Using your journal to understand yourself better is a wonderful way to create your own unique style. To discover how you want to show up in the world each and every day. To know what you think
Knowing what you are thinking and then being able to deal with your thoughts is a great life skill to have.
Sometimes it might feel that we are at the mercy of our thoughts.
But the reality is we are designed to be in charge of what we choose to think.
If you think you don’t look as good as everyone else you can change it.
If you think you’re a hopeless dresser you can change it.
If you think you never have anything to wear you can change it.
If you think you have no style you can definitely change that thought. (And we can help you.)
If you wake up in a bad mood you can change it.
If you wake up feeling low you can change that.
If you wake up feeling amazing and loving the idea of today you can stay in that place too. Regardless of what comes your way during the day.
You can wake up and think ‘Baby, you’re going to look a million dollars today’ and knock today out of the ball park.
Or you can wake up and think how hard today is going to be, how awful you look, how dreadful you look in your clothes, how you can never find anything to wear.
Either thought is totally available to you.
Wardrobe Journaling and understanding yourself better
At Wardrobe Journaling we help you journal your way to understanding yourself better and as a result creating a unique style for yourself that is entirely yours. Our sister site, Working Frocks helps you dress better and addresses all the practical aspects of dressing well. So between the two sites we’ve got you covered!
To understand yourself better let’s look at why you might have negative thoughts.
The negativity bias
Negativity bias means that we, as humans, as women, give greater meaning to adverse effects rather than to positive effects.
We so often use the negativity bias against ourselves:
“Are you really going to wear that?”
“I’m such a failure.”
“I just can’t get it right.”
I expect you might recognise these thoughts? I think most women do until they consciously decided to think and feel differently.
Overcoming the negativity bias with prompts
One way to help you feel differently is to use prompts. Prompts can act like a guided journal and help you to uncover your thoughts, examine them and then decide whether you want to continue to think that thought or try out a new one that might suit you better.
We have created 5 prompts to help you get started and help you to journal, understand yourself better and uplevel your personal style. This gives you a flavour of the inner work we do in Wardrobe Journaling.
Using your journal as a method of self care
Using your journal to understand yourself better is a wonderful method of self care open to everyone. In our Wardrobe Journaling course we use journaling as the way to understand what clothes you like, what style you like, what you want to wear.
We help you to peel back the layers and understand how you really want to express yourself and sometimes the answers might surprise you! You may have had a classic, timeless style for the last ten years but your inner rock goddess is actually longing to be set free!
Wardrobe Journaling will help you get back to the fundamentals of who you are and how you want to be. So do check it out.
Using your journal prompts to understand yourself better
Back to the prompts. These prompts are centred around self acceptance and understanding yourself better particularly in relation to your relationship with your personal style and personal expression of your character.
Find a quiet place to work through the prompts outlines below and get your mind settled and calm before starting.
Prompt 1
Who chooses what you wear each day?
1. Your inner critic, or
2. Your inner cheerleader.
Whatever your answer, write a paragraph or two about why you chose this answer. For example, whether your answer is 1 or 2 can you identify why this might be the case? What events in your past have led to you choosing your clothes from a self-critical or a self-approving perspective?
Prompt 2
What clothes make you feel your happiest and most alive?
You can pick more than one outfit or item of clothing.
Write about why those clothes make you feel happy and alive. Is it the fabric, texture, colour, shape, style or a specific aspect of design? Is it the way the clothes sit on your body, hugging them, draping them or clinging to them? Or is it the memory of when you bought the item/s or what experiences you have had wearing them that brings you happiness?
Whatever it is, write it down.
Prompt 3
What story are you telling yourself that does not serve you?
What do you say to yourself that is critical? Or put another way, what do you say to yourself that, if you said it to anyone else would sound very rude?
Then ask yourself how you can turn that around? How can you rephrase what you say to yourself to be more compassionate?
Prompt 4
What types of clothes do you not wear because you think you don’t look good in them?
List them out.
Write next to them why you don’t wear them.
Then ask yourself, is this a really valid reason?
Or is it just your insecurity or negative bias towards yourself?
What would need to change to make you wear that item of clothing?
Is it something you have control over?
Would you be willing to change in order to wear it?
If you did change in some way in order to want to wear that item, who would you be? Would you have changed for the better?
Prompt 5
Imagine that you are in your happy place. Your happy place can be real or imaginary. You can have actually been to that place or your just know it is the most amazing place to go (one day).
What are you wearing? It doesn’t have to be clothes you already own in fact it’s better if you don’t own them. Let your imagination run freely and create an outfit for you that you would love to wear.
Journal about it and write about it in detail.
What would stop you from going and buying that outfit now and wearing it in the present? We call this future journaling – you are calling your future in.
Reflecting back on the prompts
How did you find those prompts?
Did you learn something new about yourself?
Did you learn something new about your style?
Are you playing too small, people pleasing, lurking in the background hoping noone will notice you?
But are you scared that you will go through life and never give yourself the chance to sing your own song?
If you would like to take these thoughts (and others!) further then check out the information below on our Wardrobe Journaling course, which might just be exactly what you need.
If you liked this blog post and would like to read more, you may also like to read:
Why is everyone else so well dressed?
How to adapt your style at each new stage of life and look amazing at each stage
Style journal prompts for your self-discovery journey
Finally, let me tell you a little bit about Wardrobe Journaling. It is the process I have created that helps you understand yourself better through journaling and through thinking about the clothes you wear and your own unique personality. There are lots of Wardrobe Journaling blog posts available on this site. There is also the entirely unique Wardrobe Journaling course. If you want to take a step further into your own self development and self care this is a great, gentle but powerful course to take.
Have a great day!
Sarah
