Reading Time: 4 minutesHere is the Well-Being Practice we recommend you try on for this week of the Challenge. To learn more about the intention behind the Well-Being Practices and how you can choose your own each week, read this article.
Keep a Daily Journal This Week
Simple Instructions:
Write in your journal for at least 10 minutes each day this week. We suggest one of three journal styles:
- Diary-style or stream-of-consciousness writing.
- Creating a list of 3 things that worked today or yesterday, 3 things that didn’t work, and 3 things for which you are grateful.
- Following the daily writing prompt listed below. We hid them so you can look at one day at a time. Click on the day to reveal your journaling topic. (We’ll also send you notifications in the game.)
Saturday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd06747fd" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">What are the things I’m most proud of having accomplished over the past six months? Describe.Sunday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd06748e0" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">Where are the things that are not currently working in my life? Be as raw and truthful about this as possible.Monday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd067491a" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">What is my definition of “courage”? How does it show up for me in different aspects of my life? And, where am I being and not being courageous?Tuesday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd067494c" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">What are the excuses I tell myself for not having done the things I want to get done? Explain each. Is there anything really standing in my way?Wednesday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd067497a" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">Do a quick Google search for “personal values,” then write on the (approximately) ten values that resonate most.Thursday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd06749a7" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">What is my vision for my life in three to five years? Describe in as much detail as possible: who, what, where, when, why. Home, car, family, vacation, business, work, hobbies, skills, friends, etc. Write this in present tense, as if you are already five years into the future and you’re describing life as if you’re in it. “My life is great. I live… I work… I play… I vacation…”Friday's Journal Prompt
< id="target-id6740fd06749d3" class="collapseomatic_content expandclass">How do my current habits support (or not support) the vision I have for where I want to be in life?Watch this video for an explanation of this Well-Being Practice from Whole Life Challenge co-founders Andy Petranek and Michael Stanwyck.
Why Is This Practice Important?
Our thoughts often seem to have a life of their own. They bounce in and out of our heads and operate on their own schedule, coming and going as they please. Some of our thoughts don’t seem to serve any useful purpose, but there can be important or valuable thoughts inside us that we’re not present to.
Whether our thoughts are positive or negative, when we don’t get them out in some way, they tend to hang around and block our forward progress. Unexpressed thoughts are like keeping a cork in a bottle — whatever is in there stays in there, running the show on its terms. It makes no difference whether these thoughts are true or false, practical or unrealistic.
Taking the time to get our uncensored thoughts out of our heads and onto paper can liberate our minds. If it’s important stuff, now we’ve become present to it and can make it useful. If it’s not something we wish to retain or hang onto, we can rip the page out of our journal, burn it, and be done with it!
The simple act of releasing our thoughts by keeping a daily journal can give us the freedom to take back our own mind and create new connections and new opportunities. Therefore, this week’s Well-Being Practice is an exercise in mind liberation.
For More on This Practice
Beyond the appeal of the beautiful pages that seem to be the norm on social media, what, exactly, is a bullet journal good for, and how do you do it?
Kara Benz, creator of Boho Berry, teaches her followers how to live a more centered, fulfilled, and inspiring life full of creative energy and focus. In this podcast, Kara shares with us how she has used bullet journaling to achieve those goals in her own life. Click here to listen.
He graduated from UCLA with a BA in philosophy as well as a degree from the Southern California School of Culinary Arts, and feels food is one of the most important parts of a life - it can nourish, heal, and bring people together.
Michael believes health and well-being are as much a state of mind as they are a state of the body, and when it comes to fitness, food, and life in general, he thinks slow is much better than fast (most of the time). Stopping regularly to examine things is the surest way to put down roots and grow.
He knows he will never be done with his own work, and believes the best thing you can do for your well-being starts with loving and working from what you’ve got right now.
