5 Journaling Ideas For The End Of The Year
With the holiday’s just around the corner, what better time to grab your journal (or buy a new one, like we need an excuse) and reconnect to yourself and your goals and reflect as we approach the start of a brand new year.
Whether you’re a journaling pro or you often find yourself staring at the blank page before you, here are 5 creative journaling ideas to help you connect pen to paper.
12 Months Of Magic
End the year with gratitude and celebration by focusing on all of the moments of magic that have happened for you since January. And if this year has been far from what you imagined, taking some time to remember the smaller moments still has the power to shift your energy into a more positive state.
A great tip is to go back through your Instagram Stories archive and see what happened during each month to jog your memory.
Perhaps you visited somewhere new or took yourself out on a solo date. Maybe you met your soulmate or you added to your savings account. Or maybe you managed to finally nail cooking your mom’s lasagna recipe!
Finishing the year in the energy of gratitude for the small moments will set you up in perfect stead for the next 12 months. After all, we attract what we are. When we’re thankful, we attract more to be thankful for.
A Letter To Your Future Self
Imagine if, right now, you could open a letter and read what last year’s version of you had penned.
By writing a letter to your future self over this holiday season, you’ll be able to do just that this time next year.
In this letter, tell your future self all of the things you dream of achieving over the next 12 months, all of the goals you want to add to your vision board, and how you want your life to look and feel.
Once you have finished, fold the letter towards you to seal the energy inwards—when we want to release, we fold paper away from us—and store it somewhere safe to open in a year’s time.
Be sure to set a reminder on your phone for New Year’s Eve, with a note of where you hid your Future Self Letter. The most amazing part of this intention setting ritual is that you’re able to look back and see just how much has manifested.
What Are You Releasing?
The end of the year is the perfect time for reflection and introspection. This includes understanding what no longer serves us and being self-aware enough to acknowledge what we want to leave behind in this year before we move to the next.
Grab your journal and begin to write a list of what you no longer want to carry with you. This could include holding onto resentment, anger at someone or yourself, the need for closure when it’s safe to say you won’t get it any time soon, lowering your standards for someone who should be willing to meet you at your highest, limiting beliefs or that internal dialogue telling you to play small.
Once you have your list, take it outside somewhere safe and set it alight (have water nearby and be careful at all times). Watch as the embers burn and the smoke rises, imagining everything that has held you back this year leaving your body as the paper burns.
Allow yourself to release, leave behind, and forgive. Trust the process of letting go.
There’s no doubt this exercise can leave you with an energetic hangover, so be sure to be gentle with yourself over the following days.
Main Character Bucket List
The main character trend isn’t going anywhere soon, but thankfully, instead of trying to replicate the perfection we see online—think aesthetically pleasing interiors and perfect morning routines—we’re slowly experiencing more authentic main character energy being highlighted.
With this journal prompt, create a list of all of the main character moments you’d like to have in your life. Maybe you’d like to go to the cinema on a solo date, grabbing some popcorn and watching a new film release.
Or perhaps you’d like to buy some flowers from the market and create a centerpiece for your dining table. Maybe you want to curl up in a coffee shop with a good book and a hot chocolate.
Think about how you can bring more feel-good main character energy into your life and see how you can experience more beauty in everyday life—just be sure to tick things off and treat it like an actual bucket list.
BIG Expansive Dreams
The final journaling idea is to create a list of BIG expansive dreams for the following year. No restrictions, no limitations, no playing small or holding back.
Allow yourself to dream as big as possible and every time that niggling voice comes into your head with self-doubt and worry, write your dreams in capital letters and underline. Let the Universe know you’re serious about making the next 12 months your most expansive yet.
Think about the money you want in your bank account, the car you’d love to drive, the romance, the friendships, the places you’ll travel, the home you dream of living in.
Now you have your BIG dream list, why not take one goal and create a plan of action around it. Take action and meet the Universe halfway. After all, a goal without a plan is just a dream.