As college graduation approaches, the prospect of entering “the real world” can be overwhelming. There seem to be a million different options for what to do, where to live, and who to befriend.
“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom,” Soren Kierkegaard once wrote, and he was right! When the freedom of options becomes crippling, we need to have ways to overcome our stress and process our choices productively.
Enter journaling. Journaling is a great way to brainstorm your options, goals, responsibilities, personal strengths, creative ideas, and more.
This post combines 3 journaling ideas to plan and process your future: gratitude lists, goal planning, and simple to-do lists. Put all of these down in your journal.
We have all heard them. The quotes about the power of gratitude. The calls from celebrities to make a thankfulness list. The reminders from friends to count your blessings so you’ll be happier. We might roll our eyes at them.
But you know what? A thankfulness list really works! William Arthur Ward once famously said, “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
Many of us want to feel more thankful, more often. Certainly all of us want to feel happier. Training our minds to feel gratitude requires work. It is an intentional practice.
More importantly, cultivating gratitude helpfully sets our perspective as we think about the future. We see where our abundance lies and where to set our priorities.
With your gratitude mindset in place, it’s time to dream, both big and small.
Goal planning is especially great for thinking about the big picture. It is also more complex and can be taken a few different directions. Let’s look at the possibilities for this process.
Recent grads or, frankly, anyone, can profit from journaling about goals. We all have near-term goals, like get into grad school, or get a job, but it’s often nice to see that in combination with the “become a college professor,” or “become a Cezanne expert.”
Write “Goal Planning” at the top of your page in big, clear letters.
Next, write your goal in general words at the top of the page. Then, list any and every step that needs to happen for you to achieve your goal.
For instance, your goal might be, “Have my first art show.” Maybe you include a specific dream location: “in the gallery on 2nd street.” Next, jot down any preliminary step that comes to mind: “Make 10 more pieces of art. Send email to Aunt with connections to gallery owners. Make art website.”
You may realize there are steps within steps! Don’t worry, just jot down those too. Maybe to make an art website, you need to “Take photos of art,” “Write artists bio” and “Contact Peter for help with squarespace.” Keep going. You’ve got this. Once you have it all written down, you will be able to plug away little by little at this to do list – our next journaling task! It will feel good to have a clear vision of your steps and know that you are making progress toward your goal!
My Goal
With your mindset and goals on paper, the next step is to set up the steps to move toward your goals..
Do you ever write up a grand to-do list, only to realize that by the end of the day, you’ve checked off just one, or maybe two, of your items? The next day rolls around and you make another list; pretty soon you’ve got multiple lists floating around.
Give yourself one central place to write your to-do lists, so that you can clearly see what you have accomplished and what still needs to be done. Create a few mastermind to-do lists to help push you toward your goals.
Here are a few tips for the To-Do List portion of your journal:
These three types of journaling “lists” can bring structure and hope to your planning process. The future holds many great opportunities. There’s not always certainty in the road ahead, but thinking, planning and journaling help you walk ahead confidently.
Step into your post-college future using these three easy journaling tasks and know that you are investing in your future self!
Check out our Leatherpress Journals Page for any journaling supplies.
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