What Is A Mindset Journal

In personal development, few things are as important as writing down your thought work.

Why? For several reasons.

Here are the biggest reasons why having a Mindset Journal is so important…

  1. You’ll understand what you’re thinking and feeling more clearly. This increases your awareness, which is necessary for living intentionally.
  2. You can shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.
  3. You’re able to evaluate what’s working in your life and what’s not because you have a designated place for self analysis and evaluation.
  4. You can increase your self confidence, self care, self accountability, and more.
  5. You can decide how you want to think and feel on any day, instead of letting your circumstances decide for you.
  6. You can rewire your brain with new thoughts and feelings by practicing your thoughts (through writing) and also showing your brain what to focus on.
  7. You can shift your mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, which is the best way to overcome obstacles.
  8. You stay more motivated on your goals (this is especially true if you make journaling a habit). Instead of letting whatever you see on social media distract you from your dreams, journaling can help you focus on what you desire in your future.

How you write down your thought work is something that can grow and evolve over time. The most important (and oh-so-simple step) is that you actually write it down (and don’t keep it in your head).

This is why I recommend having a specific Mindset Journal.

What Is A Mindset Journal?

You can think about a “mindset journal” as anywhere you’re writing down your thought work intentionally.

A Mindset Journal is a specific notebook you use to do your thought work in.

In fact, there are many ways you can use a Mindset Journal.

I’ve gone through phases that have evolved as my life changes and my time dedicated to journaling ebbs and flows.

That said, over the years, I’ve continued to use journaling and my Mindset Journal as a way to rewire my mindset and get the results I want in life.

A Mindset Journal isn’t just something that’s good for your career, this is also good for the seasons in life where you want to rest more, have more time, or transform into any next version of you (example: I use a Mindset Journal as I transition into the next phase of being a wife and staying home more with family life).

With over a decade of experience journaling, I’ve used a Mindset Journal to bring awareness to my thoughts, to change them, and ultimately to change the results in my life (like paying off $206k of debt, building a business, and also meeting my now fiance, Steve). What I know for sure: Mindset Journaling works if you do the work.

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How To Use The Mindset Journal

Here are my best tips for how to use a Mindset Journal:

Tip 1: Schedule time to journal during your morning routine

What gets scheduled gets done.

Plain and simple.

So, plan when you’re going to do your thought work ahead of time.

I suggest doing thought work in your Mindset Journal in your morning routine so that it can’t get pushed aside.

A little bit of time is better than no time. Scheduling 15 minutes every morning, Monday through Friday is so much better than periodically journaling for one hour or more.

When you make a habit out of journaling, you’ll be so much more successful with it. That’s when you get real results.

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Tip 2: Decide what you’re going to journal about

Have a list of what you like to journal about. This will help you feel “prepared” when you’re staring at a blank page early in the morning and thinking about the day ahead.

In Grow You, we have a list of Mindset Tools and Journal Prompts you can use to do your thought work every morning. If you’re not in a life coaching program, then simply make your own list ahead of time in something like Evernote, so that you can rely on your list of how to journal before you’re in the moment expecting your brain to do it for you. So check out the 75 Journal Prompts freebie below I made to help you get started.

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Tip 3: Get prepared with the “write” tools (journal and pen)

I find that having a beautiful journal and also a pen I enjoy writing with helps me LOVE the process of journaling.

Using my Mindset Journal becomes an act of self care and self love when I set up my environment for success.

I make sure to have a journal I love (can be a notebook or actual journal) and a favorite pen. Typically, I have a cup of coffee, too, since I do this in the morning. Then, I sit down from anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 minutes and I write.

The key is to get your tools and environment ready ahead of time. So being prepared gets you halfway there!

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Tip 4: Actually sit down and do it

It’s one thing to read blog posts or listen to podcasts about personal development. But it’s an entirely different thing to actually sit down and put your brain to work on doing it.

There’s a lot of resistance to doing the work, and plus if you’re like most of my clients, you have either a spouse, pets, or little ones at home that need tending to early on.

This is why it’s so important to do Tips 1-3. If you get ahead, plan, and use even just 15 minutes in the morning before everyone is up, you’ll make huge strides in your life.

You become a better woman when you practice self care first because you show up to your family and to the world as your best self.

I like the rule of “never miss two.” It’s okay to miss one, but never two. If you say your’e going to use your Mindset Journal for thought work M-F, and you miss Thursday, that’s fine, but don’t miss Friday. Never miss two days in a row.

If you’re having trouble with showing up for yourself and Self Accountability in general, definitely check out Grow You. This is where I can help you get back on track and show up in your life the way you desire most.

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Growth Mindset Journal Prompts

To give you some really amazing journal prompts to use, I’m sharing some of the prompts I teach my students in Grow You.

Here are my favorite 11 journal prompts for women and moms for a growth mindset…

1. The best part of my day and why.
2. What I really, really, really, really want is…
3. Something in my life I want to improve is…
4. I love my spouse so much because…
5. I feel the most relaxed when…
6. I love this season of life because…
7. A recent failure and the lesson learned.
8. Three things I can try in an area of my life where I feel stuck are…
9. A friendship I really value right now and why.
10. What I love most about myself and my life.
11. 25 things I’m grateful for.

For more journal prompts, download my free guide: 75 Journal Prompts For Women And Moms

A Final Note!

Your Mindset Journal can be the daily tool that takes you from where you are now to where you want to go.

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to start.

And to take all this work to the next level, join us in Grow You where I show you how to journal like a pro.