How To Journal Like Marcus Aurelius In the Morning | The Perfect Guide
Journaling like Marcus Aurelius
In this video, the self-development coach John explains the basics of morning journaling structure inspired by Marcus Aurelius. He breaks down the importance of each part with some examples and fundamental tips to ensure that you can start creating this epic daily habit on the journey towards becoming your next level self.
Framing our mindset via gratitude
- Start off by writing either a single sentence of gratitude or some bulleted gratitude points. This does wonders for your brain such as wiring your selective attention away from default negative thoughts, calming your nervous system, and pumping out a few feel-good neurotransmitters to elevate your mood such as serotonin and dopamine.
Thought clearing or rehearsing our day
- Write up things that you're worried about or potential problems that you might face today. This could be tough decisions you've been putting off, people you have to be around that annoy you, bad habits you're struggling to change, contradicting thoughts or actions in your life etc. You could also use this part to ask yourself tough questions such as what aspects of my life aren't aligned with the values I have? The values I wish to create? How am I currently holding myself back? Are there relationships in my life that I need to remove? Relationships that aren't in line with my values and self-development? Furthermore, write things that you're unclear about things that need your attention that you don't normally take the time to reflect on.
- Writing them down especially over time will give you a sense of immediate distance from them it lays them out on another platform being your journal instead of continuing to overflow in your mind and this distance created similar to meditation and mindfulness can help train objectivity towards them it's essentially like understanding that you are not your thoughts getting to see your worries and challenges from another perspective.
Closing off our journaling session
- Close off our journaling session with our own clarification or realization of what we actually have control over and don't. We're cultivating daily actions to help us manage our emotions and navigating daily thoughts to improve our lives.
- This journaling session should actually be quite short.
Morning Journaling Exercise
In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of journaling and how it can help individuals reflect on their fears and worries. The speaker provides a step-by-step guide to a morning journaling exercise that can help individuals prepare for their day.
Benefits of Journaling
- Journaling helps reduce friction when starting the practice.
- It is something we get to do for our personal growth.
Reflection Part
- Reflect on what you just finished writing.
- Clarify how you can navigate these things today.
- Bring things into perspective and tell yourself it's not as bad as you might think it is.
Reality Check
- Bring to light the reality of fears and worries.
- Clarify whether they are within your control or out of your control.
- Helps solidify and understand that over time there's barely any need to waste energy worrying about what we have no control over.
Responding to Worries
- Take a step back via this journaling exercise to ask what am I so worried about?
- How can I be the most centered and cleared in this conversation with my boss?
- We are 100% responsible for ourselves, our thoughts, responses, and reactions that result.
Recap of Morning Journaling Exercise
- Give yourself five minutes for this exercise.
- Start with a single sentence of gratitude or a few bullet points of what you're grateful for.
- Follow up with a rehearsal and thought dubbing portion where you write or bullet out your worries, fears, anxieties, problems you might face today, decisions you need to make, people you have a hard time with, bad habits you want to shift contradictions in your life things you need clarity on or parts of you that need attention such as recurring negative self-talk recurring negative thoughts and self-criticism optionally
ask yourself tough questions such as how am I presently holding myself back what aspects of my life aren't aligned with the values I have.
- This exercise helps you move forward with the best of your current abilities towards your next level self.
Reflection and Control
In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of reflecting on past experiences and identifying what can be controlled to reduce anxiety.
Realization Part
- Continuation of previous step
- Reflect on past experiences
- Identify controllable factors to reduce anxiety
Gift Yourself Clarity
- Focus on what you have control over
- Look for patterns in habits, thoughts, and relationships that need attention
- Ignoring these patterns will limit self-improvement
Experimentation and Preparation
This section focuses on experimentation with journaling prompts and preparation for daily journaling practice.
Avoid Demotivation
- Do not get caught up in how Marcus Aurelius did it
- Focus on foundation of gratitude rehearsal and realization
- Experiment with different prompts
Preparation for Daily Journaling Practice
- Prep your journal the night before
- Write out a prompt to get started tomorrow morning
- What do I need to bring greater attention to in my life?
- What are the most consistent anxieties and worries I experience daily?
Intelligent Habit Design
This section discusses intelligent habit design as an integral part of making stoic journaling a daily habit.
Five Solid Tips
- Check out next video for five solid tips on making stoic journaling a daily habit
- Preparing your journal the night before is one tip
- Video also covers other topics related to stoicism and personal growth