Write Yourself Into Well-being–Or At Least Begin The Process

My, that's a bold title. The words aren't mine. The original quote, "I will write myself into well-being," came from late author Nancy Mairs. This one has always stuck with me for some reason. Maybe it's because I have personally experienced significant improvements in life simply by writing things down. Yeah, sounds crazy--but it's true.

One of the most common ways we use writing to help us level up, is when we jot down New Year's Resolutions, for example. But, the process of writing goals and then "reverse engineering" them into smaller steps can happen at any time of year.

It's quite interesting when you write down your goals (and then take actual steps to achieve them.) If you start now, you'll go back at the end of the year and see how far you've come. That's encouraging.

My favorite way to "write myself into well-being" is through good old journaling. There's one type of journaling I particularly like that I styled after author and artist Julia Cameron's "morning pages" which I first learned about it in her book, The Artist's Way. (Great book by the way if you want to lean in to your creative tendencies.

Here's what I do: You take time every single day to pour out the contents of your mind. Whether you consider yourself a "writer" or not, it's quite therapeutic. I find the best way to do it is to not edit yourself at all, and just let it all come out "stream of consciousness" style.

Don't think too hard about what you're writing or proper grammar. Even if you wrote something that turned out to be profound you can always go back and edit later. ;) Write as if only you will ever see it so you can be completely open and honest.

I tell you, if you do this daily, you'll start to think differently. You'll become more self-aware. You can go back over time and see what thought patterns keep emerging. This can be very illuminating about what you may want to change or what may be holding you "hostage."

When you see these things, you can take tangible steps to make changes--and or to be grateful for what is going well. Ah, gratitude journals--a good topic for another day.

Give it a try. Get a simple journal--nothing too precious. Write everyday consistently everyday for around ten minutes. Do it for a month, at least. Let me know what happens.