But that’s actually not important. Page one and post one don’t have to be the best in the whole journal or blog. You just have to get started and in the case of your new journal, let your thoughts flow.
But a fresh start is not just about having a new journal to write in or starting a new journaling practice, if you’re looking to make a fresh start you’re thinking about starting anew, or beginning something again with a clean slate. This might involve making changes in your personal life, such as starting a new relationship or moving to a new place, or making changes in your professional life, such as changing jobs or starting a new business.
It allows you to leave behind things that are not working for you and pursue new opportunities. It can be exciting but also challenging, as it often involves making difficult decisions and adapting to new situations.
Making a fresh start involves reflecting on what you want out of life and taking steps to make positive changes that align with your values and goals. It may involve letting go of certain habits, relationships, or circumstances that are not serving you, and making a conscious effort to create a new path for yourself.
A journal can help with all these things.
Find your starting point
You could begin by exploring your reasons for journaling and making a fresh start. Reflect on your current situation and identify what you want to change. If you want to think about all the different aspects of your life you could do the wheel of life exercise and paste it in your journal. This is your starting point.
Here’s a sample wheel you could use:
Or you could use your journal to explore your values and what you want to get out of life in general until you are clear on what you want to do.
Decide what you want
Write until you gain clarity about what you really want. You may have to dig deep for that because the first goals that spring to mind are not always the right ones for you. Keep asking why you want a particular goal in your journal until you get to the root of your hopes and dreams. Then you can use your journal to set specific, achievable goals for yourself that truly reflect your aims.
Commit to making changes
Declare your intentions and commitment to them. Putting everything in writing in your journal will help cement your aspirations in your mind. And if you do this every time you write in your journal, re-emphasizing your commitment, it’s even better. You’ve explored what you ultimately hope to achieve by making these changes (“your why”) and that will help motivate you to make them. If you find yourself thinking about quitting you can go back and reread your reasons to help you get back on track.
Break things down into smaller steps
Use your journal to make a plan for how you will work towards your goals and break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Your journal is a great place to brainstorm first and next steps. If if you’re stuck, think about the smallest step you can make to move forward. If you don’t know what to do, where can you find out? Who can you ask? What do you need to know to move forward? By asking these questions in your journal, you’ll help yourself come up with a plan.
Forge ahead with your plans
You’ll be able to use your journal to write about your progress, look at what is working for you and what isn’t. As you carry out your plans for a fresh start, there will be ups and downs. Writing in your journal will help you explore these and rereading earlier pages will give you a mental boost as you keep going through rough patches.
USEFUL PROMPTS FOR MAKING A FRESH START
Note that some questions will be similar and there will be some overlap in your answers but it can be helpful to ask yourself these anyway as you’ll often get new perspectives each time you answer a slightly different question.
- What is going wrong in your life?
- What is not serving you?
- What do you want to move away from?
- What habits do you want to stop or start?
- What are your values and how do they guide your actions?
- What and who is most important to you in your life?
- What changes do you want to make to reflect what is important?
- What do you want to achieve or accomplish?
- Why do you want that?
- What will that mean to you once you’ve achieved that?
- What does this fresh start mean to you?
- I want to make a fresh start because…
And also because… (repeat several times to dig deep) - What are your strengths and how can you use them to achieve your fresh start?
- What experience, skills or knowledge do you have that will help you?
- What financial resources do you have available that you can use?
- How can friends and family support you?
- Who will you speak to and when?
- How will you approach them?
- What steps might be involved in making your fresh start?
- What small steps could you take to kick this off?
- What do you need to do first?
- What might get in the way?
- How could you guard against that?
- How will you know when your fresh start has been effective?
- How will you celebrate the changes you made?
