feelings, insights, and more. It can be written, drawn, or typed. It can be on paper or on your computer. It’s a simple, low-cost way of improving your mental health.”
For six years, I have a physical notebook for deep thoughts or random poems. It serves the purpose of writing when I want to and how I want to. There are no rules or formats to follow. Having a free flow of writing is healing, but this won’t answer the deep questions about changing for the better this new year. We’ll have to focus on journaling prompts that guide us to be better goal-makers by deepening self-awareness.
Journaling Prompts To Help You In 2024
1. What were my goals last year? How did I do?
This first journaling prompt tells us to look back on our progress in 2023. Remember, our measure for success is subjective and small wins are still wins. Being here, staying alive, is already a huge progress.
If you come across feelings of regrets and disappointment, please know that they’re normal – we can’t always know the right thing to do or to say. We make mistakes, especially in relationships, because communication is always a place of struggle. Accepting this will lessen the heavy feelings and moving forward, you have realized the importance of saying what you really mean and acting in accordance with your authentic self.
The point of this prompt is not to count what you did and didn’t in a judgmental light. It gives you the opportunity to troubleshoot and to be self-compassionate: “Why didn’t I accomplish my goal? What circumstances were out of my control? What can I change this year to support my goal?”
To set ourselves up better for 2024, we need to learn the ways we could’ve done differently last year. For instance, one thing I wished I’ve done differently was my content creation. I realized that making content took too much time than I wish it did, consuming two hours daily, almost 10 hours, and this lengthened due to my speakership engagements. I was disorganized and posted without a schedule, which caused me to feel burnout and emptied out of creative juices.
But I don’t blame myself for being in these stressful situations because I understand I was operating from a laidback and experimental attitude. This year, I will be more organized and plan out my content ahead of time to avoid burnout.
2. How can I divide my goals this year into categories?
A goal without a system is doomed to fail. The system begins with main categories that serve as your compass in navigating a more fulfilling life. Think of how finances, health, self-improvement, and leisure can house your goals of saving a certain amount of money, achieving your dream body, learning a new skill, and enjoying life by traveling. This completely depends on your personal circumstances and interests.
As a personal example, I used to have six main categories last year:
- Career
- Self-improvement
- Mental Health
- Travel
- Advocacy
- Savings
Although it gave me clarity that I wanted to prioritize having a stable job, improving myself, traveling, doing my advocacy, and saving up, I missed the chance to add S.M.A.R.T. goals.
It made more sense to me to have these categories instead:
- Finances – earn an extra P10,000 per month on top of my basic salary.
- Work – salary increase, career progression.
- Self-improvement – read more books, attend more conferences, and do more creative projects.
- Advocacy – have free listening sessions, webinars, and build relationship among members.
- Health – establish a daily exercise routine, add fruits and vegetables in diet, deep journal work.
3. How can I make it a habit to implement these goals in my daily life?
I like the idea that our future selves already have the habits of a successful future “us.” We just need to catch up with them. So take a look at the future successful version of yourself and ask yourself, what are they doing when they wake up in the morning? Before going to bed, are they doing something that you’re probably not yet used to?
Maybe you can also copy what they are already doing. Drink water after you wake up. Take some time to meditate and breathe deeply. Are they good at saying no? Are they more assertive of their needs?
Final thoughts
The truth is, change won’t happen overnight. You won’t feel the immediate reward from switching up your habits and journaling. Some days may feel like you’re back to square one. Some days may feel like you’re catching your big break. When the time comes, when you are just an inch closer to the successful version of you, you’ll realize that all your hard works pays off and there’s a journal waiting for you to remind you how it all happened.
If you have any questions or you wish to journal with other aspiring changemakers, I have an online journaling workshop you can sign up to on January 20, 2023, 2:00 PM PST, open for Filipinos of all ages. You can check this link for more details.
I wish you clarity and safety in this journey of self-discovery. It’s time to hold yourself responsible for how you’ll move forward this 2024, which doesn’t mean we’re not accounting for the systemic injustices, all I’m saying is that you can rise above your adversity and you don’t have to be in this alone.
Wishing you love and healing,
Ish 💜
📸 2023 Vision board edited in Canva.com
📸 S.M.A.R.T. goals from How To Write SMART Goals in 5 Steps (With Examples)
📸 Dear Self: Let's Grow in 2024 edited in Canva.com