Monthly Glow Up Journal

I realise now (at the beginning of February!) that I completely forgot to write a blog post introducing my personal monthly journal that I want to begin writing in an attempt to document my physical and emotional growth throughout 2021.

I’ve decided to give journaling a go.

I’ve not been feeling fabulous about things lately. I have been feeling very stale and lost, like I am living without a purpose and I have nothing to show for my nearly 30 years on this planet. I already suffer from GAD and depression, so this impending doom feeling of helplessness and uselessness isn’t helping. In an effort to try and love myself more and appreciate the things that I can do and am good at, I decided to give journaling a go.

I’ve had several conversations with trusted loved ones about my life’s purpose, where I’m heading, what my goals are and how I can become more loving and trusting of myself. I’ve been really struggling with life lately, feeling very lost and disappointed in myself for not achieving enough. 

I feel like I’ve nothing to show for my 30 years on Earth, which has to be a load of rubbish, surely?

The problem I’m facing is that I’ll be 30 next year, and I can’t help but feel I’ve wasted my life and have nothing to show for it. It’s been suggested to me that maybe I feel this way because I haven’t bothered to ever celebrate my successes and things that I’m proud of, instead I just brush them off and carry on. So this year I have decided to document life monthly, celebrating the things that have made me feel proud, the things that have given me a sense of worth, and anything that’s made me feel good about myself. 

Journaling was suggested to me as a way to keep track of my achievements and successes.

To help me do this, my Mister suggested I keep a journal or diary that I can refer to whenever I’m feeling lost and crummy. I am not great at making beautiful bullet journals – calligraphy is not my strong point – but I do love being creative. I thought that I could do something similar and combine my love of watercolour and drawing with some positive affirmations to get me through the trickier days.

I’ll keep a physical journal, and update my blog on a monthly basis.

I think keeping a physical journal and summarising the content online each month is a really lovely way of reinforcing a positive mindset and building up a stronger sense of self worth. It also forces me to spend half an hour each day, and then some time at the end of each month, to really reflect on what’s happened and how I handled things, how I got through difficult situations, and how I am proud of the things I have achieved. 

Small victories all add up to big achievements.

I’m all about celebrating the small victories, which is just as well, because with lockdown still in full force, it’s not like I can achieve something crazy like climbing a mountain (which was actually the plan for last May). There’s a silver lining to the lockdown though, and that is that it gives me an opportunity to be proud of things and reflect on what I do on a daily basis. I can actually take a step back and think about everything I achieve in just one, average day as a lockdown home educating, dog walking, self employed, mum of 2.

Stick around and join in!

So, if you fancy following along with me, or giving this sort of journaling a go, please stick around for my monthly updates! I’ll be posting the first one shortly – as usual, I am already behind! It doesn’t have to be a fancy Pinterest worthy bullet journal – trust me – I get that the pressure of that type of art can be off putting.

Really this whole project is about focusing on yourself, growing, loving and understanding your own mind and achievements! If you want to use your journal as a creative outlet, by all means, give it a go! But please don’t feel like it is a requirement.

A few fancy journals I’ve found.

I have been looking at getting a journal that’s a bit fancy and extra special, which will hopefully reinforce the positive nature of this project.

I love a good Etsy product, so I’ve been looking at journals and planners on there and I have to say that these beauties have really caught my eye! I also love the instant gratification of Amazon Prime, so I’ve listed a few from there too, just in case you wanted to join in on this epic journey of self love! Please note these are affiliate links – if you purchase a journal through one of these links, I make a few pennies at no extra cost to you. This is a great way for you to help keep Lukeosaurus and Me running!

Kraft Leaf Illustrated Notebook from Etsy

Vegan Leather Hardback A5 Bullet Journal from Etsy

Custom Bullet Journal from Etsy

In The Darkest Dark Look For Stars Notebook from Etsy

The Best Is Yet To Come Notebook from Amazon

Colourful Tree Notebook from Amazon

Dotted Notebook (Black Hardcover) from Amazon

The Starry Night Ruled Notebook from Amazon

I can’t wait to look back through the year and see how far I have come by the end of 2021.

Of course, if you want to take on what I am calling the ‘Glow Up Journal’ challenge with me, any old notebook will do. It doesn’t have to be fancy, you don’t need to be artsy either, it’s just all about celebrating your amazing existence and I really cannot wait to get properly stuck in! Looking back through the year will be such a wonderful experience and I hope it’ll give me some motivation to keep going, keep striving to better myself, and keep remembering to love myself more and more. 

If you decide to take up the challenge, please tag me! I am always on Instagram (@gloryiscalling), and Twitter (@gloryiscalling) – you can also tag my Facebook page too!