How to Journal for Mental Health: Setting Intentions for 2021

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This post is all about how to journal for mental health. Learn how setting intentions for 2021 will help you find healing.

To start the year off, we reached out to Morgan’s dear friend—Allison— from college to write for us. She has instilled the practice of journaling into her daily routine. It was a something that she began doing routinely in 2020, and it defined the way she began to see each day.

Allison is beautiful inside and out. She has a pure heart and sees the wonder in life. These two qualities were what drew me to get to know her in college. She is a friend that encourages with a gentle spirit and someone I found easily to relate to. On top of all that, she is an incredible writer. We are so thrilled to collaborate with her. Without further ado, here is how she found healing through journaling and how she set intentions for 2021.

With the New Year upon us, many of us are thinking about the changes we want to make in 2021. We are evaluating who we are and where we are right now and trying to determine where we want to be and who we want to become in 2021. We use this time of year to challenge ourselves to change.

Allison’s Story and Why She Started Journaling

If you’re like me, change is a word that immediately induces anxiety. Last year, 2019, was a year of change for me. Within 6 months I got married, graduated college with an elementary education degree (which is where Morgan and I became friends), moved 3 hours away from the only hometown I had ever known, and started my first teaching job.

All of those changes were huge blessings that I knew I should be thankful for, but I found myself getting lost in the uncertainty and fear that came along with them. I was especially stressed about my teaching job. I felt like I had no control over my classroom and I was in constant fear of letting down my team, my students, and my administrators. The worst part was that I felt like I didn’t have control over who I was becoming.

I am typically a positive and upbeat person, but I could feel myself becoming increasingly anxious and negative.

My mental health was suffering and my spiritual life was suffering. One bible verse I read over and over again when I was struggling with all of those feelings of change was “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” James 1:17. I took comfort in knowing that God and His promises to me would not change, though the world around me was constantly changing.

How Allison Started Journaling and Began Setting Intentions

When Christmas Break rolled around, I knew I needed to find a way to change my mental state or I was going to have to quit my job. I did a lot of studying and I ended up reading an article on Intentional Gratitude. Intentional Gratitude is the idea that gratitude is a habit and must be constantly practiced and refined, just as any other healthy habit such as exercising or eating right.

Being negative is human nature. Worrying and stressing is our default setting. So being grateful and peaceful has to be intentional. It’s why Jesus always found a mountain to escape to when his ministry was in a tough spot. It’s why Paul was able to write, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18) despite all of his hardships. After studying intentional gratitude, I realized how much of my energy was going into worrying about my job instead of being thankful for what I had. I knew I needed to find a way to be more intentional with my gratitude.

That’s when I started journaling. Personally, I love writing. I love that it causes me to slow my thoughts down and really dig deep into my feelings. I started watching YouTube videos on “bullet journaling” which is where you use a journal with gridded dots to design your own journal pages.

What to Include in Your Daily Journal Entries

1. Write One Highlight of Your Day

I started creating a space where, at the end of each day, I could write one thing I was thankful for, one highlight of my day, and some thoughts from my daily Bible reading. This not only helped keep me accountable for my bible reading, but also helped me make sure that I was acknowledging the good things that happened in my day with gratitude.

2. Track Your Water, Sleep and Exercise

I also used monthly trackers to track other good habits that I wanted to form. I would keep track of how many days a week that I drank enough water, got enough sleep, exercised, and journaled. Then, at the end of the week, I could see which habits I was doing well on and which habits I needed to work harder at forming. I found that just knowing that I was going to have to document if I missed a day of that habit would help keep me accountable for completing the task.

Journaling Helps You End the Day on a Positive Note

For me, the biggest benefit of my gratitude journal is that it forces me to end the day on a positive note. I found that, instead of worrying about my mistakes, I would go to bed thinking about whatever I had written down as my daily highlight. I also found that, even on my worst days, I had something to be grateful for.

To be honest, there are still days where I struggle to come up with something to write in the “Gratitude” section. But that’s where the intentionality steps in. I had to train myself to look for the good in each day. Spending time in prayer asking God to help me be more thankful, more peace-seeking, more trusting has helped. I still have a long way to go, but I think making myself write it down each day keeps me accountable to continue on this journey of intentionality.

Journaling might not be your thing! You might prefer to express your intentions for the New Year through art, lists, verbal affirmations, an accountability partner, etc. That’s okay! But I do highly recommend finding something that forces you to be intentional and accountable with your resolutions. You made it to a new year, and that of itself is something to be thankful for! In this new beginning, to face the changes that this year will bring with healthy habits and intentional gratitude.