The Journal Prompt

Insightful Journal Prompts Delivered Weekly.

Good morning!

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

Let’s get started!

In This Week’s Issue (7-minute read)

💬 Quote of the Week

🖼️ Framing Your Reflection

✍️ Three Insightful Journal Prompts

🧰 Life Improvement Toolbox

Framing Your Reflection 🖼️

We all have our chink in the armor.

That one insecurity that if people push we almost immediately take it personal and over-react.

For me, that is incompetence - not being good at the thing that’s required of me. For better or for worse, the biggest fear and downfall of my character is being unreliable.

To those of you that follow this newsletter, I’m sure you noticed that I skipped sending out an issue for three consecutive weeks.

I told myself that my plate had been pretty full. That I would be better next week.

But that was not true - and I am beyond grateful for a wife that holds me accountable.

She reminded me that despite her own competing priorities, she managed to get issues out on time for BOTH of the newsletters she manages (which are much harder to write than my own).

And that I had a responsibility to those that rely on me, regardless of the circumstances in which I have to fulfill that duty.

Talk about a reality check, which she delivered with her Russian accent, giving it double scary points.😳

Lo and behold, you guessed it….I immediately took it personal.

Thinking to myself “She clearly doesn’t understand the pressure I am under”. And I was (again) wrong - she has pressure of her own and she was just stating the facts.

And no amount of me saying “I’ll do better”, over and over again, delivered things on time.

As should be obvious to anyone with a modicum of life experience (myself included)….words are not enough.

Maybe we give ourselves affirmations like “I am a kind person”…..

But what happens when the waiter at the lunch place is rude to you, you haven’t eaten since last night, and you’re there to clear your head because you just had an argument with your spouse about some financial issues?

What if you tell yourself, "I am a reliable person," but then go silent for weeks on people who have openly shared that they're struggling and have told you your newsletter helps them get through the day?

Words don’t matter unless action follows.

And we must remember that the character traits we want to embody engender their pinnacle only under the most trying of circumstances….by definition.

“I am kind”

Hardest to do when others are purposely mean to you.

“I am determined”

Most difficult precisely when you feel the fatigue in your bones.

“I am resilient”

Hardest to get back up when the fall you took was down a skyscraper.

“I am strong”

The heavier the thing, the more strength it requires.

“I am courageous”

The scarier it is, the more courage it takes to keep moving forward and do the right thing.

As Marcus Aurelius reminded himself in his own journal (commonly know as Meditations)…

"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."

If we say things to ourselves about ourselves that we don’t strive to make true through our actions, we feel like imposters because there is no evidence to support what we want to be fact.

So……..sorry for falling off the horse for you guys. Here I am, acting out a small bit of the resilience I want to have, despite the tiredness and overwhelm that has not gone away.

Today, let us start stacking evidence for ourselves that we are who we say we are.

Three Journal Prompts ✍️

🔍 Re-Discover Past Evidence

Examine a time when you did what I did - fell short of the expectation you had for yourself, and that others had for you, but you got back up anyway.

Connect here with the evidence you already have for when you have done things to standard in the past. Use it as proof to yourself that you can do it again with whatever you are facing now.

🧠 At a Loss of Words

If you were completely mute, and therefore couldn’t verbally communicate anything about yourself, what would people say about you based solely on the things you do?

🔭 Present-Tense Eulogy

Imagine you died today. When your loved ones deliver your eulogy, what will they reference the most about the things you did while living? Is there a gap between what this is and what would you like it to be?

Life Improvement Toolbox 🧰 

📚 Reader’s Corner

Should be no surprise that a Stoic text pairs well with today’s issue.

Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way is second to none in bringing home the idea of embracing that which Fate has laid on our path.

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 of you looking to add tech to your journaling, but still like the feel of actually writing with a pen, check out this cool gadget. 👀

🧠 Mind + Body Connection

If you are going through the gauntlet, you cannot ignore the physical effects that energy depletion has on your decision making - will power only goes so far.

To help me stay healthier and sharp during my high-stress days, I use Tru Niagen.

Delivering a patented NAD+ formula, it re-energizes⚡️ you at the cellular level.

A must for those of us 30+ that have natural cell decline, and anyone that spends 10+ hours a day under stress.

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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