Here we'll talk about the benefits of journaling, offer some prompts to get you started, and provide ideas to journal your way to your dreams.

​Are you looking for a guide to help you start a practical, fun, and useful journal? Then why not start with a manifestation journal? A manifestation journal is a place where you write down your thoughts, dreams, goals, plans, or other things you want to manifest. It can help you gain clarity about your life goals and what you need to do to get there.
To start journaling for manifestation, all you need is a notebook or journal and a general goal (no specifics needed at this point). We'll walk you through the steps to get your manifestation journal going.

​Starting a journal with freewriting can be really helpful—we just let whatever comes to our heads flow onto the page. It can help you overcome the inertia of the blank page. If you’re note sure what to write about, it may be helpful to clear out any thoughts or emotions that are distracting you. Consider sharing emotions and disclosing private things that you haven't told anyone (don;t worry, no one gets to read this). Research suggests that sharing these deep feelings may help release them (Pennebaker, 1997). With that gunk out of the way, it may be easier to open up space for your goals and dreams.

Although science is skeptical of "Law of Attraction" approaches to manifestation, research supports the idea that setting fairly ambitious goals may help us achieve more. To start, we can use a manifestation journal to get clearer on what goals to set. One method for doing this involves the SMART system (Lawlor, 2012). Check out the 'SMART' system below and use it to guide you as you write about your goals.

• S - Specific
• M - Meaningful
• A - Achievable
• R - Realistic
• T - Trackable

Once you have your goals clear, you might want to spend a little more time thinking about the meaning behind your goals. To start, answer these questions in your journal:

• Why is this goal meaningful to you?
• What will achieving this goal give you?
• How will you feel once you've achieved this goal? Will those feelings last?
• Will achieving this goal help you achieve other important goals?

 Try to reflect on why your goals are truly meaningful to you. It's the truly meaningful goals that we are more likely to stick to.

​A negative mindset or the failure to believe in ourselves can often block us from achieving the things we want in life. By believing in ourselves, our capabilities, and our future, we give ourselves a better chance to succeed.
In your journal, try to work on developing a growth mindset—or the belief that your most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work (Dweck, 2015). When we develop a growth mindset, we put in more effort to improve our skills because we believe those efforts are worthwhile.
To build a growth mindset, write in your manifestation journal about times when you did learn new things or build new skills. Write about how it went, the challenges you overcame, and how you eventually learned the new thing. Reminding yourself of what you did in the past can help you gain confidence in your ability to do it again in the future.

Here are some more questions to ponder in your journal to help you find your path forward:

• What are your short-term goals?
• What are your long-term goals?
• How will these short-term goals help you reach your long-term goals?
• What good habits would you like to build in the next 5 years?

• How can you set goals that support the person you are becoming, not the person you used to be?

• What would you like to have accomplished by the end of your life?
• How do you imagine the last years of your life?
• What can you do now to make sure you get to where you want to go?

In addition to reflecting on goals, you might find that you want to write about yourself to gain more clarity about what you really want, what you need, and what will really make you happy. Here are some prompts that may help you gain more clarity:

•  I am happiest when I...
• The positive changes I want to make in the world are...
• I am successful at reaching goals when I...
• I struggle with my goals when I...
• I can overcome challenges by...
• I believe in myself because I...
• If I feel I am losing faith in my own abilities I will...
• If I'm feeling stressed on my journey I will...
• When I need a friend, I will reach out to…

These questions and prompts can hopefully help you gain clarity on goals, dreams, and what you want to manifest in your life.

Get to know more about long-term goals and how to set them.

Goals, broadly speaking, are defined as the desired states that we seek to obtain, maintain, or avoid (Nair, 2003). Long-term goals can be defined as the set of goals that need a longer period to achieve. For example, they could be goals related to our education, career, relationships, fitness, etc. Long-term goals require planning and sustained effort, so they can be a bit trickier to achieve than shorter-term goals. Here are some tips to get you started.

​1. Set specific and challenging goals. It turns out that we achieve more by setting specific goals that are a little bit bigger or challenging, but not too challenging. If we set easy goals, we often don't achieve as much as we could because we don't push ourselves quite as hard.
 
2. Set meaningful goals. Reaching goals that you care about is easier than reaching goals you don't care about. So it's helpful to get clear on what you do care about right from the start.
 
3. Set realistic goals. It can be tricky to know just how much you can achieve. In fact, if you don't believe in yourself, you might set your goals too low and miss out on doing some great things. If you believe in your ability to manifest something, you are more likely to persist until you do. So, take some time to dream big and then put on your reality cap to reflect on what is possible.
 
4. Commit to your goal. We silly humans don't like to disappoint ourselves or others. So, when we commit to something, we're actually more likely to do it, especially if we share the commitment with other people in our lives.
 
5. Create a feedback cycle. Feedback can be helpful so that you know how well you are doing (Latham, & Locke, 2007). Even if you don't have someone to provide feedback for you, you can still put systems in place to give yourself feedback. In other words, you could track your progress on how you're moving towards your goal. That way, you'll know how you're doing.

Researchers suggest that we are more motivated to fulfill core needs like autonomy, relatedness, and competence (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). So, when setting long-term goals, try to identify how each goal relates to a core need. For example, 'starting your own business' might relate to autonomy because you are free to work on what you want. 'Finding love' might relate to relatedness. And 'getting a promotion' might relate to competence. By identifying how your goals relate to your needs, you'll have a better sense that what you're striving for will make you feel good once you get there.

The long-term goal achievement process includes:

• Initiation. Getting started on the goal.
• Maintenance. Continuing to work on the goal and execute actions that lead to achieving the goal.
• Persistence. Overcoming challenges, setbacks, and emotional issues like exhaustion, boredom, or dissatisfaction.
• Revision. Periodic review of the goal to track progress, revise plans, and reevaluate the goal as a whole (Sniehotta, Schwarzer, Scholz, & Schüz, 2005).

​The thing about long-term goals is that they are ... well ... long. That means they require dedication, determination, and persistence. They require overcoming both tangible obstacles and emotional obstacles. So, some have suggested that in addition to creating an action plan (a plan for what you will do), it can be helpful to have a coping plan (Sniehotta, Schwarzer, Scholz, & Schüz, 2005). Here are some tips:
 
Clarify possible challenges. Anticipating the situations that will slow or stall your progress towards the goal can help you develop a plan for how to respond effectively. Then, creating "if-then" statements for each potential obstacle can help you more easily overcome it. For example, if I'm exhausted and just need a nap during the time I have set aside for my goal, it's OK because then I have a backup time set up that I only use when I need it.
 
Think about how to overcome distraction. Perhaps the most common obstacle is distraction. Maybe some parts of our long-term goal are boring or hard. Or, there are just a lot of distractions in our lives. That's why putting a plan in place to minimize distractions can be helpful. For example, we can download an app to pause our emails, log ourselves out of social media, or put a time limit on our internet time. Or, maybe we benefit from headphones to drown out noise. Or maybe we just need a few snacks nearby so we don't have to keep running out to get something. Think about what distracts you and how you might overcome these things.
 
​Know your challenges. Take some time to think about what's stopped you from reaching past goals. Write these down and then brainstorm what you'll do. Try to be specific (say more than "I'll figure it out!"). For example, if low self-confidence often keeps you from reaching your goals, maybe you use some self-love exercises when you find you're getting down on yourself. By having specific plans in place to cope with your unique difficulties, you can increase your chances of success.

How do you set the right priorities for you? Here are some tips and guidance to help you clarify your top priorities and stick to them.

Do you know what is high-priority for you? Or do you feel like everything is high-priority and don’t know what to do first? Or, are you just too plain busy to ever get to the high-priority stuff? If you're reading this, then you're likely looking for more help figuring out your priorities. Don’t worry, we can help.

What, exactly, is high-priority? Well, the answer depends on who you ask and which aspect of life we're looking at. Are we talking about work priorities, relationship priorities, family priorities, or figuring out which is the highest priority of these high priority items?
To start, let’s take a look at each of these life domains to better understand different types of priorities, how they fit together, and how they may compete with each other.

​To set priorities for work, make a list of the major tasks that you need to accomplish. Then list these tasks in order of importance. Be sure to also note whether one task needs to come before another or is dependent on another task being completed first. For example, maybe you need a website before you can start selling things in your online business.

​Maybe there are some people we want to see more than others. Or, maybe there are certain activities that we feel are more important to ensure the success of our romantic relationships and friendships. Some examples of relationship priorities could also include: being honest, making time for fun, practicing kindness, or talking about fears and difficulties. 

​What are the highest priority actions you need to take to ensure your family is taken care of? This might depend a lot on whether you have kids, aging parents, or a small family. So take a moment to think about high-priority actions within your family. Remember, your priorities don't necessarily have to be engagement related. For example, your priority may be to set boundaries or take time off rather than spending a lot of time with family. Everyone is different.

​Do you have other priorities related to your mental or physical health, finances, purpose, or personal growth? Think about what these priorities are. 

Now that you’ve thought about your priorities in each of the life domains, you're probably now wondering, How do I prioritize my priorities?!
 Well, pause here to look over or think about your top priorities in each life domain. Combine these into one long list. Put the most important things at the top to hopefully get a sense of which things are most important to you. This can be a bit tricky, so try not to be too hard on yourself—just do the best you can. Your priorities might also change over time, and that's okay too.

​There are only so many hours in the day. If we spend all day doing our top priority, then we'll have no time for our second priority. But if we spend an equal amount of time on each priority, we'll move forward so slowly on all of them that we may get frustrated and give up. So knowing our priorities isn't always the solution to sticking to our priorities.
Sometimes it can be easiest to focus on a few high priority items at a time. For example, maybe you spend one month really focusing on your family but the next month, you need to prioritize more work. It’s okay to try to find a balance that works for you and experiment as you go.

​Another thing to consider is what things make it easier or harder for us to stick to our priorities. For example, are there people who make it difficult to stick to your priorities? Are there situations that make it hard to stick to your priorities? Or, are there things about you that make it hard to stick to your priorities? By taking the time to better understand your own unique challenges, you’ll also better understand what solution might best work for you.

Here you’ll learn about habits, review multiple strategies for building good habits, and get some tips for how to break bad habits. 

​Habits have been described as repeated actions that arise from some kind of internal or external trigger (Robbins & Costa, 2017). Often, these habits exist in particular contexts. For example, Billy might have a habit of smoking a cigarette when he drinks alcohol. Sharon might have a habit of brushing her teeth before bed. And Mark might have a habit of biting his nails when he’s nervous.
Habits—both good and bad—are closely related to our goals. Since habits are just things we do regularly, they can contribute to —or deter us from—achieving the things we want to achieve. That’s why building good habits—and perhaps getting rid of some bad ones—is so important for building the lives we want to lead. So what are some good habits to build?

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is perhaps one of the most popular self-help books of all time. It suggests that there are 7 key habits that we should all strive to build. The habits are the key to being successful. According to the author, these are the the things we need to do:

1. ​Be proactive. Take action and initiative to improve your situation. Don't sit and wait for things to happen.
2. Begin with the end in mind. Think before acting. Know your long-term goals so that you can effectively work towards them.
3. First things first. Focus on what is important. Try not to get caught up doing unimportant things.
4. Think win-win. Look for mutually beneficial solutions that are good for everyone because they have a high-chance for success.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Use empathy to better understand others and create a culture of caring.
6. Synergize. Combining the strengths of different people so that the group can achieve more than any one person could achieve alone.
7. Sharpen the saw (keep growing). Remember that self-renewal and rest are essential for optimal functioning and success.

​The book, Atomic Habits, suggests even more tips for building good habits. Here are a few:

• Make it obvious. Create cues in your environment to remind you to do your new habit.
• Make it attractive. Try to make the habit something fun or enjoyable.
• Make it easy. Try to make then habit simple, so you can do it more easily.
• Make it satisfying. Find a way to reward yourself for doing you habit.

• Never miss a habit twice in a row. This will keep you on track.
• Stick to a sustainable pace. That way you won't burnout.
• Think about your habit as a way to grow 1% per day. Improving just a little bit each day results in big changes over time. ​

BJ Fogg, author of Tiny Habits, Offers us a few more tips.

• Attach a new habit to an existing habit. For example, if you want to build a habit to floss, then you can attach it to brushing your teeth. You can use this approach for anything by saying, After I do X, I'll do Y.
• Make the habit tiny. For example, rather than saying you're going to meditate for 5 minutes, start with something like 1 deep breath. He says this makes it easier to accomplish.

Physically celebrate when you execute your tiny habit. For example, throw your hands up into the air and say "Yes!" This helps your body feel good about the habit

​Good habits tend to be good for the mind and body. Habits of the mind are what help us successfully engage in effective behaviors that lead to success over the long term (Costa & Kallick, 2009). Habits of the body can help keep us strong and healthy. Here are some examples:

​The good (and bad) thing about habits is that after repeatedly engaging in them, they become automatic. That makes it somewhat easier to build good habits, but also harder to break bad ones.
Learning how to break a habit like smoking, drinking, gambling, overeating, or overspending is likely more difficult than starting a new habit. It requires more than building new patterns of behavior—it requires understanding how your existing patterns of behavior benefit you and finding other ways to get those benefits. For example, maybe smoking helps us calm down or drinking helps us feel more social or binging on cookies feels good. So we have to ask ourselves, how do we get these positive outcomes without the habit?
To start, it can be helpful to:

• identify your triggers
• keep yourself away from anything that might make you engage in the habit, and
• be more mindful of your thoughts and actions

Be careful that you don’t end up swapping one bad habit for another. You might ask yourself these questions to better understand what helps and hurts your ability to stick to habits:

1. Who makes it easier/harder for you to build good habits?
2. Who makes it easier/harder for you to break bad habits?
3. What situations make it easier/harder for you to build good habits?
4. What situations make it easier/harder for you to break bad habits?
5. Do you have any traits that make it easier/harder for you to build good habits?
6. Do you have any traits that make it easier/harder for you to break bad habits?

Once you know the things that stand in your way and the things that help you, see if you can make changes in your life that help you create better support structures for the habits you want to build.

What is self-actualization and how do you strive towards it?

If you’re not familiar with self-actualization, the idea comes from renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation. Maslow hypothesized that unsatisfied needs drive our behavior. Needs like food, water, and safety need to be met first, then we strive to achieve social connection and self-esteem. Once all of these goals are met, we move on to seeking self-actualization—or achieving our full potential.
Later, an additional need was added—contributing something purposeful that is greater than ourselves. This is also referred to as "Beyond Self-Actualization," "Transcendence," or “Selfless Actualization” (Greene, & Burke, 2007).
 Maslow suggested that lower-level needs are "deficit needs." We need them to survive, so they take priority. Self-actualization and beyond are "growth needs." Personal growth is considered to be a crucial precursor to well-being (Ryff, 1989). We may focus on actualizing our potential and extending our abilities to serve others. We might have:

•  The desire to make bad situations better
• The desire to create something that makes the world better
• The desire to reward and praise others

So how do we strive self-actualization? Here are a few tips:

When we think in black-versus-white, we miss opportunities to learn, grow, and experience things that could bring more meaning to our lives. That's why self-actualization involves being open to alternative information and points-of-view (Greene, & Burke, 2007). We’re served by looking at problems in creative ways and from different perspectives. So try to be more open to experience if you're aiming for self-actualization.

​If you aim to self-actualize and become your best self, it’s important to first get clear on your values (Greene, & Burke, 2007). If we strive to reach goals that go against our values or morals, we could end up feeling worse off—unfulfilled and unhappy.

When we think of self-actualization, many of us actually are thinking of esteem needs (Krems, Kenrick, & Neel, 2017). Maybe we strive for love and belonging or for career success. There is nothing at all wrong with that. In fact, according to Maslow, we need to satisfy these needs before moving on to self-actualization. Once we feel like we are loved and respected it may be easier to shift our focus to personal growth and selfless pursuits.

​Each of us desires to achieve different goals and manifest different dreams. By exploring what it is that we really want, we can feel more fulfilled in pursuing it.

​Self-actualization is a peak experience that many of us strive for. But it should also be thought of as a lifelong pursuit. It is about growth and giving back. With some effort, we have the potential to experience all that self-actualization has to offer.