Overthinking? Try This 5-Minute Writing Practice

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A deep change in the way that we live requires a deep change in the way that we think.
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I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently.
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Do you have any suggestions for making journaling quicker?
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I want to journal, but I just keep running out of time.
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That's what a client asked me this week, and my first reaction was to challenge her to make the space because this is the very thing that she needs.
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But instead, I gave her a method for quick journaling and it worked.
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It allowed her to ease her mind, to slow down long enough to make space to do the thing.
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And I want to share this with you too.
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At the end of the exercises that I gave her, there was a reflection on the last day, which was to kind of go back over those journals, reflect on what you saw.
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And at the end of the week, she responded to the exercise with loved, loved, loved in all capital letters.
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And what she noticed was worry, stress, that she felt pressed for time, that she felt chaos and uncertainty and so many questions.
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And what she recognized also was that all of the above thoughts that were spinning in her head do not elevate her mood at all, that it depresses it.
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And as she went on through the week, she was able to loosen all the stress in her mind, the noise and the spinning to actually see some of the root issues that needed to be taken care of to move things forward in her life.
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And that, my friends, is the power of writing.
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I see it all the time.
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And today I want to give you a strategy that your overthinking mind and your ambitious self is going to love.
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As high and hyper achievers and doers, the thing we resist the most is slowing down.
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And it's the very thing that we often need to actually speed things up in the meaningful way that we desire.
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What I know for sure after a decade of coaching with a journal is that when we make space to write, we always feel better.
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We're always glad we did.
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We don't ever regret it.
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And we often wonder why we don't make the time more often.
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And it's because of the mind.
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I get it, I get it so much.
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We're all have big dreams, we're juggling projects, we're raising families, and we're trying to squeeze productivity out of every minute.
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But here's the thing, and I want you to lean in close because this is important.
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What if I told you that the very reason you feel too busy to journal is exactly why you need it the most?
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And the mind lies to us with things like, I don't have time to journal.
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Journaling is boring.
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And the more we affirm this, the more it is true and becomes our reality.
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And then we don't actually stop to make the time that actually is going to be the most productive thing we can do.
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And here are some of the lies that keep us stuck, and they're so convincing, is because we're constantly in motion thinking that once we achieve X, Y, or Z is when we're going to find peace.
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We think that the pressure and the rush and the checking the items off the to-do list is going to get us somewhere.
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We're afraid that if we slow down, we're going to lose our edge or fall behind.
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And the truth is that peace comes when you create an interruption.
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And if you don't, guess what?
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Life will.
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So I want to give you a solution and a strategy today that your overachiever, overthinking mind is going to love.
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And here's why it especially works for overthinkers and doers is because it has a clear time boundary.
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It's short enough to feel doable so you can say goodbye to resistance.
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And it's long enough to actually create a meaningful pause in your day and create space for new revelation.
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Imagine that you have a dashboard with warning lights inside of you, just like your car.
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Are you listening to those indicators?
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And consider that journaling is the vehicle for actually slowing down to listen and pay attention.
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Your thoughts are the indicator lights.
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And when you journal even for just five minutes, you're taking an inventory of the thoughts that you're allowing to hang out in your mind.
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And they're going to give you clarity as to why you feel and are experiencing the things that you're experiencing and also give you the opportunity to take the reins back of your thoughts and redirect your life.
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And you're giving yourself a chance to spot these issues before they become emergencies.
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Okay, let's get to it.
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So if you're in a place you can grab a pen and paper now, this is gonna be your five-minute, five-day writing challenge.
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So set your timer for just five minutes and you're gonna explore these questions.
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Number one, what thoughts have been hanging out in your mind today?
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Number two, are you fixated on any one thing?
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Number three, how are these thoughts or this fixation impacting your mood, energy, and ability to take action?
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Number four, what caused your mood to change today?
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Who or what caused your mood to change today?
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And number five, what depleted your energy and what elevated your energy?
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Okay, those same five questions every day for five minutes, and then here's the bonus.
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And this is what my client did after the five days, go back and review those journals.
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Notice patterns, highlight words, notice how those things are impacting or influencing your life, your ability to make decisions, your ability to move forward right now.
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And if it's not moving in the direction you want, here are three bonus questions to turn yourself around.
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Number one, what do you want to feel or experience today or this week?
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Number two, how can you shift or elevate your thinking ever so slightly in that direction?
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And number three, what aligned action, what one aligned simple action can you take right now, today, that moves you in the direction of that feeling or experience?
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Remember, you don't have to love journaling or be a journaler.
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This isn't about journaling, it's about your life.
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Journaling isn't boring because you bring your life to it and you get to write your way through to what you want to experience and create more of in your life.
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Writing is just the vehicle.
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So take the five-minute, five-day challenge.
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Start tomorrow morning, or better yet, start right now, set that timer, and watch what happens when you give yourself the gift of a pause.
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Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end.
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Before you move on with your day, pause and capture one thought or takeaway that stood out to you.
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Write it down so it doesn't get lost in the noise.
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And if you're ready to go deeper, come join me in my free monthly class, conversation and guided writing to help you see things differently and move forward with clarity.
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Save your spot, carlareeves.com forward slash free class.