Get inspired by the “The Five-minute journal”
I have been accomplishing the Five-minute journal for the last seventy two days. Am I suddenly a guru? No. What I will say is it helps to focus on the positive for a couple minutes at night‚ and a couple minutes during the day. It is a balance sheet of my morning and night. There is a built-in for getter stored in my brain and it will make me forget how to be happy. When I tune into my Five-minute journal‚ I remember everything is going to be okay. The fear train will make me come up with all kinds of negative scenarios. This guides me to stay on track.
Here is an example of what one would do everyday with their journal:
A daily quote from today’s page.
‘When you find peace within yourself‚ you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.” –Peace pilgrim
A daily quote is on the top of the page everyday. Reading the quote helps fill the page and keep up the habit. I am not perfect. There are days I want to say‚ “ah‚ screw it‚ I can miss a day.” Then‚ I remind myself of why I started doing the journal in the first place. To increase happiness.
In addition‚ there are weekly challenges one has to accomplish every week. One was if you do not fill out your sheet every day for one week then you have to take the person out to lunch you despise. You better believe I filled out the sheet for the week. There are other objectives to inspire. One was smile at three strangers. It forces one to be blissful. Some days I am forcing myself to be in a good mood. Other days‚ I am hopped up on happiness and want to do everything. On the days it is pulling teeth for me to stay in right standing‚ it gives me a little boost. I can change my way of thinking.
There was a time in my life where I wanted to wallow on the self-pity ride and not change anything. If someone gave me a suggestion on how to fix my problem I would stonewall them and go on with my day. I can tell you how my life was then. I definitely wasn’t filling out the
Five-minute journal and improving my mind. These days‚ I want to do inspiring things and take life for everything it has. If that means writing in a log for five minutes everyday‚ I can handle it.
The authors are Alex Ikonn and UJ Ramdas.
As of now (29) people have had something to say...
Chandler -
April 1, 2014 at 4:06 pm
For me the 5 minute journal is realistic. The grandiose Chandler likes to think that each and everyday I will journal pages and pages of deep thoughts and insights. What I’ve learned for myself is that Journaling is like working out. Start small and build from there. For me it isn’t the quality of the journal it is the consistency. Many mornings I feel like my entries are bland but when I soldier though that and just do it anyway I get little nuggets of truth. Little treats of happiness. I won’t shift my whole psychic perspective in one journal sitting but if I shift it microscopically alittle bit each day‚ over the course of a year I am a different person than I when I started.
Tim -
April 2, 2014 at 2:28 am
I like your smiling at strangers line. It is amazing the reaction you get from others for just that small gesture. Kind of sad that so often the response is a look of mistrust. Keep it going Crystal. I will stay tunes. Tim
crystal -
April 2, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Thanks Tim!
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:08 pm
Tim‚ I know what you mean. Sometimes I just want to do a little dance and do something shocking so people will laugh. People can not help but laugh when you are being ridiculous and silly. =)
Christina -
April 2, 2014 at 6:16 pm
What a great‚ tangible activity for increasing happiness and gratitude. Thank you for sharing!
crystal -
April 2, 2014 at 6:52 pm
of course! Glad you like it! =)
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:09 pm
Thanks Christina! =)
Grace -
April 2, 2014 at 8:36 pm
I love the idea of the 5 minute journal! I try to journal‚ but I never really know what to say. This give me a good start‚ and will help keep my day on track! I May have to give it a try.
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Grace‚ awesome and you are inspiring as well. You get alot done! =)
maxwell ivy -
April 3, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Hello; I’m glad to hear you found this tool for getting in and staying in peace. a couple things i do are to read a daily devotional from joel osteen and to listen to inspiring or uplifting books on tape while exercising. anything that keeps us in a good frame of mind is a blessing. thanks for sharing and take care‚ Max
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Hi Max‚ thanks for the kind comments and glad you enjoyed the post. =)
andleeb -
April 3, 2014 at 9:05 pm
Five minute journal … it’s really a great Idea. I think we can easily spare 5 minutes and improve our lives.
I have taken picture from my phone of the points just to check and think about these in my mind before sleeping and smiling at stranger is something really amazing ‚ sometimes just with a small smile I got many best friends of my life. It has a bewitching effect.
thank you for a nice post.
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Hi Andleeb‚ thanks for the lovely comments. It is great that it is only five minutes. You do not have to commit to much and it is not a overwhelming task. =)
Jeri -
April 4, 2014 at 3:33 am
I’m going to print this out and hang it on my bulletin board. I have really slacked in my journal for over a year and a half now. I’m dying to get back in the habit‚ but needs some kind of push. I always love it when posts seem to come along at just the right time.
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:00 pm
Jeri‚ that is awesome! I like your fire. I love when Serendipity happens to!
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Hi Chong‚ that is a power win compliment! Thank you so much! =)
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 2:59 pm
Mark‚ haha . Anything to get the job done right. Thanks!
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Thanks! =)
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Sandy‚ I agree with you!
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:05 pm
Welli‚ thanks. You are making feel good about myself. lol Yes‚ some days it harder to do then others. =)
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:06 pm
Donna‚ I love that you say you feel content when is you do. That is the perfect word to describe how I want to feel all the time. =)
crystal -
April 4, 2014 at 3:06 pm
A calender is a great idea Arleen!
Meredith Wouters -
April 4, 2014 at 3:32 pm
This is a great idea – I’ve been thinking I should do something like this‚ but just wasn’t quite sure where to start. Thanks for sharing!
Niekka McDonald -
April 5, 2014 at 8:04 pm
Good for you! It is hard to change your thought process and I’m happy to see that you are working hard at it even on the days where you have to force yourself. I have been at the place where my thought were more angry and self pity. I had to work hard to get to that happy place. There are some days where it is hard and those are the days I work extra hard to not let my thoughts take me down. I might have to invest in the 5 minute journal.
Susan Cooper -
April 6, 2014 at 3:01 am
I LOVE this. Because I’m dyslexic‚ I struggle with keeping a journal. Using or doing something like this would and could make that possible. Thank you for this. :-)))
crystal -
April 7, 2014 at 2:40 am
Susan‚ I am so glad it helped! =)