By Dr. Laytecia McKinney
There is power in journaling! When you write your thoughts down, whether they are good, painful, adventurous, or simply aspirations, it is therapy! In doing so, you create a safe place to release what you were holding in on the inside. Journaling helps you control, what you are feeling on the inside. It's wise to write some stuff down than it is to act it out! When I was a young girl, my life was not always good and I had to endure some difficult situations, so as a teenager, journaling became a place of refuge for me. To write my feelings down on paper was like me talking with God and casting all my cares upon Him! It was therapy for me and it also created a space for me to dream big, outside of my pain and problems because I would write down the things I wanted to accomplish as a youth and the woman I desired to become when I grew up! I see the manifestation of them now!
One of the most powerful benefits of journaling is that once you have written down, your emotions, thoughts, struggles, and aspirations/goals, it serves as a blueprint for your life! You can now read through it and begin to put things in your life in their right perspective. From there, you can create a list of the following areas that you need to focus on and bring clarity to in your life, such as some of the following:
* Self-Care - Analyzing how you take care of yourself. Loving you must be a
priority in order for you to be able to give your best to others. Self-
care involves being healthy emotionally, spiritually, physically, and
mentally.
* Finances - Your financial state has a bearing on your emotional, mental, and
physical state. When finances are lacking, or tight, or if there is none,
it brings stress that can create health issues and tension to
relationships, marriages, and lowers self-esteem. Journaling a
budget or plan to create wealth positions you for success.
* Goals - Setting Goals lets you know where you are going and gives you hope
for the future and keeps you moving and not stagnating. By setting
goals, you are simply planning your future, where you want to go,
what you want to accomplish, and when you expect to get there!
One of the biggest reasons people do not achieve their goals is
because they do not define them by writing them down!
The above are only a few areas that we must continue to improve in our lives. As we embark on a new year, it is important to have a vision for your year and an action plan that will enable you to be fruitful. I refused to be fruitless, and unproductive and allow my dreams to remain only a dream when God has given us the creativity and wisdom on how to bring them to fruition! I have published a fully colored journal/devotional, that I call a one-stop journal, entitled: "I Am WOW - A Woman of Wisdom Journal/Devotional designed to help you map out your future by writing out your life's vision statement, positive affirmations, goals for different areas of your life, such as fitness, business, spiritual, etc. and how to create a plan to get there! There is also a "Girly Girl Station" a place for planning your personal shopping goals, weekly meal planning, budgeting, date-night coupons, and much more! I encourage you to purchase a copy to get you in a position to map out your life for 2023, it will bless your life! I designed it with women in mind, who are ready to take their lives to the next level! Just click on the link!