Starting a Journaling Habit: Simple Prompts to Get You Started

In this episode, I’m talking about something simple, old-school, and incredibly powerful: journaling.

I’ve been writing in journals since I was a kid—literally since fifth grade—and I probably have more than twenty journals tucked away under my bed. Over the years, writing has been a companion, a witness, and a quiet place where I could meet myself without judgment.

Today I’m sharing why journaling can feel like a tiny sacred room you get to enter, even in the middle of a loud, busy life. It doesn’t cost much, it doesn’t take a lot of time, and it can become one of the most grounding practices you have.

We’ll talk about:

• Why journaling works so well for overwhelmed minds
• How to let it come in seasons instead of forcing it
• The difference between journaling for growth vs. journaling against yourself
• Two simple journaling practices you can start right away
• Practical tips to make journaling actually happen in real life

If you’ve been craving a gentle way to reconnect with yourself, this episode will give you a place to start.

You don’t need a fancy notebook or a perfect routine.
Just a pen, a page, and a few quiet minutes.

Links mentioned:

National Networking Dance Party- March 8th. Buy your ticket:

www.tamarcoaching.com/dance

Monthly Free Group Coaching- Save your spot at the next coaching call:

www.tamarcoaching.com/group

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hey yo, hey yo, welcome back, brave little things guys. Welcome to episode 35. 35, you guys. 35. Can you believe it? I'm like a little blown away. That's a lot of content. That's a lot of, you know, really dipping into like the depths of my soul to figure out what do you folks want to hear? What do you need to know today to like really feel aligned and like relaxed in your body, in your life, in your business? Like, what do you need to know? And that's a lot of listening on your part. So freaking way to go us. 35. Let's keep on going. I'm loving this. I'm hoping you're loving this. I'm having a really good time. Hope you guys are too. So today, guys, we're talking a little bit about journal writing, the sacred act of journaling. And I love this topic. I think it's a really good thing to, you know, really learn about, know about, think about, wonder if it's for you about, all the kind of stuff. And so that's what we're going to be talking about today. And I mean, specifically why I love journaling and, you know, having a little space to write things down and get clear on certain things is because, listen, our brains are so freaking loud. Our life is so freaking loud. Our businesses are so freaking loud. Lots of loud happening. And the sacred act of coming to your journal and writing gives us a place to meet ourselves in the middle of all of it. It's kind of like this little gentle spot. Like I really, when I say like come to our journal, it's like, you know how yogis will say, like, you know, coming to your mat. That's how I feel. Like it feels like when you come to this little spot, this journal and this pen, it's you time, your time. And you can like really shut off and shut down all the things that are happening outside of you and even inside of you as you kind of just pour everything out. And so I really love this tool. I love this act that we can we can do in our daily lives to help kind of quiet things down a little bit. So that's kind of why I want to talk about it today. And, you know, I've actually been a journal writer my whole life. I've been journaling since, I mean, I think it might have been earlier, but I know for sure since I was in fifth grade. Because I remember a specific entry that I had made in fifth grade when my sister, my oldest sister, was diagnosed with anorexia and was hospitalized. And I remember writing about it because I was so confused and I didn't understand it. I think my exact words, I could probably actually get the journal out and even read it, but something like, you know, I'm not going to name the sister, but the sister is like in the hospital now. Something about that she's not eating food. And so she needs to go and she and she's very skinny, so she has to go to the hospital now. Like I didn't get it. And it was so interesting for me to read that journal entry when I myself was in the hospital for anorexia. And to see, like, in the little girl eyes, like, you know, when I was what fifth grade's what? Like, how old are we then, guys? Are we 10? I don't know, something like that. And then six, seven years later, to be then like in that same position. And just it was just a really interesting thing. So I've been I literally have, I counted, 22 journals that are all underneath my bed in a drawer. I've kept them all, and I have 22 journals, and I've written my heart out in various different areas of my life when I was trying to work on something and understand something and really just like calm myself in different kinds of ways. And so yeah, I've got, I I'm I've got, I love this thing. I love this journaling thing because I think that it really adds a lot to our lives. It's like this companion or this witness, a place that you can go to with zero judgments and just yourself to kind of process it. And I really think that it's kind of like it could be a real teacher for yourself. It allows you to tap into your wiser self to be able to give yourself some wisdom and ideas and thoughts and things like that. And I I love that. I love that for me, I love that for you, I love that for my clients. It's something I I certainly do inside of my sessions. Well, it's something that I give as what I call it soulful work assignments. I'll give different various kinds of things that they can be then taking to journal on. But it's like a place where you don't have to perform and you get to be anything. These those roles that we're kind of thrown into. You don't have to be, you don't have to have. And you get to like walk into it, you know? And you know, as at as interesting, yesterday, I think it was yesterday, I came upon this reel on Instagram that I was like, oh my God. I wish I could, it was a visual I could uh show it to you, but it basically was it was AI generated for sure, but it was this woman who had like stacked up on her back various different kinds of things like laundry and a computer and kitchen utensils and car keys and like all this different stuff. And her little kids were like, you know, at her feet, like one needing something, one wanting to be held, like all these kinds of things. And the idea was like this mother who just carries so much. And I was just like, and and even though my kids are not little anymore, my oldest is 19, my youngest is nine, I felt this. I felt this. Like when we we think like, oh, your kids grow up, you know, they're not needed as much, you're not, you know, you're not as needed as much. But I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I'm needed even more on some level, and it's been like a little bit overwhelming. I've had to like really coach myself. You know, I've just been like pulled in various different directions of what my kids are needing. And so I just felt this. And I feel like with journaling, it's like that only time, maybe during the day that you'll have to be able to kind of like, hey you, hi, right? Like this little connection that you get to have with only yourself, this little date that you get to have with yourself all day long, all week long, just these few moments that you get to have with yourself. And when I was like looking at this reel, I was like, Yeah, mama, I feel you. And like, get a journal. Get a journal so that even for 10 minutes it gets to be just you, which I think is so great. And the greatest thing about journaling, guys, is like it's not an expensive go pay for, you know,$2,000 for this workshop, you know, with this high-end coach or whatever it is. It's like super simple. Everybody could do it. Everybody. And it also is not so time consuming. Like you literally could journal for five minutes, you know, every day. And that's something I suggest to all my people who are just starting the habit of journaling, is like start with five minutes a day. Literally put on the timer and journal. And if after five minutes you're like, I want to do more, I would even suggest not to. Like, good, crave more, crave more, and then work it up, work yourself up to 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, you know, as long as you would want. But it really doesn't take a lot of time, doesn't take a lot of money, and it's accessible to everybody in the world. So that I love all for all those reasons, I love journaling. It just makes so much sense. But before we even before I share some prompts that I really love to use, I also want to say that journaling in any habit, like you know, is like anything, that it is very, we are humans and we work in seasons. And I think what a lot of people do, like when they get into journaling for the first time, and they go through and they're so stoked and they're so high about, you know, it's like a drug. Really, when you get all your thoughts out and things start to become a little bit more clear and you understand a little bit more of this and a little more dreams and desires and all these kinds of things, it becomes as high, and then but then at some point you kind of come down a little bit and you start to not make time for it as much, and you're starting to do other things, and then you start to really beat yourself up for like, I said I was gonna journal, I should be journaling, I'm not journaling. And like any tool on the planet, I just want to say no. No, no, no. We do not want to use this tool of journaling against ourselves. It's like if you have a hammer, you can use that hammer to build an unbelievable house, like a beautiful home. You could also use that hammer to hit it against your head continuously. Let's not do that, right? Let's remember that we are seasonal and that there will be times like these, you know, ups and downs of when we're like we might be in a real journal mode where it's like we need it, it's the medicine that we need, it's the therapy that we need, it's the coaching that we need, and then there's gonna be periods of times where you don't feel like you need it as much. Great, amazing. Use those time slots for other times. But certainly do not beat yourself up for being all in in journaling and then like taking a two-month break and not being in journaling, okay? Because it's really important for us to like not go there and to be able to use it in a way that benefits us and not one that works against us. And that's a really important thing that I want to say out loud because I think for some reason with journaling especially, I think people can really get into that mode and it it goes, it comes and goes, it comes and goes. So I really want you to know that piece of it. So, you know, journaling is like i the another piece about journaling is that what I have found, again, like I mentioned, I have about 22 journals, not about I counted, 22 journals. And the benefit of that is that when something I remember when certain things were coming up for me in a relationship, and I think also in business something related. I'm trying to think specifics, but I remember this. I went back to certain journals where it's like literally like journals from like five to fifteen years before earlier or previous, and I was able to see patterns that was like coming up for me then that were coming up for me now. And that's a beautiful thing, right? That's awareness. That allows us when we become aware, that's when we have the power to decide do we want to stay like in this mode or do we want to change things up? Do we want to make different kinds of moves than we have in the past? Or like, oh, that's interesting. Like it's interesting that even back then I was like pulling back and I wasn't being vulnerable in this kind of way, right? It allows us to kind of really have a peek inside without like being actually there, right? And seeing really what was going on back then and how it applies to now. And do we want it to apply to now? Do we want to change things up? That was really, I remember like the first time that happened to me when I was like went back to an old journal when I was in something and like got so much wisdom from that. Like, oh, that's so interesting. I was doing that then. And like I didn't like how that went. I didn't like the result I created there. So let me see how I can change this up and make it different for myself. Right? It was really it's a really cool thing that you can kind of see different kinds of patterns and decide what you want to do and what you and also like different dreams, right? Seeing kind of like things that you were dreaming about. And some you let go of because it didn't make sense, but some you're like, right, I wanted that. That's a really good reminder. So it's like really nice to kind of have these journals and have these different kinds of reminders in that way. But I will say this, I will say this. I have been playing with the idea recently of actually burning all of my journals. Just burning them down. I'm thinking about doing it for my next birthday, actually. Mostly because, and this actually, there was a friend who made a post that was her mother had passed away, and she went back to like pack up and like, you know, pack up her mom's house and all that kind of stuff. And she wrote something like, you know, guys, this is a reminder, like, people don't want your old shit, even your kids. And even before that, I was thinking about this, but it's kind of like, do I want to leave all of my thoughts and all of my, you know, my heart and soul that I've poured into these journals to my kids who are gonna have to like decide, like, should I read them? Like, would my mom want me to read them? Would I should I throw them away? This feels really vulnerable. It's feel like on one level, it's kind of cool, like you leave something behind that your kids get to, you know, to see those things. But another level, like you put it them into a weird position, and then also they have to deal with that kind of a thing. So I have like recently been like, okay, maybe I've gained enough. And I probably will go through them and take snapshots of certain things I want to have and I want to remember. So I'll have like screenshots of them, but then burn everything else down. Because you I am starting from scratch. I am starting from new. So also I'll say one more thing about this is that for the for us business owners, entrepreneurs, it also is a great way to kind of go back into, you know, how I'm like always asking, like, you know, really like who is your client? Who, where are they? What is their daily life? Like, what were where would they be thinking about right now? What would they be worrying about right now? What would they be eating right now? You know, what what do their lives look like? So you can speak to that, so you can help understand like what problems you're really solving. This is a great tool for that also, because you are your very first client. Almost all of us, neither if you're whether you're a coach or uh something else, often what our work is oftentimes is like where we have been, and we're trying to really create this new thing in the world to help heal that. And so journals are amazing for that, right? So before you burn them down, go back, read, take some screenshots, and then you can burn them down because there is lots of wisdom we can keep on going with. So, okay, so I want to give you some prompts here, okay? There's kind of two different journaling paths I want to share. But I also want to say if you're the kind of person who wants to just like go with the flow, freestyle, go for it. I know for myself when I come to the page and I'm kind of like, write whatever you want, oftentimes I'm like stuck. I go blank and I have no idea what to do. So I'm definitely somebody who likes some structure and likes some kind of thing, some kind of like focus. And so that's what I'm offering here today. And whatever I'm offering, by the way, if you are driving or in some space where you can't write anything down, don't write anything down. Please do not become make yourself unsafe for this. It will be just kind of go more towards the mid to end of the podcast, the episode, and you can then jot them down from there. Okay. So yeah, I just want to give you kind of two different pathways into the journal writing, okay, that it could be really useful for you. And one of them is a more structured question-based journaling sequence, if you want to call it. And the second one is a more spiritual dialogue practice inspired by one of my mentors, Liz Gilbert. Okay. So, all right, so the first one is that structured journaling prompt that I was just talking about. And it's a simple, you know, sequence of questions. And you can, this could be done three times a week or daily if you're like really rocking it out. I certainly suggest that if you're just starting a journal habit, that you, you know, start simpler, like underpromise yourself and over-deliver kind of thing. So, okay, so these are the questions that I love to write on. So get a pen and paper if you're in a place that you can do that. Okay, number one is what am I grateful for? And just write and write and write and keep going until if you fully feel it in your body. Now, sometimes I will answer this question while I'm on a walk, like I do my early morning walks, and sometimes I will kind of do it as a walking meditation and not necessarily in the journal. But if you're journaling it, that's what you want to do. You want to say, what am I grateful for? And just let it go. Like it does like everything. I'm talking about everything. Even this time that you get to journal, this question that I get to like focus on, whatever it is. Okay. Number two, what do I desire? And I want it to be big desires. I want it to be tiny desires. I want to be ridiculous desires, all the desires. What do I desire? Right? I desire like a a Greek salad for lunch. I desire to plan a trip in the next two months with my best friend. I desire to record this podcast because it's been in my brain for so long. Like all the desires, whatever it is, do not hold back. And when your brain for some of us, it might be, you know, you might go blank. You might be like, I have not been asked this question ever or in a long time. And I certainly haven't asked myself this, so I don't know, right? You just say, like, it's okay. Whatever comes up, comes up. And allow yourself to write that down. And then when it stops, just say, okay, what else? What else would I desire? Keep on asking yourself, and what else? It could be practical desires and totally impractical desires, all the stuff. Okay, number three, write your goal for the day or for the week in your own words. Okay, whatever it is, write down your goal for the day or for the week. It could even be like to be relaxed or to be present or grounded, right? Whatever the goal is. And then number four, write all the reasons why this goal cannot happen. Okay, I know that you're probably like, why would I do that? We want the brain to freak and speak. We don't want to hold her back. She's got lots of thoughts as we know. She's got lots of things to say. We don't want to push her back. We don't want to resist her. We want to say, okay, it's okay. Come on. Like, why do you think this can't happen? Why do you think I'd be the last person on the planet to be relaxed today? Or why do you think there's like no way I can, you know, create three posts today? Tell me all the reasons. I'm here. I'm listening. Okay. But then the next question, number five, is going to be flipping it. And writing all the reasons why your goal is inevitable. That is the hardest word for me to say, by the way. Inevitable. Why write all the reasons why your goal is inevitable? Why is it going to happen no matter what? Right? All the reasons. And then sixth, what thoughts what thoughts can I choose instead of these lies? Right? All these lies that your brain has given you of all the reasons why it can't happen, what thoughts can I choose instead? What feels like, oh, maybe I can make this happen? Makes you feel better in your body. And then lastly, what actions feel inspired today? Right? What actions can I take today that feel like really good, that feel inspired from like everything that I just, you know, jotted down in terms of my desires, my needs, my thoughts that like make me feel like I can do this, all the stuff. Do not do not think this needs to be perfect. Right? It's just about direction, giving yourself a direction, giving your brain a direction to kind of start from scratch. I know, I don't know about you guys, but my mom, you know, back in the day, it was like all about like eating a healthy breakfast. You all, you know, you have to eat a healthy breakfast. She even had a song, which I do not remember, and I'm so grateful I don't. I was just with her this weekend. I was telling her, I'm like, I hated that song that you woke me up with every morning. It was like, have a happy, you had to start a happy day. You need to have a happy breakfast and da da da this whole thing. I never want to eat breakfast. Anyways, I feel like this is the new age, the new age, the new version of having a healthy, happy breakfast. Like a beautiful way to get your day started in an intentional kind of way, right? But we want to be really gentle with ourselves. We want to be a place where we are meeting ourselves. We want to be like literally a date, an opportunity to come and date ourselves and you know, get to know ourselves in a curious kind of way. And so you take those seven questions and journal on them. And again, it could be three times a week, it could be, you know, and and you could do this if if seven is feeling really big, also just suggest choosing three to begin with and then kind of moving up. But this is a great way to kind of get intentional. Okay, so the second path is something that I mentioned, my my one of my mentors, Liv Gilbert, started a thing called Letters from Love. And it's inspired by two something called two-way prayer, something that she had practiced in the world, where it's the idea of like instead of like if you're talking to a higher power, God, whoever, you know, oftentimes I think like, you know, what we learn, what we hear, what we see is like kind of, you know, folks like, God, give me this. I need this, make sure that my you know, husband is healthy for this, and just constantly like barking orders, slash requests, slash, you know, those kinds of things. So the idea of two-way prayer is that no, it's this conversation, it's this relationship, it's this dialogue that you're having with this higher power, this higher version kind of way. Okay, so it's like again, it's like two-way prayer back and forth. You're not just asking for things, right? You're asking questions to get closer. And the response comes from love or God or life or your higher self or whatever language works for you, but it comes from something kind of outside of you. Okay, so the idea is that you sit down and you write like dear love, or what I asked my clients to do, right? Like, kind of like I've m I've taken this and made it my own twist, where like I'll have my clients, if we're like connecting to our businesses, like write like dear beloved business, but what do I need to know today? So, whatever it is, dear love, dear, you know, whatever you want to say, what do I need to know today? Or, you know, what would you have me focus on? Or what are you trying to teach me right now? Or who do I need to be today in order To bring this goal or desire to life. And then you then flip and you and you write this response and you kind of really allow yourself, it takes time for us to really start to connect and really feel like this is coming from our responses are coming from a different place outside of us. So this will take a little bit of time. It will feel a little bit weird in the beginning, but over time you will start to access places in yourself and outside of yourself you never have. And you'll get responses that you never thought you had. Once you start to get responses that you never, you're like, where did that come from? What? Huh? You'll know that you have like captained that part, right? So you'll basically again invite love, God, higher power, higher self, whoever, whatever this is, to ask in you ask a question. And then that part, that part, that higher version, that God, the love, whatever it is, going to respond back and give you all the different words. In general, I love letter writing. I'm such a letter writer. You can ask my clients are like another letter? Oh, yep. Because, you know, we write we write letters to emotions, to our businesses, to all the stuff. I just think it's such a great way to feel like to really get the communication and relationship part of like what we are in relationship with. Like it's us in relationship with our world. And writing letters is such a beautiful way to do it. It's what we've done, you know, forever. So, anyways, those are the two main, the two main paths that I want to suggest if you are like just starting, and not only just starting, truly, if you've already in, if you've already been a journal writer, if you also have a stash of journals under your bed, still these two different paths are a beautiful way to bring your practice even deeper, right? To really kind of bring your knowledge of you and your awareness of you and your you know conversation with you even closer. And, you know, I want to suggest if this is a new habit that you are starting, that you really want to start to be journaling, then really we want to make it as simple and easy as possible for ourselves, like any habit that we're starting. And two different quick tips I just want to offer is number one, you want to kind of stack this habit with a habit that you already have established. So for example, because this is just like for most people, if you're a coffee drinker, right, and you your routine is always to drop your kids off at school and then come back and have your cup of coffee before you jump into work, then great. Then pair that with, you know, 10 minutes, 15 minutes of journaling. While you're drinking and sipping your coffee, you're also now journaling. And, you know, what either path or free-flowing, whatever it is, you're journaling. And the second piece is we also just want to make it really easy for ourselves. We don't want it to be like confusing for our brains, and we we have to how do what do we have to do? How do we have to organize? No, you want to like take, you know, go out and get yourself a journal if you don't have one. To journal a pen, and you place it next to your coffee mug or your coffee maker so that when you come back, your brain's like, right, we're journaling and coffeeing, I forgot, right? Because you're just like usually in routine, you're in your mode, you drop off your kids, you come back, you have your coffee. Many times you'll just kind of forget that, oh right, I forgot I want to start journaling. So you want to kind of pair it together so it becomes like this, you know, combination that feels like easiest for you, right? And again, you want to decide ahead of time, like how much am I wanting to commit right now? Am I wanting to commit once a week to see how this goes? Three times a week? Do I want to show up and do it in shorter periods of time every day? So instead of 15 minutes for three days a week, I'll do five minutes every day to kind of get into the mode. Decide for yourself ahead of time how you want to do that, how you want to do that. And let it be something you come to when you need it, not when you think you should have it, right? Again, we don't want to judge ourselves for it. We don't do any of that. We want it to be really the exact medicine that you need. Because when we do that, then we know that we're gonna come to it in the right times and the right places, and it's gonna really do give us that exact medicine that we need. Okay? So again, it's not fancy, this ain't fancy, this ain't expensive, this is not trendy, but it is incredibly sacred. It can be a compr incredibly sacred act, and it's something special for you in this very busy life that you're running that gets to be just for you. This little secret, this little one-on-one time that you get to have with just you, which I think is really, really special. So let me know how it goes, guys. If you want to Instagram me, let me know. If you're starting this journaling journey, let me know. Ooh, journaling journey, I like that. I would love to hear from you and hear if there's one particular question that was like, oof, that was good. I like that. I would love to hear how it goes. And also, as you know, I've got this monthly free group coaching calls happening. All the dates are on my website at Tamarcoaching.comslash group. You can sign up and be a part of this room of folks who are getting coached on their businesses as things are feeling hard and feeling challenging, and it's a great way for me to meet you in person, which I love the most. So definitely feel free to jump on that. And also, we're still in mode of um of tickets being sold for the networking dance party if you're here in Israel. Um, for all the NAT and the women, Israeli entrepreneur women coming together. If our tickets aren't sold out yet, then doors are open to buy your ticket. It's gonna be amazing. I've got incredible DJ who's gonna be doing global beats if that's your thing. I've or I got an incredible venue and also a cater that's gonna be making a gorgeous grazing table. You know, those grazing tables, guys, where it's like fruit and crackers and dips and yummy stuff. It's gonna be wonderful. So I hope to see you there. And you can just go to tomorrowcoaching.comslash dance and get your ticket if we're not sold out yet. So I love you guys so much. Have a beautiful day. I'll see you next time.