Journalling – the Tada 100 List

It seems that Journalling is all the rage these days.

People sharing about the benefits of it alongside the practice of gratitude. I totally agree.

I have been journalling, or I would have called it writing in my diary, since my early 20s. I was downloading whatever I was experiencing at the time and writing it out on paper and this helped me see it and process it more clearly. This wasn’t every day, but whenever I felt the need to.

But over the last 6 years or so I’ve been introduced to the practice of daily journalling. Firstly this was through Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning books (confession time, I haven’t kept up with the before 8am plan, but I do try and do a version of it at some point during my day). The Miracle Morning Journal that you can purchase alongside the book, has prepared weeks for you to use and review, which makes it much easier to action and write in the few specified lines, rather than being intimidated by a blank page. The Miracle Morning has been made into a film that you can see more about here.

Then this Christmas I was given a 5 year journal as I was reading about the benefits of being able to view the same day on subsequent years and see a longer term perspective on it.

So when my friend Marg mentioned to me about a Journalling Masterclass that one of her mentors, Suzanne Culberg was running, I wasn’t sure that there would be things there that would help me as I was already doing it. I was mistaken!

For starters here are 5 reasons Journalling is a positive thing to do:

#1. It reduces stress

#2. It boosts your mood

#3. It strengthens your emotional function, connecting inner needs and desires

#4. It evokes mindfulness

#5. It helps you remain in the present and get perspective.

Most people understand the benefits of gratitude, but this gave me another perspective on it.

We can intentionally be grateful in different ways, and one I’d not considered was creating a ‘Tada’ list – or a list of 100 things you have achieved. These don’t need to be big things, they can be a combination of the big stuff and the small stuff that no-one else will notice but you. The aim was to create a list of the 100 things we had achieved in 2021, regardless of the outcome.

So often we choose to not celebrate something if the final outcome isn’t good, but this list is not looking at the final outcome, but simply at the process.

This helps us focus on the good stuff, with a cup full or half-full perspective, rather than one that’s half-empty or even empty. Marinate on the good stuff, instead of focusing on the things that could be better.

Here’s a few things from my list…

1. Launched my new courses with 8 Facebook Lives

2. Did 2 live webinars

3. Made sales!

4. Held my tongue in that difficult situation and didn’t react

5. Joined a Mountain Biking group and kept going even after the first time where I nearly quit!

6. Learnt how to create and respect my own boundaries…

To name just a few.

Suzanne shared about choosing the method and style that suits you. Be it handwritten, on your device, audio, video, drawn, in a special book, with favourite pens, highlighters, adding photos, objects and so on.

Over the last few months I have been realising what a huge part journaling has had upon me over the years for good. it has been an outlet through difficult times and a way to express lots of different emotions and situations. It has been a place of prayer and communion with God and it’s always fascinating reading them back to see what was going on at the time and see them with the benefit of hindsight.

In these days self care is much more celebrated and not seen so much as a selfish practice but one where we are much more able to give in a positive way when we aren’t burnt out ourselves. Journaling can therefore be a very beneficial part of that process. Good, bad and ugly, there is something very helpful in not letting it all run round inside our heads but get it out in whatever form, even if it is just for ourselves and not for anyone else to see.

So maybe you, like me, will make this part of your daily practice. Just remember, for processing those difficult relationship exchanges – it might be a good idea to journal the other people using code names or initials just in case they don’t remain for your eyes only! 😜