The Secret Weapon That Grounds Me Every Morning

I think you should start journaling.

If you wake up every day feeling overwhelmed by your day, journaling is a free and simple form of therapy you can start using right now.

I’m going to give you the 3 steps that finally made journaling stick for me after years of trying.

Here is everything you need to know before I tell you how to journal for your benefit:

I’ve always wanted to be a journaler.

Every January growing up, I’d ask my mom for a fresh notebook, convinced this would be the year I became one of those people who filled pages. And every year, I’d make it about a week before the journal ended up in a drawer. I loved the idea of journaling, but I could never make the habit stick.

 Years later, when I started therapy, I tried again. I thought journaling would give me something to bring into the session. But the same thing happened: a couple entries, then nothing. Even though I knew journaling was good for me, I still couldn’t stay consistent.

It didn’t click until I started going to the gym.

I kept hearing the same message: consistency beats everything. So I told myself I’d journal for 30 days straight, no matter how messy it looked. I wrote “Day 1, 2, 3…” at the top of each page and committed to writing three simple brain dumps.

These brain dumps could be anything. I wrote three things every day for thirty days.

I also started romanticizing the process. I created a small ritual that made journaling feel like an experience, not a chore.

Every morning:

Gym → Journal → Swim.

As the habit grew, the entries changed. Brain dumps became reflections. Reflections became affirmations. I started working through problems instead of just naming them. I’d write the first thought I had when I woke up, then ask why. Some days I wrote one sentence; other days I filled a page. I only had one rule: show up.

I started adding three daily reminders I knew I’d forget: track calories, drink water, breathe.

At the bottom, I wrote one thing I wanted to feel that day. It seems small, but it helped me choose how I wanted to move through the day.

Then, as I entered my ‘resignation era,’ the journaling shifted again. “How I want to feel” became “What if…?” What if I let myself dream bigger? What if I imagined a future I hadn’t allowed myself to consider? My journal became a space for possibility.

Now that I’m unemployed, I notice something. On the days I skip journaling to “get more done,” the overwhelm comes back fast. I think it’s because I didn’t ground myself first.

Commit to 30 days of journaling. Number each day so you know how many times you’ve shown up for yourself. If you miss a day, don’t let it happen twice.

Don’t judge your entries. I wrote three simple entries a day and then closed the book. You’re forming a habit, so keep it light and kind.

My journaling changed when I started spending one hour on Sundays reviewing my week. I wrote the lessons I learned and highlighted the wins I had. Good or bad, each week showed my growth.

Once the habit feels natural and your wins are clear, kick it up a notch and add your goals. Before I resigned, I tracked one short-term goal (usually work-related) and one long-term goal. For me, that was financial, time, and location freedom.

Every week I monitored my progress on both goals. Journal entries became worksheets.

If I hit a problem, I used the page to think it through. I used reframing tools from Designing Your Life. I felt motivated knowing I was moving forward, and when I felt discouraged, I had pages of proof showing my progress.

Life happens. Some days fall apart and that’s okay. In my EMBA negotiation class, I learned that the person with the stronger walkaway option, or BATNA, gets the better deal.

It’s like buying a car: unless it's the only one of its kind, you can walk away. I started giving myself BATNAs for my day. If something derailed my plan, I had a backup option. It made me feel calmer and more prepared.

The authors of Designing Your Life teach the power of tracking your energy. Write down what energizes you including tasks, people, places, and why. Then write down what drains you.

The more detail you add, the more you learn what to remove from your life and what to chase. These entries became research into who I am, and they helped me make better decisions about my energy in the future.

When I felt burnt out, I ended each entry with “I want to feel…”

After I resigned, I started writing “What if…” and answered with what I needed to hear.

The more I wrote this way, the more empowered I felt each day.

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