Are Your Goals a Priority?

November 17, 2019 Leave a Comment

Are your habits a priority? Simple questions to ask yourself to find out | ChocolateMusings.com #habits #bulletjournal #goals

Are your goals a priority? How can you tell? Are you consistently meeting your goals? If not, read on.

In this post, I’ll show you how to determine if the habits and goals you set for yourself are really priorities by following the self-assessment I take and show you the planner layout page I use.

Are Your Goals a Priority?

If you make empty promises without the intent to follow up and do the hard things to accomplish your goal, then I hate to tell you the bad news. Your goal or habit is not really a priority.

Reflecting on your actions will show you whether or not your goal or intended habit is actually a priority in your life or if you’re set up for failure.

A Sure Sign Your Goals are NOT a Priority: Making Empty Promises

Life is full of empty promises that we never intend to keep. We make them to acquaintances and friends. Sure, we’ll get together. I’ll give you a call. We should have dinner sometime. We neglect to set a date, time, or follow-up because we don’t intend to keep the agreement.

Do you also make empty promises to yourself? Have you ever promised that you would start a diet next Monday only to find that it’s #nationaldoughnutday? And decide that you should begin your well-intended diet the next Monday instead?

What Changed the Commitment Rollercoaster?

I was always on this rollercoaster of hollow commitments to myself and never got anywhere. After reading several goal-setting and habit-forming books, there was one thought that kept recurring. All of these goals and habits had to become a priority to become an accomplishment or a formed habit.

Here is the Harsh Truth

The harsh truth is this: your actions show what is really a priority in your life. If it’s a priority to lose weight, you will either skip the doughnuts or plan carefully so you can have the right amount of doughnut and still keep your promise to yourself. Most days, I skip the sweets – and guess what? I’m ok.

What are Your Empty Promises?

What things in your life do you empty promise – either to yourself or to those around you? Take a hard look at how you spend your time and the actions you take when faced with a hard choice. You’ll soon find out if your goal is really a priority or if it’s just a wish.

What If You’re Not Perfect?

Keep in mind that not every day will be perfect. And most days you’ll have some sort of set back. This is a matter of assessing your overall intentions and actions. This is not an opportunity to rip yourself apart and tear you down. It’s an opportunity to think long and hard about the positive actions you’re taking. Then build on those rather than bash yourself about what you do to hinder your progress.

Goal Example

For instance, I want to learn how to do chalkboard lettering so I can go to other businesses and pitch my talents (it’s a thing). Well, the harsh truth is a big fat NO – I am not making this a priority.

But here’s what I have done:

I found a really great chalkboard to practice and have all the materials to practice, and I look at it every day. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but I can build on it. If I focus on the positive actions I already have, then all I have to do is change the negative items.

So this is what I would write as my plan to make this goal a priority:

Block out a time every day (or week) to practice chalkboard lettering. Decide which materials I like best to start, but don’t eliminate any upfront. Find some Skillshare classes that teach chalkboard lettering. Use quotes from my monthly quote page so I can have something to practice. Reassess progress in a month.

Continuous Changes to Make Your Habit a Priority

When you do an assessment, it’s not once and done, you make corrections, come back and reassess. What new positive actions have you added to achieve this goal? What obstacles do you face? And the Harsh Truth is always there to give a reality check.

Then set your plan, refocus your attention and energy, and go out and work toward those goals again.

Here’s the Planner Page I created to help me assess whether or not I was serious about the goals I set. You can recreate this in your planner (tag me @chocolatemusingscreates – I’d love to see it!).

Are your habits a priority? Bullet Journal spread with questions to find out| ChocolateMusings.com #habits #bulletjournal #goals

Goal Priority Assessment:

Goal	Positive Actions I Take	Actions that Hinder my Goal	Harsh Truth – am I making this a priority, Yes or No?
Weight Loss	– Weighing in every day – Recording everything I eat -Using an app to track everything -Sticking within my recommended daily allotment	-Snacking too much -Getting stuck in a rut and not finding healthy alternatives when I want a snack or meal -Going to the store hungry -Not planning meals	Yes, but I could do better. The goal is to change my eating habits permanently and affect the rest of my life. Refocus and keep going!

The Plan:

Order groceries online so I don’t add snack items as I wander the aisles.
Do not shop hungry!
Add daily walks back into my schedule.
Use my bullet journal to plan meals & shopping lists.
Make a list of healthy alternatives and post it on the pantry/fridge door (maybe it will help the kids, too!).

Want to know more about my weight loss & health journey? I share snippets from my planner and daily activities in my quest. Click on the image above

Other Examples of My Goals in Need of a Priority Assessment:

Running a creative business.
Creating a how-to doodle book.
Getting out of debt.
Replace the income from my job.
Create a lettering course.
Go-to Chalkboard letterer for local businesses.
Clutter-Busting (read post #1 & #2)

Here’s your question: What do you want to do?

How to Get Started

What’s the big goal in your life you keep chasing but never seem to get any closer to the end? Follow my example and write down your goal, the things you do consistently to achieve your goal. Then admit to yourself what you struggle doing. Finally, what does the harsh truth say?

Remember: this is not a time to beat yourself up. Capitalize on your positive actions (even if it’s a recurring thought) and build on those.

Here are some books I’ve read on organizing, decluttering, and habits. I’d love a recommendation and add it to my list. Let me know if you have more to add in the comments below.

25+ Gratitude Quotes for Your Planner

October 17, 2019 2 Comments

25+ Gratitude Quotes for Your Planner

Celebrating #NationalGratitudeMonth

Considering that November is #NationalGratitudeMonth I plan on focusing more thoughts and time to developing gratitude. Do you feel like it’s something you could improve in your life, too?

I found some great quotes on gratitude and I wanted to share them with you. Feel free to use any of them in your planner. Many of these quotes would work well in your planner or bullet journal. In fact, many of them would work well inscribed on a wall.

Gratitude isn’t just for #NationalGratitudeMonth in November. I know I need to include the practice of celebrating gratefulness more often in my life. In fact, I’d like to make it a daily practice, more so than I do right now. But what better time to start than now?

Want More Random Holidays?

Find my stash of random holidays here.

If you’re coming across this post whether it’s November, February or June or any time between, these gratitude quotes are a great starting point as a reminder to stop and appreciate the world around us and the things we have in our lives. My challenge to you is to find some way to elevate your expression of gratitude. I’d love to know about your adventure.

If you use any of these quotes in your planner, I’d love to see and share them so tag me on Instagram @ChocolateMusingsCreates.

Subclasses of Gratitude Quotes

After reading many of these quotes, it occurred to me that I could classify these gratitude quotes into sub-categories. I’d love to get some feedback from you – if I should move a quote to a different sub-category or create a whole new sub-category for these reminders of gratefulness, please leave me a comment below!

Also, I’d love to know if I skipped over any of your favorite gratitude quotes. Drop me a line and let me know!

25+ Gratitude Quotes Perfect for your Planner or Bullet Journal | ChocolateMusings.com #planning #journaling #gratitude

Gratitude Quotes – World Around Us

When you view your world with an attitude of gratitude, you are training yourself to focus on the good in life. – Paul J Meyer

Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe. – Wayne Dyer

The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see. – Mary Davis

Some people grumble that roses have thorns. I am grateful that thorns have roses. – Alphonse Karr

The world has enough beautiful mountains and meadows, spectacular skies and serene lakes. It has enough lush forests, flowered fields, and sandy beaches. It has plenty of stars and the promise of a new sunrise and sunset every day. What the world needs is more people to appreciate and enjoy it. – Michael Josephson

Personal Transformation

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. – William Arthur Ward

The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated. – William James

Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your perspective from lack of abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more goodness into your reality. – Jen Sincero

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more, it turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melody Beattie

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. – Henry Ward Beecher

When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. – Anthony Robbins

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. – Willie Nelson

If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. – Gerald Good

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein

Happiness

I am happy because I’m grateful. I choose to be grateful. That gratitude allows me to be happy. – Will Arnett

I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude. – Brene Brown

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. – Dennis Waitley

Gratitude & Action

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. – John F. Kennedy

Enjoy every moment.

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abundance

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. – Cynthia Ozick

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. – Zig Ziglar

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault

The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. – Charles Schwab

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. – Dalai Lama

“Enough” is a feast – Buddhist Proverb

If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. – Frank A Clark

Want More Quotes? Here’s My Growing List

Quotes are and forever will be among my favorite things in this world. So I will strive to share more with you. View my list of quote-related blog posts.

Which Gratitude Quotes Do You Like the Most?

After reading some of these quotes, I know I am lacking in the gratitude department and will strive to live with an attitude of gratitude. Which ones are your favorite or how would you classify the gratitude quotes?

If what they say is true, gratitude will help enhance your life, bring more meaning to your days, make you see clearly the true blessings in your life and enhance the peace you feel.

I am all for these things, and if you are too, let’s try adding a little more gratitude every day to our lives. Rather than feel guilty, let’s become more grateful. We can do this, together.

Because I want to be sure that expressing more gratitude actually works, I plan on writing either a sentence or a word that I’m grateful for every day in November. Either dedicating a page in my planner for the word or phrase or writing it in my journal. Do you want to express more gratitude as well? And as a result of your gratitude experiment, what do you think it will do to your outlook on life?

Want to start planning or bullet journaling? Here are some of my favorite supplies to get you started.

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

Your Past is Not Your Future

August 15, 2019 Leave a Comment

Your Past is Not Your Future – My Tips to Move on From a Bad Experience

Your Past is Not Your Future – what does that mean? For me, it means to learn from experiences and better my life based on my reaction to those experiences. I know I can’t control the experiences in my life, but I can control how I react and how they affect me, here is my plan of action.

Have you ever had a job that you absolutely hated? Hated so profoundly that no other words to describe your feelings about the situation? It’s been 4 years since I left the worst job of my life, and it still affects me. Here’s what I’m doing to move on and get past it.

A Little About My Job from Hell:

First of all – I was on track to be fired.

I’m a hard worker, I like to do things right, and I’ve never received a negative review in my life. I enjoy succeeding and take pride in my work. (My current boss says I rank high on the “Give a Sh** Meter – meaning I care a lot about the job that I do). When I can see someone else is down, I try to bolster their spirits, and I try to be kind. I know I have flaws, too, but I genuinely try to do the job well and positively impact others.

But at the previous job, they didn’t like me, and it was apparent. In fact, during a review session, my manager and his minion told me that I was on track to get the boot.

They Said – and I Quote:

“You are smart, you are always on time, you’re responsible, you don’t make any trouble, people are drawn to you as a leader, but you are not a good fit.”
– Mike, the Manager from Hell

That was quite positively one of the most confusing conversations of my life. I worked hard to develop those qualities, but they weren’t desirable attributes for the job.

The job was inside sales, ask anyone (except for my manager), it was really just telemarketing. Cold phone calls all day, dialing, striving to find someone who would listen to our semi-scripted spiel about the services we provided. My statistics were in the dead middle of the group. I generated more ‘leads’ than some and less than others in our turnover-ridden department.

They don't control me... so I took my destiny back

I decided at that time that they weren’t going to determine when I left. So I took my destiny back and quit before they could fire me. I had no prospects (other than a part-time job where I’d worked before), and it was one of the lowest points in my life. I wish I could tell you that I have completely moved on from it, but I haven’t, so here is what I’m going to do.

Your Past is Not Your Future - 8 Tips to Move on From a Bad Experience | ChocolateMusings.com #selfcare #journaling #moveon

Decide

Decide whether you will let them control you or if you have control over your thoughts, your desires, your future. If you allow other people to limit what you can do, you will never break free of their chains. You have to be the one to decide what happens to you.

I received an adorable book when I was a kid called “You Are Special” the book detailed a little wooden character who got bad marks from others around him because they didn’t think he was good enough and it really affected his day-to-day life, always worrying about the fact that he tripped on a cobblestone or that he wasn’t good enough.

What’s more, he really started believing all the other people around him. Then he met someone who didn’t let any comments, positive or negative affect her. He had to decide to let other’s opinions mark him or not.

I want to be more like the character who didn’t permit any outside influence to affect her. That’s the goal – people will say what they are going to say, people will have their opinions, but it’s up to me to allow them to control my life.

Journal Prompt | ChocolateMusings.com #journalprompt #journaling

Journal Prompt: What is one experience you’ve had that haunts you? Which one do you want to let go?

Find Bits of Positivity

You know, come to think of it, the job wasn’t all bad. There were (a few) good people who worked there, and I met one of my good friends there. Even though the job was absolutely horrid overall, individual days weren’t.

I find that when I focus on the positive, I have more control over my feelings and my actions. When you focus on positive, energizing things, you have more room in your life to do the things you want to do.

Negativity tends to consume everything around it, and I know it tends to suck the life out of me like a growing black hole. But if I allow positivity to radiate like a lightbulb, the negativity runs away.

Journal Prompt Idea: Make a list of all the good things (even the minute details) that came from your bad experience. Did it lead you to a new job or new love? Did it make you realize a truth about yourself? Often times a bad experience will lead us directly to a new path.

Look at the Details

If you’re having a hard time finding positive things, perhaps your vision is too broad at the moment. I know that sounds contrary to every piece of advice everyone says such as “broaden your horizons” or “look at the big picture.” But sometimes you need to zoom in and look at the details. Life isn’t as overwhelming when you focus in on the details.

Life Isn't as Overwhelming when you Focus on the Details | ChocolateMusings.com #quote #selfcare

When my older kids drive me crazy day in, and day out with their constant fighting (they are 8 and 10), it’s hard to see past it. But if I can focus individual moments, I’d realize that in between the squabbles they are playing with legos, together. Those two are creatively solving problems and building something collectively.

They are both strong-willed, and they don’t let someone else push them into doing something they don’t feel is right. I need to teach them to use that power to progress through life.

Write About It

I find that writing soothes my soul. Typing is one thing, but gripping a pen or pencil in my hand is an entirely different sensation. This is why I bullet journal in a physical notebook. There’s something to be said about feeling the pen glide across a sheet of paper, watching the ink flow and the words pour into words from scattered thoughts. I also know when I write things make more sense than they do in my head.

Writing lists and events, grouping items together often form a story, a theme, that I didn’t recognize before. From that comes a plan of action of what I want to do.

Stop Reliving It

Am I the only one who has ‘shower fights’ where I relive the past by winning an argument using finely crafted words that I edit over and over in my mind as I win the discussion with an imaginary person? Only me? Ok. Well, I need to stop reliving the past and move on.

Does it Line Up With YOUR Goals?

At the time of this job, I thought my world was ending. But in reality, the job didn’t line up for the goals I had for myself. So, indeed, it wasn’t a good fit. If they wanted a ‘yes woman’ and one who didn’t lead by example, well then that job was most certainly not for me.

Sidenote – later, one of my friends who still worked there told me that the manager regretted letting me walk out because there was another job in the department ideally suited for me. I can’t tell you how much joy that brought me.

Set Your Goals

I know when I’m wandering aimlessly without a goal in mind, I’m more susceptible to outside influences. For instance, I liked the money that I was earning from that terrible job, but in all honesty, the money wasn’t worth me trading my soul and happiness. But I didn’t have a goal to point me in the right direction. A goal will guide you home and will help you refocus and realize when to change a situation. Goals provide a course to follow.

Goals Provide a Course to Follow | ChocolateMusings.com #goals #quote

Create a Life List

I’m not talking about a bucket list of actions to do or sights to see throughout your life. I’m talking about a list of things you will do or not do in your life. Think of your life list as the governing set of rules for your life. For instance, I will not work in a place where I am a mindless drone. I will stand up for others for good. I will keep my family at the highest priority.

If you find that your current situation in life directly conflicts with your life list, then you need to consider changing what you’re doing.

Move On – Your Past is not Your Future

Above all, your past is not your future. The past is the past, and it’s not your future, so stop acting like it is. Decide what you want to do, set your goals, create your life so it focuses on your goal. Don’t let anyone (including your past) stop you.

So, what do you want to do?

Advice for Your Younger Self (That You Need to Take Now)

March 25, 2019 1 Comment

How These Three Products Gave Me Confidence and How they Can Help You Too | ChocolateMusings #journal #writingprompts #confidence

What advice would you give your younger self? I know you can’t go back in time, but maybe you can take that advice and live a bit better today.

Do you follow @GoodType on Instagram? If you’re a fan of fonts, it’s eye candy all day long. I can’t stay looking too long at their amazing feed because I don’t want to start comparing my beginning to their masterings. Every week they put out a prompt, and their followers create their own interpretations for the weekly prompt. (Similar to the “perfection” prompt I did a while ago). Sometimes I contribute, and sometimes I come up blank so I admire other’s participation.

Advice For Your Younger Self

A prompt from a several months ago was “advice you’d give your younger self.” Now, I’m not a fan of living in the past. I personally strive to move on from the past. Whether I do move on is neither here nor there, but it’s something I strive to do (#goals right?). Nearly two years ago, I wrote a post on this same topic. I had no idea that I would come back later realize that I still need to take my own advice.

When I first wrote my advice, it was to “be more patient with my kids” because regret never solves anything. I still agree. I can’t go back and change it, but I can move forward.

This time around, I decided to focus on my personal self-development. What advice would you give past self? What advice can you take now and move forward?

My Advice for my Younger Self: IGNORE THEM

Back in high school, I’d pack the whole day’s worth of books with me to every class in my backpack, so I didn’t have to go down the hall where my locker was so I could avoid the group of peers that sat near my locker. I literally quit singing because of them. I believed that I was stupid because of them. When someone smashed my ceramics piece before it made it into the kiln, I let them win because I didn’t rebuild it. (It was darn cute too! A polar bear mama & cub with an igloo.)

What would have I done had I ignored them?

No Matter Who

No matter who it is, peers, teachers, siblings, whoever makes your heart ache, don’t listen to them. Ignore what they say, you have wings.

Don’t clip your wings because they can’t fly.

I freehand drew this piece. It’s on black paper, and I grabbed a Sakura Gelly Roll pen and started drawing.

Now, I’m not saying that I’ll freehand every piece without measurements, but sometimes those whiny little voices in the back of my head that say “what if you fail” or “what if you mess up”? IGNORE THEM.

Ignore Them: Don't let their lack of wings keep you from flying - advice for my younger self

Why Does It Matter to You?

Why do you care about the advice I’m giving myself? Because you’ve probably been there too. Hesitated, because you worried about what others might think of you. Fretted that you weren’t good enough or even felt the fear of impostor syndrome.

Here’s the deal: if someone thinks or says something negative about you and what you’re doing to find your own happy state, they probably are too self-absorbed in their own plight to really care past the fleeting moment anyway. And the real question you need to ask yourself: Are you going to let them clip your wings?

No matter what advice you might give your past self, take the advice and move to a better you.

I don’t have to give my past-self advice. I can give it to myself now and move forward to a better me. And so can you.

Pushing Yourself Outside Your Comfort Zone

Whenever I sway outside my comfort zone, I always learn something new and beneficial. Whether it’s freehanding a doodle on an unforgiving black piece of paper or deciding to draw watercolor portraits, there’s always a benefit. So if you don’t succeed the first time or if you absolutely hate the project, look for the good. Find a snippet of something you learned. That’s what getting out of your comfort zone is all about, because next time, you’ll find another lesson.

Now, go fly!

Note: I originally found the prompt in the 300 Writing Prompts by Piccadilly, and decided to ask myself the same question every year.

What is the advice you’d give your younger self? And how will you take that advice now?

~Tricia

Journal Prompt: Advice for your younger self | ChocolateMusings.com #journal #journaling #confidence

Ugly Journaling – Why It’s Important

June 17, 2018 7 Comments

What Is Ugly Journaling?

Have you ever heard the term Ugly Journaling? Probably not, because I made it up. Ugly Journaling is when you write so you can get it all out, ignoring the fact that your handwriting isn’t perfectly coiffed, your letters straight and even like you’ve seen or practiced.

The words flow out of your fingertips, even though you’re writing as fast as you can, you miss some thoughts. Rapidly logging all the things that come to your mind, inhibitions of a beautiful journal don’t matter anymore, all that does matter is getting all the thoughts out.

When your pen lifts from the page, and you realize what you’ve done to your perfectly curated journal, you realize for the first time that this journal now belongs to you.

That’s what ugly journaling is – at least how I see it.

Why Ugly Journal?

I don’t ‘ugly journal’ very often. Maybe I should do it a little more, though. Back in March, when I separated my journals from long-term collections to current plans and had a goal to keep the planner for 12 months, I wasn’t stingy with the allotment of pages for each month, but I didn’t add anything extra or fun. When one month ended, the next one began.

Slowly, I felt constricted in my own doing! I still like and use my long-term collections notebook, but I don’t think my red planner will last for a year because I need to do a whole lot more ugly journaling, where I write down thoughts without restriction.

Why Is Ugly Journaling Important?

Just google “Why keep a journal” and you will find many compelling reasons why journaling is beneficial for your mental state. Psychologies.co.uk has an excellent article and five great reasons to keep a journal. I know that I solve more of my own problems and gain more confidence in myself when I journal. I wish I would have journaled more as a kid and now as an adult. Letting go of needing everything perfect, my writing, my life, myself, and just writing frees my mind and my soul.

You don’t have to ‘ugly journal,’ but I find it completely freeing to let go and just write with no restriction.

My Process

Sometimes I ‘Ugly Journal’ everything that comes to my mind. This is kind of like a brain dump where the ideas are disconnected and don’t have a rhyme or reason. I also ugly journal on a theme or a topic. For instance, I expected myself this year to create products and videos left and right. But instead, I’ve been in a rut for longer than I realized, and found myself in the middle of June with nothing to show.

So I sat down and wrote a list of things I feel like I’m lacking. I wrote to myself without inhibition. That writing opened up into more free-form writing consuming 6+ pages in my bullet journal. Finally, I had some ideas of what I was really struggling with.

Finding Solutions

So then I created a grid – Struggles vs. Solution and wrote answers to my struggles. Believe it or not, I found that the root of my problem was that my files on my computer were disorganized, and I get distracted by the mess in my house. I felt stuck.

Seems like a silly thing, right? But the fact that I have a backup drive, my computer, and a google drive which all contained snippets of current projects, I felt lost and completely unorganized. I also don’t have a nightly routine. When I sit down for a few minutes in the morning, I literally have a few minutes. I find myself looking at all the open browser windows I left from the night before instead of finishing editing the pictures or proofing a post as I intended.

After getting to the root problems, I made a checklist and a process of when I would back up my files to the drive, what I would keep on my google drive, and a complimentary file structure for each location. I also gave myself a nightly routine to help with night-time and morning-time distractions.

Both of these are trivial things, but they’re keeping me from moving forward. Until I sat down and wrote my frustrations out, I couldn’t figure out what to do. None of this was pretty, though I tried to make some nice-looking headers and promptly abandoned that endeavor. Sometimes the content is more important than the look.

How does this apply to you?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the beauty or the form of our journals that we forget the function. Form should never take precedence over function. Something beautiful will stay beautifully unused in most cases. So while you’re creating your journals and looking up the most beautiful layouts, please make sure that it works for you.

I’m telling you that it’s ok to have non-Instagram or Pinterest-worthy pages in your journal. It’s ok that your journal has pages that are not aesthetically pleasing contains personal thoughts. This journal is for you, make it what you need it to be.

I’ve included the best journaling quotes I could find below feel free to pin them as quotes to add to your journal later. I’d love to know which of these or if you have other quotes that inspire you. I’d also like to know if you ugly journal.

~Tricia

Ugly Journaling - use your journal time as a list for things you'd like to change | Ugly Journaling - Why you need it in your bullet journal

Journaling quotes

Here are some quotes about journaling for your journal, I think many of these authors use ugly journaling. Surprisingly, I found many of these quotes separately, but Buzz Feed compiled a majority of them a while ago in an article.

“Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter. And lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.” – Jack London

keep a journal - it's less perishable than gray matter

“…The habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments… What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind.” – Virginia Woolf

“There’s the you that you present to the world, and then there’s… the real one, and if you’re lucky, there’s not a huge difference between those two people. And I guess in my diary I’m not afraid to be boring. It’s not my job to entertain anyone in my diary.” – David Sedaris

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart” – William Worsworth

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart - William Wordsworth

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it – Joan Didion

It is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time – Mina Murray in her journal in Dracula by Brahm Stoker

It's like whispering to one's self and listening at the same time. - Brahm Stoker

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart – Anne Frank

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kids of things that lie buried deep in my heart - Anne Frank

Write it down, let it go.