A journal is a pause place for emotions, feelings, activities, gratitude, and also accountability and reflection. Writing feelings down in itself is cathartic, but it’s equally important to take a step back and reflect on what is happening in your life.

There are times when journaling serves its purpose by releasing those intense emotions and maybe you never want to read it again.

However, in order to live with intention, fulfill my dreams, and achieve my goals, I reflect on the previous months. The topics I’m reviewing below work for me and where I am in my life. Maybe yours will be different but it’s about checking in to see how you’re doing and whether your purpose and actions are aligned.

Here’s a breakdown and some questions I ask myself about the previous month:

Month in Review

 Journaling Daily Posts

·  How often did I journal?

·  What am I journaling about?

·  How’s my mood, energy, anything I’ve been tracking?

·  What did I learn about myself?

·  Gratitude in the last month.

·  There’s no judgment here. Perhaps you’re growing your journal practice and two times a week fulfills you or one sentence is enough for your day. It’s about your needs.

Calendar

I use my journal for my daily calendar and to do list. It’s a way to simplify what I spend my time on, make sure I don’t miss any appointments, classes, ideas, and notes.

·  How is my layout working?

·  How is my schedule? Light, heavy, tsunami?

·  What is left over that I didn’t get to?

·  Do I want to get to it?

·  Does it still serve me and my goals/intentions/dreams?

Goals/Intentions/Dreams-G/I/D

·  What were they for this past month?

·  Do they still serve me?

·  Do I need to push something into the future?

·  Should I adjust the details of my G/I/D

·  Do I need to bring this into the next month?

·  What have I learned about myself and my G/I/D?

Dreams

I record my daily dreams and index them along with my daily posts. It gives me a wonderful connection to how my dreams and current reality interconnect. If you want to delve deeper into dreams for guidance and healing, join me at my monthly dream workshops.

·  How did my dreams correlate with my everyday life?

·  Review titles

·  Review feelings

·  Were there overall themes? What are they revealing about my current reality?

·  What do I need to explore in my dream world?

·  What actions do I need to complete?

Questions for Reflection

·  What do I want to bring in to the upcoming month?

·  What do I want to release?

·  What are my favorite moments in this past month?

·  Am I serving my empowerment word? (see blog post)

These headings may be different for you and they may change each month.

January was a tough month for me. I was exhausted, disheartened, worried, and my dreams reflected those feelings. I’ve adjusted my calendar pages into sections listing each hour, adding in the top three priorities of the day so I schedule them earlier. I write in my meals because one of my intentions is to eat healthier and cleaner. Plus I have a section for personal things to do since I wear a few different hats.

I realized that the professional goals I set aren’t serving me right now so I adjusted them and am excited. My 2021 word is JOY with a splash of goofy. I don’t want to be spending a whole month doing something if I’m not enjoying it.