Journaling Prompts
The following journaling prompts were written as a four-week blog series for the Northwest Texas Conference e-newsletter in 2020.
What Is One Thing ... Week 1
Change. There are probably two basic gut reactions to that word. You either just cringed at what may come next or got excited thinking about the possibility of something new. There may be some in-betweeners, but I think, for the most part, change triggers something in us that makes us want to hunker down and cling to our foundation. Brace for impact.
This is my nature when it comes to change. It is something that I have been working on for more than a decade now and will probably work on till the day I see Jesus face to face. Someone said to me in my early twenties that part of how they no longer fear change or live into anxieties brought by change, besides a lot of prayers, is accepting that change is coming and expecting change to happen. When you switch your mindset from anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop to moving towards being ready to catch the shoe, it levels out some of the control battles and puts your mind into a space prepared for what may come.
Now, that is easy to just type out and read, but living into it is another matter. Ex. 2020. I am sure we are all over the memes of 2020 and trying to predict what Jumanji level we are on next. We want to see the trailer to 2021 before we buy a new calendar. This year has been crazy. Period. We are six full months in and not sure of a defined end in sight.
Some of you may have found your new routine and rhythm, while others may be struggling to make it through another week.
We introduced a series of questions at the Laity Session of our one-day Annual Conference that I wanted to share with you in a short series. This process has become part of my routine that feeds my nerd side along with my Enneagram 3 personality, type J, all the things, and helps me move forward in decision-making and change. But I feel that this process can also be streamlined for others who don’t naturally find themselves quickly in self-evaluation.
The four-question series are below:
1. What is one thing that you are doing well?
2. What is one thing that you would like to improve?
3. What is one thing you will stop doing?
4. What is one thing you want to start doing?
How often do you spend time reflecting on things going well in your life, work, or ministry? Do you find yourself overwhelmed when trying to answer that question? Try to narrow down your focus. Focus on the past month, week, or yesterday. Focus on yourself individually or on your ministry context. What were your big wins or accomplishments from the past week? Make a list and try to narrow it down to 3 – 5 important things that you are doing well. From that list, identify the one you are most proud of.
When we take the time to look at what we are doing well and acknowledge it, we tend to become more willing to look at what may need improvement or stop doing.
Next week, we will look into more about what we need to improve. If you are the type of person who likes listening to organizing/scheduling/planning/goal setting type content, you should check out the Focus On This podcast. It is a podcast from the Michael Hyatt Company and while they walk through using their planner system with the podcast, there is so much good information that can be used without using their product.
What Is One Thing ... Week 2
Last week we talked through navigating change, especially during a season of constant change and isolation. Hopefully, you could make your list of things that you have been doing well and narrowed them down to one. If not, take a minute, read last week’s post and spend some time doing that before we move on to today’s question, what is one thing you would like to improve.
This week’s focus may not as come as natural to you as last weeks did, and that is ok! Internal reflection, either personal or as a church body, can be some of the hardest critiquing to walk through. But it is so vital to helping us move forward. Now that you have spent some time patting your back and looking at the things you are proud of that you accomplished, let’s look at the things you may need to improve.
If you are a goal setter, how well are you making progress with reaching your goals? How far have you gotten this year, or did things get off track? What is working for you in achieving those goals? What is not?
If these questions aren’t helping your thinking juices flow, take a look back at your accomplishment list. What didn’t make your top 3-5 big wins? Is anything going well on that list but could use some focus for improvement? Anything going through the motions in your ministry that you want to shape into the best it can be?
Those are the areas that will want to be on your things to improve the list. If your plan is large, don’t get overwhelmed! You start improving with one decision, one step forward. So, narrow down your focus to one thing you would like to improve, start making a plan and take action towards meeting that goal.
If you struggle with goal setting and accomplishing, here are some pointers on setting goals! I love this process from the Michael Hyatt & Co. group. https://michaelhyatt.com/goal-setting/
He recommends a SMARTER formula for goal setting. Be specific in identifying your goals. Make them measurable, so you know whether you are hitting your goal or not. Every plan should be actionable and start with an action verb. A good goal is risky to make you stretch a little and take you to the edge of your comfort zone. Every goal should be time-keyed with a date associated with it. It should be exciting to keep you focused on the destination and relevant to your values, season of life, and other goals. Write them down and review them regularly! You can read more about his goal-setting process here…
Make sure you write down key motivations to help you reach your goal and list the next steps, so you make an action plan that works instead of a new year’s dream. Know your reward for how you will celebrate when you reach that goal!
What Is One Thing ... Week 3
This week we are looking at what is one thing you will stop doing. This week will either be super easy for you or hard. Make sure you have your list of what you are doing well and what you need to improve, ready to go! If you need more information on those, you can read them here. One Thing You Are Doing Well and One Thing You Need To Improve.
Without giving you my whole personal story in this section, let me tell you that it is so HARD to stop doing something once I have committed to it. SO HARD! It is a blessing and a curse, I have decided. It is easy for me to live life with a plate too full. Sometimes it is just easier to hide behind the busyness than actually sort my life into healthy functioning sections. Becoming a mom helped a lot in guarding my time, but it is still something daily that I have to submit and work on. And I am not just talking schedules/to-do list/commitment busyness but being still and silent (shocker for those who know me well, I am sure). Even if my office is quiet, there’s an ongoing to-do list running in my brain (looking at you Annual Conference) and music playing in my head.
But enough about me, where do you fall on that scale of being able to prune and cut things that you know you need to cut? Looking back at your list of things to improve, is there anything that might hinder you from pursuing that goal and getting that focus moved from your improved list to your doing well list? Is there something that just doesn’t bring you joy or reach your goals that is something you can actually cut out of your routine? Maybe you can delegate it. Perhaps you just need to step away from the commitment. What is something you need to stop doing so you can take your next step toward something that helps you reach your goal and brings life to your inner being?
Maybe it is something like not looking at social media or email on your Sabbath. Or blocking time in your schedule to work on a goal or project as if it was a meeting. Maybe you are only home one night during the week, and that is draining.
Take some time and see what blocks you from reaching your goals or draining your energy. Make a list of what you need to stop doing and narrow it down to one thing you are willing to cut out. Then take action.
What Is One Thing ... Week 4
Here we are! Our final week of diving into these four questions. For most of us, we like to start in this section. Starting something new! And why wouldn’t we? Usually, something new brings fresh energy and excitement. Something to look forward to. Something unexpected. Something different. There is a reason it is the last stop in the questions.
Maybe listing your accomplishments was easy, and you wanted to jump right to starting something new. It is easy to get caught up in that winning momentum. Maybe you answered question one with ease, and looking at where to improve began to sting a little, and by the time we started looking at what you need to stop, you decided you would stop this process. I hope not, but I know it could have happened!
Maybe the first three questions were comfortable, and this one has you stumped. Perhaps one was hard, and you brushed this off to the to-do pile.
Finding your groove in this process is just that, finding YOUR groove. But far too often, I think we fall in the trap when things are going really well, to start new things without going through the process of evaluating what we are currently doing and making changes based on that evaluation.
So, what are you dreaming about? Amid the COVID fog, what are you hoping for or ready to start? Many of us jumped into new ways of doing church, and now that they are up and running, we have space to go back and evaluate them and tweak them to be the best that we can do. Then when you have found your new groove, what else do you want to start doing?