At the heart of every successful transformation, the story is solid self-belief.
Do YOU believe you can change? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says (not even your coach!) If you believe it, you’ll do it.
And if you don’t believe it… well, we all know how that goes.
Write Your Own Life Story
I’m so convinced by the power of self-belief that I dedicate a large chunk of my coaching process to it.
As any of my clients will tell you, we spend a lot of time digging into values and beliefs, habits, self-image, and personal responsibility alongside the actual “diet and fitness” side of what I do.
The stories we tell ourselves have the power to push us further, or hold us back.
Ready to write yourself a success story? Let’s talk about journaling – and how you can use it to transform your health and fitness.
What Is Journaling?
Tell people you keep a journal, and they’ll probably think you sit down at the end of the day and note down your innermost secret thoughts (you know, the ones you’d never dare say out loud!)
But my form of journaling is a little different.
Using a daily journal to focus on your big goal, and keep track of the process, will increase your chances of success – and get you there quicker.
Journaling in this way doesn’t have to be an elaborate writing routine.
With a simple notepad, and 5 minutes a day, you could dramatically optimise your chances of reaching your goal.
Why Does It Work?
Research tells us that people who write down their goals tend to be more successful than those who do not. This applies to all age groups, backgrounds, and demographics.
Writing things out by hand stimulates the reticular activating system in the brain, which helps to filter out important things so we remember and focus on them.
One 2015 study from Dominican University in California found that people who wrote about their goals were 43% more likely to achieve them (1)
What Kind Of Journaling Is Best?
Entrepreneur Grant Cardone, author of The 10X Rule, writes down his goals once in the morning, and once again at night. “I want to write my goals down before I go to sleep at night because they are important to me, they are valuable to me and I get to wake up to them again tomorrow,” he says.
The great thing about journaling is that there are no rules.
The simple act of consistently hand-writing about your goals is enough. Here are three things to try:
Checklists: at the start of the day, write a list of things you need to achieve today to move you towards your goal.
You could categorise them into food, exercise, activity, stress, and so on.
At the end of the day, revisit the list and write a short paragraph about successes, barriers, what you learned, and what you can do better tomorrow.
Mantras: use your journal to handwrite motivating quotes or mantras that strengthen your resolve and keep you connected to your goal.
Freewriting: no rules, just write freely for 3-5 minutes about a topic and see what comes out on the page.
Freewriting about food, exercise, self-image, or confidence may unearth some valuable feedback that you can work on or discuss with your coach.
The important thing to remember about journaling is that it’s for you.
If you wish to share it with your coach or partner, you can.
But you don’t have to. Write freely and openly.
5 Steps To Get Started
- Get a notepad and pen – I encourage you to handwrite rather than doing it on your computer or phone notes
- Identify a time of day for your journaling habit. 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night would be ideal, but it has to be realistic for you
- Every day, write down your goal and a short paragraph about what it means to you.
- Once a week, write about what went well, what you learned, and what you can improve on next week.
- Any time you hit a block with your diet or exercise plans, or feel like you might self-sabotage, open your journal and write about it for 5 minutes before you take any action.
Looking for a different approach to body transformation?
Get in touch and I’ll explain how my coaching works on a deeper level so you can change for life.
Coach Joseph Webb.
‘The number one rated Personal Trainer In Henley and Oxfordshire’
Links for the references used in today’s blog post:
1.) https://www.dominican.edu/sites/default/files/2020-02/gailmatthews-harvard-goals-researchsummary.pdf
