“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”
― C.G. Jung

Journaling can definitely be a great way, as Jung puts it, to “make the darkness conscious.” I have learned a tremendous amount about myself, and specifically about my motivation and the factors that most affect it this month. As I have been posting tidbits of my entries all month long, I will invite you to go back and read these posts (Week 1, 2, 3, and 4) if you want to learn about my discoveries and insights.

What will I do with this challenge moving forward? For the most part, I am going to continue following almost all of my challenge specifications. Here is my current plan:

• Keep up daily journaling and vary the focus each month. As with my challenge requirements, I am setting the minimum amount of writing at 3 sentences, though they can be as short as I like. The idea is consistency, not volume. Incidentally, daily journaling has given me a significant increase in my gratitude level. I think being thoughtful about the things that positively or negatively affect my drive and motivation level makes me more viscerally aware of things I am grateful about. I didn’t regularly express this gratitude to myself or to others, but I definitely noticed a generally more appreciative tone in myself.
• Add a brief motivation reflection permanently to my check-in routine in the morning. My morning check-in, which follows my communion run and meditation, consists of thinking upon 3 of my core feelings at that moment, identifying 3 body sensations, nonjudgmentally reflecting on what I have done since my last check-in, and choosing one thing I am struggling with to radically accept. Because my motivation level is such a pivotal part of both my personality and my mental health, it makes sense to dedicate a few minutes each day to reflect on it.
• Continue publishing weekly blog posts. I have enjoyed increasing my published blog posts from once or twice a month to weekly. Of course, doing this by simply taking snippets of my journal entries, polishing them up a little, and posting them on my blog was incredibly fast and easy. It will be more challenging when I am producing fresh content each week, but totally doable for me now. I also anticipate my blog mirroring and complementing my YouTube channel content.

I have not been journaling this past week, but plan on starting up again on Monday. My particular focus this month will be on pain, specifically my chronic back pain, though any pain-related observations I have are of course welcome in my journal, along with general observations about life.

I should be uploading a video to my YouTube channel, Empowered Thought, sometime on Monday, so be on the lookout for that if you like my content and want more, this time in an audiovisual format. The first video will mostly be introducing myself and the channel. Deep dives into personal development psychology, empowering ethical philosophy, and lexicology/lexicography insights will definitely follow in the near future.

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
― Thich Nhat Hang

Namaste.