Find PBMIF on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for useful tips and facts in consumer and fashion psychology.
Let me tell you a secret. Well... It's not really a secret, but if there's one thing that you should consider starting in 2024, *whispers* it's a journal.
Whether in digital or paper form, journalling has been shown to have many benefits, but of course instead of just saying so, we'll back it up with research. Overall, journalling is an accessible and effective way to improve your wellbeing, no matter who you are.
Today, pbmif introduces the 2024 journal/calendar/diary/activity book/scrapbook. It's based on theories and concepts in positive psychology and similar disciplines. Martin Seligman, a leading figure in positive psychology, devised what is known as the 'PERMA' model, which is comprised of five elements that contribute to wellbeing; positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. This journal aims to include these five elements.
Positive emotions - What makes you feel positive emotions?
Engagement - What activities do you really enjoy doing to a point where time goes by without you realising?
Relationships - What relationships bring you support and joy?
Meaning - What do you feel drawn to these days? What does having a sense of meaning mean to you? What do you find worthwhile?
Accomplishment - How do you feel when you accomplish something? What drives you to persevere?
Vision board
This journal asks you to create your own vision board. Set your vision.
Waalkes et al. (2019) comment that vision boards can be a valuable tool for promoting career development and self-awareness. Creating vision boards can help individuals (in this case, students) to identify their strengths and interests, develop career goals, visualise their future, increase self-efficacy and motivation, and feel more connected to culture and community.
Benedict (2021) suggest that creating and presenting vision boards can help individuals (in this case, students) to reflect on their experiences, again, identify their strengths and weaknesses, set future goals, visualise success, gain inspiration, and learn from their own and others' experiences.
Gratitude
Expressing gratitude is an awesome experience.
Deichert et al. (2019) suggest that gratitude is an effective way to improve wellbeing. Gratitude can help people to focus on the positive aspects of their lives, build better relationships, get more out of their social networks (after experiencing stress), build resilience, and live healthier lives.
Zhang et al. (2022) suggest that gratitude is good for your wellbeing; it makes you happier and more satisfied with your life. Being grateful for specific things helps the most.
Chui and Diehl (2021) found that that people who were more grateful were less likely to feel lonely in a study. The association between gratitude and loneliness was significant across all age groups, but it was strongest in younger adults.
Maybe you could write a letter to someone expressing your gratitude for them (and show it to them if you want? Might be cringe, but what can you do? 💁♀️).
Wishlist
Here, you can add your material and experiential wants and must-haves. Even what you wish for others.
Although it's great to have goals to work towards, this wishlist gives you the opportunity to evaluate whether or not you actually want something. Impulse purchasing is very easy to do these days, and we have more possessions than we actually need (overconsumption...). You have the opportunity to ask yourself questions such as, "Do I really need this?", "Am I going to use this more than once?", "Is this just a phase...?", "How is this going to make me feel in the long term?", "Can this wait?", or "Am I doing this to fit in?". A wishlist can help you to understand the motivations behind your buying habits.
Life is not all about material possessions, but is also about your experiences and the memories you make too. Gilovich and Gallo (2020) suggest that experiential purchases (e.g., travel, concerts, events) tend to make people happier than material purchases (e.g., clothes, electronics, furniture) in the long run. Experiences are more memorable, shareable, and can lead to personal growth and development. Experiences are often associated with strong emotions and vivid memories, which can make them more meaningful and satisfying than possessions. Experiences can provide opportunities for learning and self-discovery.
Is there somewhere you want to go? Who with? What do you want to do? What do you want to see? What do you want to feel? What do you want to discover? Do you want to learn something new? Do you want to improve on something that you find enjoyable?
Life is not all about material possessions, but is also about your experiences and the memories you make too. Experiences are more memorable, shareable, and can lead to personal growth and development.
Reflective journalling
This journal prompts you to reflect.
Portman (2020) suggests that reflective journalling is a great tool for self-awareness and self-confidence because it can help individuals (in this case, the participants were students) develop a deeper understanding of their thoughts, process experiences, develop a better understanding of themselves, identify their strengths and weaknesses, improve their writing skills, organise their thoughts and feelings, and express themselves with clarity.
Write about your experiences with different scenarios, what are your thoughts about a topic of your choosing? Visited a new restaurant lately? Be a food critique. Watched a movie lately? Be a movie critique. Listened to a great recommended song on your Spotify? Be a music critique. Purchased a new item recently? Talk about the why. Is something or someone bothering you? Vent it out - How does this thing/person make you feel? What have they/it done to you? Had a positive interaction with someone? Note it down.
According to Voci et al. (2019), journalling can help individuals (in this case, medical students) improve their psychological wellbeing and academic performance. Journalling can also help to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve self-esteem.
Self-reflection, specifically, can help people to identify their strengths and weaknesses, develop goals for their lives, help people to cope with stress and challenges, build resilience, and develop a better understanding of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. MacIsaac et al. (2022) suggest that people who are naturally inclined to self-reflect are more likely to benefit from journalling than those who aren't.
Life Crafting
Schippers and Ziegler (2019) introduce the term, 'life crafting', a process of intentionally shaping your life to align with your values, passions, and goals. It's been shown to have a number of benefits, including increased happiness and wellbeing, greater life satisfaction, higher levels of self-actualisation, reduced stress, and increased resilience.
The seven-step life crafting process is as follows:
Discover your passions.
What do you like to do?
What kind of relationships would you like to have, both in your private life and your work life?
What kind of career would you like?
What lifestyle choices would you like?
Reflect on your current and desired competencies and habits.
What qualities do you admire in others?
What competencies would you like to have?
What are some habits you like or dislike in a person and yourself?
Reflect on your present and future social life.
What relationships energise you and what relationships don't do you any good?
Who are the kinds of friends and acquaintances that are good for you?
Who are the kinds of friends and acquaintances that you would like to have in the future?
How would you like your ideal family life and broader social life to look like?
Reflect on a possible future career.
What is important in a job?
What do you like to do?
What kind of colleagues do you want?
Who do you want to meet through your work?
Write about your ideal future.
Write about your best possible self in the future.
Write down specific goal attainment and “if-then” plans.
Formulate goals.
Identify and describe ways to overcome any possible obstacles.
How would you monitor your progress?
Make public commitments to your goals.
Communicate your goals to others, such as your friends, family, and co-workers.
Scrapbook
The journal has a sticker collection because number one, it's cute, and number two, I found a sense of accomplishment in completing Hello Kitty and Groovy Chick sticker activity books growing up (thank you mum).
FioRito et al. (2021) suggest that scrapbooking can have a number of social and psychological benefits, including increased nostalgia proneness (ability to recall memories), social connection, and psychological comfort.
Karwowski et al. (2021) suggests that creativity can be a positive coping mechanism during difficult times. This suggests that creativity can help people to cope with stress, anxiety, and other challenges. Creativity can also be a way to connect with others. By sharing our creative work with others, we can build relationships.
Write a letter to your future self (or from your future self to now)
Take the opportunity to write to your future self.
Chishima at al. (2021) have found that both letter writing to your future self and in the perspective of the future self to the present self have a positive impact on wellbeing in times of stress. The communication with your future self serves as a means to distance yourself from the state you are presently in and to take a broader perspective in a larger time frame.
Wellbeing wheel
This journal includes a wellbeing wheel.
Spain et al. (2021) express their admiration for the wellbeing wheel or (wellness wheel), a popular tool in therapy which can give you a better understanding of your wellbeing, strengths, and weaknesses. It can help you identify and pinpoint areas of your life that you are satisfied with (or not quite so), and feeds you crumbs on how to improve them or maintain them. From understanding any barriers, it can help you to create strategies, find the right support, and set relevant goals. You can adapt the wheel to make it more relevant to you; you can take away and add your very own dimensions. However, the most common dimensions are pies and foes:
Physical - physical health, activity, exercise, diet, sleep
Intellectual - learning, knowledge, skills, creativity, new interests
Emotional - acknowledging and managing feelings, gratitude, growth
Social - relationships, connections with others, communication
Financial - management, savings, spending
Occupational - career satisfaction, achievements, work-life balance
Environmental - comfort, safety, surroundings, care for the environment
Spiritual - meaning, beliefs, values
Download here
Single page
Two page
References
Benedict, B. C. (2021). Using Vision Boards to Reflect on Relevant Experiences and Envision Ideal Futures. College Teaching, 69(4), 231-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2020.1850411
Chishima, Y., Liu, I-T. H-C., & Wilson, A. E. (2021). Temporal distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Letter writing with future self can mitigate negative affect. Applied Psychology: Health & Well-Being, 13(2), 406-418. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12256
Chui, H. & Diehl, M. (2021). Gratitude and loneliness in daily life across the adult lifespan. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02488-8
Crawford, A., Sellman, E., & Joseph, S. (2021). Journaling: A More Mindful Approach to Researching a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in a Junior School. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211014771
Deichert, N. T., Fekete, E. M., & Craven, M. (2019). Gratitude enhances the beneficial effects of social support on psychological well-being, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(2), 168-177. https:.//doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1689425
FioRito, T. A., Geiger, A. R., & Routledge, C. (2021). Creative Nostalgia: Social and Psychological Benefits of Scrapbooking. Art Therapy, 38(2), 98-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2020.1748986
Gilovich, T & Gallo, I. (2020). Consumers’ pursuit of material and experiential purchases: A review. Consumer Psychology Review, 3(1), 20-33. https://doi.org/10.1002/arcp.1053
Karwowski, M., Zielińska, A., Jankowska, D. M., Strutyńska, E., Omelańczuk, I., & Lebuda, I. (2021). Creative Lockdown? A Daily Diary Study of Creative Activity During Pandemics. Frontiers in psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.600076
MacIsaac, A., Mushquash, A., & Wekerle, C. (2022). Writing Yourself Well: Dispositional Self-Reflection Moderates the Effect of a Smartphone App-Based Journaling Intervention on Psychological Wellbeing across Time. Behaviour Change, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2022.24
Portman, S. (2020). Reflective Journaling: A Portal Into the Virtues of Daily Writing. The Reading Teacher, 73(5), 597-602. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1877
Spain, D., Stewart, V., Betts, H., & Wheeler, A. (2021). Wheel of Wellbeing (WoW) health promotion program: Australian participants report on their experiences and impacts. BMC Public Health, 21, 2037. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12076-x
Voci, A., Veneziani, C. A. & Fuochi, G. (2019). Relating Mindfulness, Heartfulness, and Psychological Well-Being: the Role of Self-Compassion and Gratitude. Mindfulness 10, 339-351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0978-0
Waalkes, P. L., Gonzalez, L. M., & Brunson, C. N. (2019). Vision Boards and Adolescent Career Counseling: A Culturally Responsive Approach, Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 14(2), 205-216. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2019.1602092
Zhang, L., Li, W., Ye, Y., Yang, K., Jia, N. & Kong, F. (2022). Being grateful every day will pay off: a daily diary investigation on relationships between gratitude and well-being in Chinese young adults. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(6), 853-865. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2131606