With just a little bit of time left in the year, it's important to reflect and
think about how we're going to grow and make an impact in the year to come!
Journaling is an excellent habit not only for top CEOs but for change makers
around the world. It can help you articulate your emotions and find focus.
So in this video I want to share 12 journaling prompts and ideas that'll
help you find focus and get centered to make an impact in 2020.
Welcome back! I'm Amber Melanie Smith and I make videos to help aspiring
changemakers with tips and strategies to help you change the world while living a
life of impact and purpose. I've been journaling for the past four years and
it has really really helped me get focused and get centered and really
think about my motives and what I really need for the time ahead. It has helped me
be creative and articulate my feelings, and sometimes just vent. Anybody has the
potential to make an impact in the world, but changemakers have to do a lot of
self-reflection and grow internally as they try to improve the world around
them. So today I wanted to share some journaling prompts that'll help you
think about how you can impact the world be grateful and grow as a person so that
you can make the biggest impact possible on the world around you. The first
journaling prompt question helps you use your imagination to picture an ideal
world and the question is this: What kind of world would you create if you could
create any world? This question is designed to help you articulate what
change you want to see in the world whether it is solving a particular issue
or just that you want to see a world that's more kind and it helps you kind
of think about that end vision so that you can walk it backwards, and then start
to process what would it actually take to achieve that vision to create a world
like that. So, not only is this a great tool for your imagination, but this
question is great for helping you plan your change making
strategy. The second journaling prompt is what are five - or some number of ways -that you can
use your unique skills or talents to help others? This question is all about
recognizing the fact that everybody has some special way that they can change
the world - so what's yours? are you a talented musician? do you like
to write? are you great at planning a party? what are your special skills and
your ideas on how you can use those things to help some other person or a
cause that you care about? The third journaling prompt question is if you
could change one thing in your city what would it be? The idea here is to think
back on things that you've observed or heard about in your city and hone in on
which ones of those are really bothering you the most that might motivate you to
go out and create change on that particular topic
the fourth journaling prompt is who was the last person you helped or made an
impact for and how did you help them and how did it make you feel? So it's kind of
a three-part question. This is about helping you intentionally think about
how you are impacting others and of course understanding your own feelings
when you're able to impact them in different ways
the fifth prompt deals with understanding your style in making an impact:
What is your change maker style? you know everybody is driven by different reasons
for helping others and making an impact and it's important to recognize how you
operate best because when you are in an environment or using the skills that you
want to use or helping in the way that makes you feel most alive, you are more
likely to continue it, and just thrive, and have an amazing time when you're out
there making a difference. So to think through what is your change maker style,
you want to be thinking through: do you like to lead change or help more from
behind the scenes? Do you like to use your professional skills or do you like
to do something completely unrelated to your skills? do you prefer helping by
yourself or do you need to be in a group of people when you're helping? questions
like this that will help you identify the way in which you are most satisfied
when you're out there making a difference. The sixth prompt is somewhat
related to the fifth and that is a fill-in-the-blank prompt - and it is I
feel most happy and fulfilled when I am helping people or making an impact in
the world by doing ____? You can think through past activities that you've done,
whether it's volunteering for something specific, or hanging out with certain
people and just making them feel better, or performing acts of kindness - what
makes you feel most fulfilled when you're out there helping people? the
seventh prompt is all about brainstorming some ideas for action:
what are 10 or some number of acts of kindness that you can perform in the
next month? The eighth journaling prompt is about getting
to the heart of what is in your way of creating a change - so it is what are the
questions that you have about the problems out there in the world that are
causing you confusion or frustration? I can see questions being about specific
issues or causes that you care about such as why haven't we ended
homelessness yet or what causes people to become bullies things that really get
deep into the heart of why we have some of the social problems that we have when
you ask yourself these questions and figure out what these questions are for
yourself you can start to think about the answers and motivate yourself to go
find those answers you might find in doing so that you are challenged to come
up with some unique solutions to the problems that you're discovering. The
ninth prompt is all about honoring your past and being grateful and that is who
are a couple people who have impacted your life in some major way and how did
they do it? and as a follow-up what influence did they have on your
motivation and desire to make a difference in the world? The 10th prompt
is all about improving yourself and that is who are the change makers out in the
world that you admire and why as a follow-up what are some of the traits
that you could aspire to emulate. The eleventh prompt is if you win the
lottery what social problem would you tackle or
what cause would you support? not only is this a really fun exercise but it also
helps you analyze what causes you care about and what you might do if money
were no object. And the 12th and final prompt that I have for you today is also
about helping you think about what causes Drive you most want to make a
difference and that is this question of when you're watching the news or looking
at the news on social media what things are making you the most upset and what
aspects of the news stories is it that's making you the most upset now I'd love
to hear from you what are some of the questions you have on your mind when you
journal and what other prompts and ideas do you have for other folks who are out
there trying to journal and reflect on all the things important to them and the
ways they can make an impact on the world thank you so much again for
watching once again my name is Amber Melanie Smith and don't forget to
subscribe because I make weekly videos on social impact nonprofits leadership
service and how to live a life of meaning and purpose so I hope to see you
again soon if you are on Facebook don't forget to join my facebook group, Change
the World or Bust! We are having some great conversations in there about
making an impact and I hope that you can join us thanks again and happy
journaling!