How to use journaling to grow your creative business
The best tool to grow a creative business
The most important tool I’ve found to help me grow my creative business is not a business coach or a task management program. It’s not a marketing strategy, a set of writing tips, or a brilliant business book.
The best tool I know of to help me grow personally and professionally is journaling.
I’ve always been a writer, but in my twenties I discovered the remarkable power a personal journaling practice could have in every aspect of my life.
Journaling got me through four and a half years of infertility. It helped me find my purpose, learn to process emotions, discover what I wanted from my life and career, and solve problems.
Best of all, my journal is how I receive direct, personal revelation from God.
In my business now, I always work through confusion, worries, and indecision in my journal.
If I’m not sure how to reach a big goal I set, I write it out.
If I don’t feel brave enough to submit my name for a speaking opportunity, I write through the fear.
If I can’t make a decision on a marketing strategy, I write my options and explore til it becomes clear.
Here are a few journaling prompts to get you started in your own business journaling practice:
If you’re working through fear about something:
What exactly am I afraid of?
Is the fear trying to tell me something about what I’m considering? Is it warranted?
How could I befriend the fear rather than see it as an enemy?
What would it look like if I wasn’t afraid?
What would it look like if I moved forward even if I was afraid?
If you’re feeling stuck:
What about this is not working?
What about this is working?
Where exactly am I getting stuck? Is there a pattern I should notice about where I get stuck?
In what ways could I move forward and keep taking action even while feeling stuck?
If you’re not sure what to do next:
What does my future self recommend doing next?
What’s the big picture of what I want in life?
What is my goal for this year and how does that move me toward my big picture?
What’s one thing I could do this week to make progress toward my yearly goal?
If I DID know what was next, what would it be?
P.S. There are no journaling rules
As I always say about journaling, there are no rules! You can write every day or once a month. You can write only when things are great or only when things are terrible. You can write about every area of your life or just one.
I think journaling exists to serve YOU in the very moment you journal, so don’t worry about ever reading it again or being fair and nice in case your children read it one day.
Make your journal whatever it needs to help you make the progress you want.