Let’s get practical for a few minutes this morning.
Journaling is a topic that gets discussed fairly often in this community, so I want to give you a slightly different look at what the act of journaling might mean in the context of recovery.
Keeping a “success journal” is a really good idea. A success journal is simple. When you do something difficult, you record it. When you complete a new exposure or meet a challenge that life throws at you, write it down somewhere. When you do something that you were previously unable to do, or sure that you could not do, definitely write that down!
Here’s the most important part of a success journal in recovery. It only cares about what you DID. What did you accomplish? What did you DO? Forget how it felt, what you were afraid might happen (but never does), or what it “felt like”. Do not record those. That story does not need to be told … again. Your success journal entries will be boring and dry. Like this:
“Went to the supermarket. Got milk, bread, and something for dinner. It was scary but I did it and nothing happened to me. I didn’t think I could do it, but I did.”
Just the facts, ma’am.
Your success journal might exist alongside your regular journal, or you might make specific “successes and wins” entries in your journal and label them as such. If you don’t journal at all, then your success journal will stand on its down. That’s totally fine too. There is no magic way to journal. However way you decide to keep your success journal is fine. Just make it easy so that there’s no friction between your wins, and writing them down.
Why do we want to keep a success journal? Because every day in this community I hear a story about setbacks, or being back to square one in recovery. In every case, the person telling the story is laser focused on how they feel right now while completely throwing away everything they’ve accomplished up to that moment. Anxious minds minimize the positive and amplify the negative. A person that used to be housebound that is now regularly driving around town with their kids doing errands will declare “SQUARE ONE!” after a difficult day, totally ignoring the fact that they are no longer housebound as they once were.
This is such a common situation that can be easily addressed with a simple success journal.
When you want to say that you’re getting nowhere, go back to your success journal to see exactly where you’ve been getting. When you are sure that you will never get better, let your success journal remind you that you are getting better. When you want to yell, “SQUARE ONE!”, your success journal will tell you otherwise. You will tend to throw all your progress out the window when you feel bad. Your success journal will scoop it up and drop it in your lap do you can see it again.
Find a way to record your wins, even when they are small. Your success journal can save you from needless hand-wringing and wallowing, which can help you keep moving forward even when you are facing challenges.
Tomorrow I want to relay a story from my own recovery that illustrates just how out of hand things can get sometimes.
Have you listened to this week’s episode of The Anxious Truth podcast? Check it out out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or my website and YouTube channel.
54. Keeping A Success Journal