Hannah Braime - The Year of You: 365 Journal Writing Prompts for Creative Self-Discovery

W elcome to The Year of You! I want to take you on a journey of self-discovery over the next 365 days using a single journaling prompt each day. Over the course of 12 months, well unpack the important areas of your life, from relationships and identity to money, career, and health. The prompts I will share with you in this book are short and simple, but thought-provoking and sometimes even fun! Youll have the chance to explore your life on all kinds of levels, from your deepest hopes, dreams, fears, and secrets, to personal trivia and future adventures .

I created this book because I know how powerful a regular journaling habit is. As well as the obvious benefits, like increasing self-awareness and creativity, research has also suggested regular journaling improves your memory, physical health and problem-solving abilities, as well as reducing stress. I also know from experience how useful it can be to have some kind of structure to follow as you cultivate or strengthen a new habit. Using this book, all you need to do is turn to todays date, read the prompt, and write. Before you know it, youll be writing regularly, if not daily, and making time for valuable self-connection, reflection, and growth .

There are two ways you can use this book, depending on where in the year you are as you read this .

1. Start on 1st January. If the new year is upon you or right around the corner, perfect! You can begin with the first day of chapter one and continue from there .
2. Start wherever you are today. As youll see, each chapter in this book corresponds with a month of the year; chapter one is January, chapter two February, and so on. Each chapter also has the same number of prompts as there are days in that month. But this doesnt mean you need to work through the chapters from the beginning. If youre starting this on February 5th, you can turn straight to chapter two and begin on the prompt for todays date. If youre beginning on November 29th, ditto .

Part 13, Looking back on a year of you is for reading after youve completed a full year of journaling and all the prompts in the book (or as many as you choose). If you start in media res, save this chapter until you have completed all 12 months .

Ive endeavored to make the prompts in this book clear and concise and have deliberately avoided adding my own remarks and notes to each question (except in a couple of instances where Ive mentioned specific resources or suggestions). I appreciate, however, you will be reading this book with different frames of reference, experience, and perspective from me. So, if you encounter any prompts whose meaning seems ambiguous, I encourage you to go with what you think it means (or what youd like it to mean ).

At the end of each month, youll see an opportunity to review and reflect on your journaling entries for that month. Reading back over past journaling is a valuable exercise. Its not always the most comfortable one though! If you feel resistance to reflecting on previous journal entries, I invite you to be gentle with yourself and get curious about where that resistance is coming from. What are the thoughts and feelings behind it ?

One principle I like to share with fellow journalers and coaching clients is journaling is whatever you want it to be. While certain practices and habits will make your journaling more or less helpful and enjoyable, there are no rules and no right way to journal. That means if you want to mix up the prompts in this book and choose the one that resonates most with you on any day, go for it. Reflecting at the end of each month is helpful, but if youd rather skip this, thats fine too. The only caveat Id add is its important to notice when we might avoid a particular topic or question and ask ourselves what were avoiding and why .

A 365-day habit might sound daunting, but it is possible with a few tips and tricks and by taking one day at a time :

• Try to journal at the same time each day. Ideally, the morning since if youre unable to do your writing then, you still have the rest of the day to catch up .
• Dont stress if you miss a day (or five). The prompts will still be there for you when youre ready to get back to writing. We all fall off the wagon, break a streak, etc. What matters most isnt falling off the wagon, its how quickly you can get back on again afterward. The discomfort of staying off is often much greater and more draining than biting the bullet and re-starting. At the same time
• Any journaling is better than no journaling. If you dont have time to write for 20 minutes, write for two .
• Start with the just 5 minutes rule. Set a goal for yourself to journal for just five minutes every day. Give yourself permission to stop journaling after those five minutes. You can carry on if youre having a good time, but keeping your journaling fun and pleasant (rather than a should or an obligation) will make you more likely to stick to the habit .

One of the great things about journaling is you probably already have everything you need to begin. Here are the main ingredients that are helpful :

• A pen and notebook or computer/tablet/ phone .
• A space to journal: make it somewhere pleasant and comfortable; somewhere you want to go to journal each day. Doing it in the same place will help you get in the right headspace .
• An open mind. Practice shelving your judgments of yourself as you write .

You can learn more about the basics of journaling and creating a practice that works for you in my book The Ultimate Guide to Journaling. Ive also included a list of my favorite journaling apps and software in the section called Additional Resources and Recommended Reading at the end of this book .

For now, the most important thing you can do is start. With that in mind, lets dive in straight away with your first prompts

P.S. OK, one more thing before we get started: would you like a free video class on starting (or restarting) your journaling practice? If the answer is Yes! go to http://journaling.becomingwhoyouare.net/book and enter your email to access your free 10-step guide to starting a regular journaling practice. When you register, youll also get more free workbooks, video classes and more tools for personal growth in the Becoming Who You Are Library (I will never, ever share your email and you are free to unsubscribe at any time ).