Sign up for Melanie's newsletter --> Sign me up!
I recently started to journal again, and I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner. The concept is simple enough—open a notebook or word doc or whatever device you prefer, then write down whatever’s on your mind—but there are a lot of reasons people might avoid journaling.
This year marks ten years since I became a published author, and I have accomplished a lot. But the discipline I once had has slipped. A lot of people tell me I’m prolific, dedicated, and a lot of other nice words. They say I inspire them to reach for their goals. It’s wonderful to hear, believe me, but I feel like a fraud. My writing time is every morning before work, but more often than not, by the time I let the dog out and get my tea and check my email and oh maybe check my social notifications, that turns into 30 minutes. Thirty minutes each day is not enough time to run a business as an author, and it’s definitely not enough time to elevate my career to where I want it to be. To where I almost was a few years ago.
The first step in setting goals is to figure out what you want to accomplish. You probably already have ideas knocking around in your head, so WRITE THEM DOWN. It doesn’t matter if these goals feel too lofty or aspirational or impossible. If it’s what you want, make it a goal. Want to learn to knit? Get it on paper. Got hankering to play the guitar? You know what to do. Need to lose the quaran-fifteen? Set down the Cheezits and add it to the list.
I’ve heard it said that people with high-functioning anxiety—like myself—did really well the first few months of the pandemic and shelter-at-home orders, but by the end of the summer, it all caught up to me (which I discussed a bit in my last post.) While a lot of it can be blamed on the constant, low-level stress that’s been a part of all of our lives, quite a bit of it is because of bad habits I’ve allowed myself to fall into. I know we’re supposed to be cutting ourselves some slack during all this, but we don’t know how much longer our lives will be in this altered state and I feel like my options are to either keep floundering or adjust to this new normal.
In January 2020, I declared this to be The Year of Being in the Moment. Today that feels almost prophetic, but at the time it was nothing more than a reminder to myself to focus on what’s truly important. My friends and family, my health, the little things that bring me joy. I started the year by training for and then performing in my community’s Dancing With the Local Stars, then in early March we vacationed in Key West with our best friends. We traveled home (BY PLANE!! ON MARCH 12!!) as the country slowly came to grips with what we were facing.
Like the rest of the world, our world suddenly shrank to within the walls of our house.
We were very much living in the moment.
It took me close to a year to settle on a system that works for me, and since then I have talked to countless people about my method. The most common thing I hear is “I wish I could do something like this.” A couple friends have even gone so far as to buy the journal, but that’s as far as they get. So I am here NOW to break down my system with LOTS of pictures to show you that this isn’t rocket science. It’s not even science. It’s just a notebook and pretty pens and about 10-15 minutes per week.
This year I’ve chosen the phrase BE IN THE MOMENT because this past year of slowing down and smelling the proverbial roses has taught me that none of this is worth it if you don’t appreciate what you already have.
I’ve created a guided journal for those who’d like to teach themselves to find the good in each day. Each two-page spread has lines for three daily good things, plus a space for the three highlights for the week. There are no dates—only lines to fill in what week it is—because you shouldn’t wait for the beginning of the year to start a journal.
My latest novel has been the most difficult thing I’ve written to date, combined with other struggles in my personal life, and “You got this Travis” has become our mantra. It’s from a Vine video that my friend shared with me and it’s a simple encouragement that also makes me smile.
Keep reading to see the video.
When you first set out to write a novel, it’s scary and exciting and the words flow faster than you can type. But sooner or later, you’ll hit a wall and the gushing flow will become a slow drip that slowly drives you crazy. Or maybe that’s just me.