In this episode, Valerie and Sandy explain how to achieve personal and pageant goals through journaling to create every-day successes. I have organized the content of the discussion into ten bullets of information. Read on to see what journaling can do for you and how to make the most of your journaling endeavors.
1. Know what journaling is and what journaling can do for you. You want to let go of any pre-conceived notions you may have about journaling - whether this be where you write, how frequently you write, what you write about, etc. When you journal, you want to write out your thoughts and feelings so they are no longer trapped inside of you. You want to take an honest look at your feelings, events in your life, your identity, and everything that you need to look at and figure out. You can start writing at any point in your life, and you do not need to write about your entire life all at once. You want your writing to be naturally focused on your emotions instead of writing down forced recollections. You do not need to write every single day unless you want to. However, it is important to remember that you get a little closer to who you truly are every time that you write. You should also keep your journal with you 24-7 so that you can write whenever the feeling strikes. Your journal should be in a form that truly portrays you. If you feel comfortable maintaining a pretty and neat journal, then do so. However, if you want to scribble on an envelope simply because it's the only thing around or write outside of your paper margins, that's perfectly acceptable. Your journal does not need to be organized and pretty all the time. Don't beat yourself up about not writing every day, writing in a messy format, or somehow journaling the "wrong" way. Do not be afraid of journaling the wrong way and just go with what feels right for you.
Journaling can be used for two purposes: finding yourself and setting goals. When you write emotionally, you can uncover the feelings below the surface that may have been holding you back in life. By identifying these feelings, you can discover strength within yourself that helps you move forward and resolve the issues presently in your life. You can start to believe that there is a greater purpose beyond your greatest pain. You can learn to connect with your gifts and your beauty. When you write in order to accomplish your goals, you can stay on track with achieving your goals and creating a life that you love.
2. Hear your inner wisdom speak through journaling. Your inner critic yells at you while your inner wisdom whispers to you. Your inner wisdom is the voice that will guide you throughout life. Your inner wisdom will tell you to follow your dreams and overcome your self-doubt. Your inner wisdom possesses the power to transform your life. You will see your purpose in life and understand that you can make a huge impact in the world. Journaling will nurture that inner wisdom. Over time, you will hear your inner wisdom become louder and louder. Every journaling entry will be a baby step towards greater plans and wisdom in your life.
3. Discover clarity and calm within your mind as you journal. Writing will help you remove the internal chatter that constantly exists inside your mind. This internal chatter prevents you from being in touch with your inner wisdom. A quiet and rational mind can help you find your vision in order to determine what you want from your life. Mental clarity can also help you focus upon recognizing your pageant goals and improving your pageant skills.
4. Connect with your pageantry vision through your journal. Although you would probably get the most from journaling if you did not focus solely on pageants, you can incorporate the benefits of journaling into pageantry success. For example, let's say you wanted to lose 20 pounds prior to your pageant competition. Get a picture of someone at your ideal weight and put that in your journal. Write about how healthy and joyful you would feel at your goal weight in order to connect with the feelings that achieving that goal will evoke. You do not want to write about how you have not reached your goal yet. Instead, focus on how good it will feel to accomplish that goal. You can also use this technique with acing your pageant interview - think about what questions you will be asked, how you will answer those questions, and how you will feel as you answer those questions. Your vision should come from your heart and reflect your ideal situation in a strong and positive manner.
5. Write about a perfect pageant day in your journal. Imagine the perfect day at your pageant competition and write about it. You want to describe this perfect pageant day in complete detail and write about everything little factor in the day. Include what you ate for breakfast, what shampoo you used, what shoes you wore, who you will see and converse with, your feelings, absolutely anything and everything from moment to moment. You want to paint a picture of your perfect pageant day from beginning to end. Write out the day exactly the way you want it to happen. Contemplate how you want to be at the pageant and become in touch with the best version of yourself. Envisioning every detail of your perfect pageant day will help attract the future.
6. Write about the things you don't want to write about. You can write about anything and everything in your journal. Sometimes you may not want to write about certain events and feelings. But you can release the negative feelings that you carry around in your mind and your heart by writing entries started by the prompt: "I don't want to write about..." These topics may scare you and you may feel safe hiding from the truth. But once you get it all out, you can grow from your writing or possibly realize that writing about the feeling or event was not such a big deal. If you need to, you can always rip up the particular journal entry. Your journaling can expose all parts of you - the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. But journaling is about becoming in touch with your true feelings and honest identity.
7. Journal after your pageant competition to improve as a contestant. After the pageant, if you did not do as well as you had hoped, you may feel anger and disappointment with others or yourself. We look at what went wrong instead of celebrating the good things. Instead of journaling about the negative emotions you most likely feel, celebrate all of the amazing things that you accomplished. Find the joy in your successes and give yourself permission to claim your magnificence. You may not have been crowned, but simply competing in the pageant should be something to be proud of. You can also write about what you would like to do differently in your next competition, maintaining a positive and constructive tone in your writing. You can rewrite your ideal perfect day as well with the experience from your competition.
8. Use your journal to become and remain your best self. Your journal can help you understand who you are and who you want to be. You want to stay connected to the best version of yourself as often as possible. Even when you are not journaling, remind yourself of who you really want to be in the world with every moment. You can see drastic changes in your words and actions and feel better about yourself once you reach that genuine peak.
9. Make a list of your accomplishments from the information in your old journal entries. While it is not necessary to reread old journal entries - follow your intuition on if you feel this is right for you - you may need the reminder of what you have accomplished. You can go back after a year of journaling (or less time even), to remember your accomplishments and maybe read about petty things that were once important but have since been forgotten. You can make a list of the big and small accomplishments described in journal entries in order to celebrate the progress you have made. Once you have finished with your list, you can start with new goals. Even if you have not written any journal entries yet, feel free to create a list of your accomplishments anyway to extract the energy and greatness into your life.
10. Develop a system to confront your obligations with flair. We all have our obligations that may be hard to get over with. We may put them off and not complete what we need to get done. However, you can manage your energy effectively with different ideas all part of a [your name here + licious] System. You can listen to a song in between every task on your to-do list to get you pumped. You can create a vision board of people that you need to call or fill it with inspiring and uplifting pictures and words that remind you of how great you are. You can think of everyone you need to work with as a "ten" by enjoying their presence. Also, regularly reward yourself for completing tasks and celebrate your achievements with something like a piece of chocolate, some ice cream, a manicure, a massage, a new pair of shoes, etc. You want to get things done and move towards your great vision but constantly have fun and feel fabulous at the same time.
I would like to emphasize my personal belief that a contestant should focus on being your best self, not only in pageantry but in life itself. An internal unresolved conflict in your life unrelated to pageantry can hold yourself back in your competition. The negative energy you carry from an event such as a recent break-up or your parents' divorce unknowingly may be affecting your pageant performance. Maintaining a non-pageant journal can strengthen your pageant performance by helping you release the negative energy and feel lighter and more joyful all around.
Consider using a journal to become a better person and a stronger pageant contestant. I wish you all the best in your next pageant competition and your journaling pursuits.
-Miss Pageant Prep
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