Journal for Self-improvement and Well-being | 3 prompts to feel amazing TODAY

Welcome back to another Weekly Spark with Yes&. Last week I shared some journal prompts to help you get unstuck & foster that sweet feeling of flow. If you have been doing exercises like that for a while now you may no longer be in a place of feeling stuck. Congratulations & embrace this - sometimes feeling the good can actually be some of the more difficult experiences, so pause for a moment & feel good.

These today are three journal prompts to embrace well-being & self-improvement.

I spent years studying the research base behind what it means to live a good life. I have a master's degree in Positive Psychology & one of the measurements we often use in our Positive Psych research is based on Carol Ryff’s psychological well-being scale. Now you don't need to understand this scale in order to apply these three prompts today. However, I'm going to give you a little bit of context so that you have the background for where these prompts were inspired from.

Download your journal prompts below!

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Scroll to the bottom of this page to watch the video, or simply read the transcript below (edited slightly for clarity).

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Carol includes six different areas of well-being: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life & self-acceptance. 

I go into detail of the six areas of wellbeing in a different video that I will link & today I am coupling them up to give you three powerful prompts to tap into your well-being. Let's dive in with our first prompt & coupling together autonomy & environmental mastery. 

Prompt #1 to being well is: State a desire you have, with confidence.

To practice this element of autonomy state “I am confident. I will achieve/receive/attain your desire (fill in the blank). & if it doesn't come out naturally, try it out a few times. Say it aloud to see it in a few different perspectives. Then part B of this first prompt is to add in some mantras to enhance that confidence. & to tap into the environmental mastery piece. 

I highly encourage you to personalize these mantras based on your strength. If you don't yet know your strength, take my free quiz here after this video or pause & take it right now. You can find it at yesandbymarin.com/quiz & this shares whether you're action oriented or intention oriented - the Yes& community has an equal balance of both. So, whatever you are, you are not alone. If you’re intention oriented, you are really great at the reflecting but maybe not so great at the implementation in the action. 

So, I encourage you with these mantras & environmental mastery to add in some of the action & implementation components. “I am capable, I can do this, I know how to do this, I will figure it out, I am taking action.” If you are action oriented, you're really good at taking action. But that reflection piece in the intentionality may not be the first thing on your mind. In which case, I highly encourage you to add that in as your mantras. “I can take a pause, it is okay to rest, resting propels my vision even further.” 

This is a great example of why it's so important & useful to know your strength so that you can draw in the other side & create that balance in your life so you not only achieve your goals but you feel darn good all the way through. 

After stating with confidence your desire – “you will achieve/attain/have X” & then adding in those mantras to bolster that confidence,  go on to prompt two. 

Prompt #2 for being well is a combination of self-acceptance & personal growth. 

These may feel like they are at odds but actually, they're really good blended together. You see, self-acceptance is about being kind to yourself, accepting yourself as is, seeing yourself as the whole, amazing person that you are. Personal growth is knowing that you are continuously growing into more, which actually can make self-acceptance easier because you can see your flaws, you can see the areas of improvement that you have & accept them. Because you know who you are & will continue to grow into more.

Personal growth also is a wonderful element to add in & lean into because it is this idea that you are open to challenges & if you're open to them, you will experience them with a little less friction. So, I help you tap into these two components by first thinking of your younger self. Think of the child version of you. Right behind this camera, I actually have a picture hanging on my wall of little me because it reminds me every day into the middle of my workday of who I really am & who I aspire to be- which really is that purest version of who I was at the beginning. 

& you also have this pure form of who you were & she or he has a secret for you, because when you think of that younger self you probably will not put onto her all the fears & worries & limiting beliefs that you have created for yourself or have adopted in your adult life. So, think of that child's self & then what would you tell him or her – this is that component of self-acceptance, then take a step back, shake it off, come back to present day you close your eyes & then travel to future you. 

Future you is this representation of someone who has made it through the challenges & the triumphs that are going to accompany your personal growth journey. When you think of future you, what do you think that person would say to you today?

When I walk my clients through activities just like this, when we go to our child self, when we go to our future self, the wisdom that pours out is remarkable. I want you to share your wisdom, not only with yourself, but if you are open to it, share your advice in the comments below. What did you tell your younger self? or what did your future self say to you? & on behalf of everyone who is about to read your profound wisdom - thank you. 

Alright, our third & final prompt combines the two areas of well-being: positive relations with others & purpose in life.

If the purpose one scares you, don't worry. Positive relations with others is pretty straight forward - it's having a positive relationship with those around you through generosity, through sharing, not only you giving to others around you, but also receiving & purpose in life could be simplified by saying you have some sort of direction.

Maybe that's the direction for this moment, maybe that's direction for this week, maybe that is direction for your entire existence. Whatever level you're at, there's some sort of purpose you can tap into, & I'm about to help you do so. 

So, the first part of our third prompt is to name one thing you're excited to share with someone else this week. Also, think of something you're excited or feel open to receive this week. Again, positive relationships with others is not a one-way street, the relationship is dual. There are at least two individuals there. If what you are excited to receive or share doesn't feel directly related to a person, think about the people who are inadvertently related. For instance, if I'm excited to receive coffee, I can think of the individuals who grew the coffee beans, or who transported the coffee from one place to another, who made my cup of coffee, who handed it to me.

If I'm excited to share my words with a camera in front of an audience that I really can't see & connect with beyond those likes & comments (which thank you, by the way, that really helps me feel connected to you), I can still be excited of how this will impact at least one individual even though it is virtual, there is still that level of connection, embrace it for what it is, it's what we have right now. & it actually can be a really beautiful thing to connect individuals on opposite sides of the world. 

One potential idea for how to connect & have positive relationships with others is to share this video with a friend, share it with someone who you think would really enjoy this content or who you want to co-experience what you're experiencing right now. & then the second part of this third prompt, to embrace that purpose in life is to pause - take your best guess, take any of the pressure of purpose, any of the baggage that comes with that word, let it go & just ask yourself, what is the purpose in what you just shared? 

So, in what you're excited to share with others, & what you're excited to receive, what is the purpose in that exchange? Maybe it's one word, maybe it's two that come up, potentially, it's just the word connection. That is the purpose & that is enough.

Out of all of the six areas of well-being that Carol Ryff talks about, purpose in life is often the one that feels really daunting. I'm making a whole video dedicated to this next week. So, if you want some resources to find that purpose in life, & to experience it, I have those for you. Stay tuned next week, subscribe on YouTube so that you have immediate access & that is it - three prompts for self-improvement & well-being based on Carol Ryff’s psychological well-being scale simplified & explained to you in a way that you can journal, that you can reflect with now & whenever else you want. 

If you would like to continue this reflection & to have it easily accessible for you, download the free PDF that outlines all of these prompts in writing. That free PDF is linked above.

In the first prompt I shared those mantras are really helpful if you personalize them to your strength. So, if you want to take the quiz if you don't yet know whether you're action oriented or intention oriented, then I also have my quiz linked here that tells you in just nine questions whether you are action or intention oriented. 

Don't forget to comment below what was the advice that you told to your younger self or that you heard from your older self. & if you want more videos just like this, please like this video & share this video with a friend, positive relations with others. All of those actions really help the growth of this channel & help me to spread more of this to you. Next week we are diving into that last area of well-being - which is purpose in life, I am sharing four of my favorite resources for how to find an implement that purpose. Stay tuned Weekly Sparks are every Tuesday at 5pm Mountain Time. Thank you for joining & I'll see you soon.