The Journal Prompt

Insightful Journal Prompts Delivered Weekly.

Good morning!

Welcome back to The Journal Prompt, your weekly companion for introspection and personal growth. 🌿

This week, we’ll dive into the theme of Life Craftsmanship.

Let’s get started!

In This Week’s Issue (8-minute Read)

💬 Quote of the Week

🖼️ Framing Your Reflection

✍️ Three Insightful Journal Prompts

🧰 Life Improvement Toolbox (✨ New ✨)

🎨 Featured Photo & Affirmation

Framing Your Reflection 🖼️

When was the last time you closely examined the paint job 🎨 quality of a random service access door?

You know…the gray ones typically on the side or back of office buildings.

 
I was recently in Chicago for an Amazon conference, when this amazing (and seemingly simple) thing happened.
 
My family and I were out for a stroll and we walked by a man painting an outside service door.
 
This normal, every day occurrence hit me when I noticed something different about HOW he was painting. 😳 
 
He was carefully and aesthetically using a super small brush to make sure the flat gray paint strokes on the upper-left hand corner were PERFECT. 🧑‍🎨 
 
...just like all the other corners on the door…
 
 
I smiled to myself and thought....there…
 
 
THERE is the best of human character shining through. 💎 
 
 
Something that is completely trivial to others, a service access door’s aesthetic appearance, mattered intimately to this man.
 
 
❌ Not because of his boss.
 
❌ Nor because he wouldn’t get paid.
 
❌ Nor because the door didn’t already look "good enough".
 
 
But because how WELL he did it - his craftsmanship - mattered most to HIM.
 
He took pride in his work.
 
A saying (often attributed to author and life coach Dr. Martha Beck, a total badass leader who got 3 Harvard degrees while bearing 3 children) came to mind that struck a deep chord the first time I heard it:
 
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
 
In our society we are taught to believe that there are good and bad jobs.
 
I too have held such elitist notions in the past - sometimes still do. 😔 
 
It’s just us casting judgement unto others so that our ego can feel better about our standing on the social hierarchy.
 
On that day, that painter’s act was better than what I had done at the Amazon conference.
 
Not because of some external validation from society.
 
But because of the care and devotion he displayed for his craft.

 
And perhaps my run-in with him was the universe’s way of 👉nudging me back in the right direction.

While this easily applies to the work we do, (and for our community, how pretty and beautiful we make our journals) our ultimate task is building a Life.

So what if we considered taking this level of craftsmanship toward literally everything we did?

We would build a beautiful Life indeed precisely because we would become the most beautiful version o f ourselves.

Let’s take pride in our craftsmanship. 🎨

Three Journal Prompts ✍️

🔍 Prompt #1: Appreciate Your Artwork

Examine a time when you put an inspirational amount of thought and detail into something you created (art, written work, film, event, etc….or a relationship).

Was there anything specific about that thing or period in your life that brought out that level of Creative Intensity? Look for patterns. But also….let your past self fill you with joy.

🧠 Prompt #2: Audit Your Routines (plural!)

A life is composed one day at a time. Therefore, where we allocate our waking hours is important.

Audit your previous week and look for routines. Many of us have deliberate morning routines, but sometimes there are things we do on auto-pilot that are not all what they could be.

Perhaps its something as “small” as the way you are greeted when you get home from work. Those things pile on over the years.

Let no detail be too small for the blooming power of your attentive and creative energy.

🔭 Prompt #3: Building Your Masterpiece

Artists often spend years if not decades on pieces society later regards as their masterpiece. And of course they are masterpieces….they spent years of focused effort on one thing.

Innate artistic ability aside, it’s kind of unreasonable for something toward which so much time was devoted to suck. Mastery and time go together.

For this prompt, think deeply about what you want as your Life masterpiece. Revisit Prompt #2 to see if your routines are helping get you closer.

Remember - because we are alive, we (by definition) ALWAYS allocate our time toward something. Therefore, we’re working towards mastery in something….whether or not we intend to.

Life Improvement Toolbox 🧰

This section is all about helping us go beyond the prompts by…

• sharing reading that dives deeper into what the prompts explore

• finding cool journaling stuff for the artsy part of our craft

• improving the mind + body connection by paying attention to how we take care of our bodies

📚 Reader’s Corner

Two readings here.

Need extra help with curbing/forming habits? 🏃‍♀️

Atomic Habits by James Clear. World expert on habit formation shares the framework for taking control.

Want more guidance on Life Masterpiece direction? 🧭

The Way of Integrity by Dr. Martha Beck. This book is described by Oprah Winfrey as “A roadmap on the journey to truth and authenticity… [The Way of Integrity] is filled with aha moments and practical exercises that can guide us as we seek enlightenment.” Enough said.

P.S.

While reading is something we pretty much have to actively do, listening is fair game for dog walking, dish cleaning, chores, and driving.

Make more progress on the things you want to learn with audio books from Audible - check out how it works here. 🎧

📝 The Journaling Craft

For those looking to add beauty to their journaling practice through artful expression, check out this artsy set. 🎨

🧠 Mind + Body Connection

When you audited your routines, did you find your caffeine intake inducing anxiety and crashes?

Born from the idea of when his Finnish grandparents brewed something else when they couldn’t get coffee, this founder created a super coffee made from the most nutrient-dense foods known to man (and tastes amazing) - check it out here 🌱

Featured Photo & Affirmation 🎨

Affirmation for Life Craftsmanship

"I will approach the details of my life with craftsmanship”

As we dive deeper into understanding ourselves, let’s remember that we are not alone.

Writing is healing and healing can hurt - reach out to friends and family. They are there for you.

Sending Good Vibes,

Ivan from The Journal Prompt Team

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Happy Journaling! 📝