Power Journaling and Trade - As a Tool for Self Coaching

Over the years, two of the most powerful growth modalities I've witnessed and participated in have been journaling and life coaching. Ancient and yet renewed, these potent tools have helped people revitalize their lives and their relationships with themselves and others. Putting the two together can be an effective way to channel intuitive insights into one's life on an ongoing basis.

Lately, I've been working with a technique that I've developed called Power Journaling™. It arose out of my frustration with the tendency for journal writing to become more of a vent or gripe session when it is not structured or guided. Not everyone can or wants to take a weekend workshop or learn an extensive set of techniques or processes to use during their daily journaling. Yet, many of the people I have spoken with have become frustrated that their journaling is going nowhere.

Power Journaling combines the best of coaching with the power of writing. Here's what you need to know before you begin:

Coaching's basic tenets include:

1. The client is healthy at his or her core and has the inner wisdom and understanding to solve his or her challenges in life.
2. The client is at the center of a coaching session, not to be diagnosed, but to be held up as the person with the answers to their own questions.
3. The coach is an interactive partner whose main job is to help the client discover that deep knowledge in order to utilize it to break through the obstacles standing in the way of the client achieving whatever goals the client has in mind.

The three basics of a good coaching session are:

1. Asking powerful questions
2. Listening deeply
3. Reflecting back on what you heard the client say

Journaling is a method of writing that has been practiced for thousands of years. It is, at its best, a method of evoking one's inner creative capacities for growth. At its least, it can become nothing more than a dumping ground for harsh and bitter feelings. While there is a place for letting these feelings go, journaling stays limited when that is all it is used for.

It is the purpose of Power Journaling™ to expand the power of this age-old technique of "letting it all hang out" to incude the best of journaling and the best of coaching in a self-help format. It is not a panacea and does not claim to replace necessary medical or mental health attention (see disclaimer at article's end). But, for most people, this technique can be an enlightening, helpful exercise for gaining access to the information and inner wisdom that they feel may be eluding them in their day to day lives.

Here are the steps to Power Journaling:

1. Find a journal you will enjoy returning to again and again (or a laptop or desktop if that is your preference).

2. Come up with with a number of powerful (open-ended) questions you are wondering about on a topic of concern to you.

3. Then, set aside 30 minutes to an hour, depending on your schedule and need for an answer.

4. Choose a quiet solitary place to think and write where you will be completely alone with your thoughts, intuitions and journal for the entire time.

5. Set a timer for 2/3 of the time you have set and turn it on before beginning to write.

6. Choose one of the questions you came up with (See examples at the end of this article). Write it down at the top of the page along with the date.

7. Close your eyes and take a deep slow breath. Allow yourself to hear the question deeply and non-judgmentally and allow the answer to it to bubble up from deep within you.

8. When you feel moved to do so, begin writing your answer. By allowing your pen or keyboard to flow, you will allow your mind to tell you what it really thinks and knows about the question you have asked. New insights that you were previously unaware of may bubble up.

9. Keep your pen to paper. Don't block any of the thoughts or words that come to you. Simply record any and everything that comes to you as you move in the direction of your deepest about this question.

10. If you feel stalled or at a loss, take another look at the question you asked and ask it again. If necessary, rewrite it on the page and again, take a deep breath and keep writing.

11. You may find yourself making charts or pictures as part of this journaling assignment. Go with whatever works for you. The key is to get it out, go deeper and get more out from within you, where all of your answers lie.

12. Repeat this process again and again until you feel you have covered everything that is in you to say right now, or until your alarm has gone off and you only have 2/3 of your allotted time left.. (If the question is broad or deep, you may decide to return to it in another session.)

13. Now it is time to listen deeply to what you have written. Ideally, you will read what you have written aloud at this time and listen deeply to what you have read. Listening deeply means listening for nuance, deeper meanings, intuitive understandings, without judgment or disdain. Think of yourself as your own coach. A coach is always totally there for YOU, to listen and learn about you in order to help you get to know your deepest wisdom on the most conscious level. Be your coach. Leave self-judgment, rancor, and low self regard outside the door to your power journaling room. It is time to "Be There" for yourself the way you would be for a friend who needs someone to listen. Be curious. Be present. Simply Be. And listen.

14. As you are listening, insights and awarenesses may come to you. In a coaching session, these may be called reflections. A coach listens deeply and reflects back what they are hearing to their client. As you find these coming to you, jot them down briefly in the margins of the journal. If working on a laptop, you may want to turn on the tracking function so you can put thought bubbles next to the journal entries. Do not make corrections in grammar, syntax or spelling, or erase any of what you have written, as you do this. Simply reflect on what you are hearing yourself read aloud. This is about content, not writing structure or editing. It is not judgmental at all.

15. Some of your reflections may simply say what you have said in fewer words to help you clarify it in your mind. Some may take the content to a deeper level or pull together the pieces of what you have written and weave them into a deeper insight or understanding. Either way, write down your reflections and keep reading aloud.

16. Once you have read your entire entry aloud and reflected in writing on what you have read, look over the pages again and see if you have any additional reflections to add and add these.

17. To finish the session, write down anything else that comes to you. Perhaps you now have a new perspective or insight or direction as a result of this writing. Perhaps you have more questions as a result of the session. Jot down whatever the result of the session is, close your journal and move into your day.

When you first start doing Power Journaling, you may find you have ideas that will take your life or a specific situation in an entirely new direction. Before forging ahead, it may be worthwhile to sit with the information you have gotten and work more with it. Some people choose to test it with others before moving ahead.

This technique, practiced over time, has the power to impact your life positively in so many ways. Try it and see if it helps you go where you want to go in your life!

Sample question groups:

In the case of a family member affected by the addiction of a loved one, the questions could include:

1. What is the biggest challenge you face in dealing with your loved one's addiction?
2. What have you tried to do so far to make things better and how have those things worked so far?
3. What else would you like to try?
4. What kinds of help would you need in order to make things better?
5. What is your role in the challenges facing your loved one?
6. How might changing your actions and reactions to the situation you are facing change the family dynamics in your home?

In a situation where you are facing the fact that others are telling you your eating, drinking, or drug usage are out of control and you are trying to figure out if they are right and what your next best steps might be, you might ask yourself questions like:

1. What is really going on here with my drinking (using, eating, etc)?
2. How long have I been dealing with this issue and what have I tried so far?
3. How have these things helped me?
4. How might I use those that have been helpful in the past again?
5. What haven't I tried yet that I might want to consider in the future?
6. What will it mean in my life if I say that I have a problem with my drinking (or eating or drug use, etc.)?
7. What if I do have a problem and not admitting it is standing in the way of my having a way better life?

Questions for a Career Changer who has not been happy in the career they have been in thus far:

1. When I was a child, what did I always want to be when I grew up and why?
2. What are the parts of my work that I have most enjoyed so far and why?
3. Which parts are just not to my liking and why?
4. When I have free time what do I most like to do?
5. What would I do as a career if I could do anything in the world and why?
6. How can I turn my favorite things to do into profitable work?
7. What are the blocks that have been keeping me from making the career change I want to make in my life?
8. How can I overcome the obstacles in my path to making a positive career change in my life?

Disclaimer: If you have a diagnosed mental health condition that requires the help of a healing practitioner, that doesn't mean you cannot use Power Journaling. It does mean you may want to share what you are learning from the sessions with that therapist or counselor. Power Journaling brings out creativity, insight and wisdom. It can also bring up pain and sorry as those sometimes block or stand in the way of a person's access to creativity, insight and wisdom. You do NOT have to go it alone. If you find this work too difficult, get help.