The Bess | Mental Health Journal | Designer Coil Series | Blackout

Now available in Blackout style!

Do you find yourself treating others with kindness but speaking to yourself like dirt? Do you ever feel disconnected from your thoughts or like you can't control them? Does the world ever feel heavy or too much to handle? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I want to introduce you to my guided daily journaling practice that I know will help you in all of the above areas.

I started this daily journaling practice at the end of 2021 and have been tweaking my set up along the way into something that I think is incredibly powerful and has the ability to change lives. I know I am hyping this up a lot, but it's only because of how strongly I believe in this process.

This journal provides you with 100 opportunities to check in with yourself. Each day you journal, you'll be prompted to write down something(s) that you are proud of, something(s) that you are grateful for, an area you want to work on and a letter directly to yourself. Focusing on these areas is going to help you shift out of auto-pilot mode and back into the drivers seat of your thoughts.

Proud of... Growing up we are constantly showered with words of praise and affirmation as we meet various milestones, learn new skills and go to school. But as you age into adulthood there are very few opportunities for someone to tell you they're proud of you. It's time to start saying it to yourself instead. Did you make that call you've been dreading all week? Great job. Did you show up for 15 minutes of walking on your lunch break? Phenomenal. You do hard things all day long, take accountability for it each day and you'll quickly see how good it feels to recognize you.

Grateful for... Life is full of darkness, and sometimes it can feel like that's all that is there. Taking time to acknowledge some of the good things in life can shift your mindset, even if its just for a moment. From big things to tiny moments, writing down the things that keep you smiling has a profound impact. Gratitude journaling has been scientifically proven to decrease stress and improve sleep, so if nothing else, try it for some easy zz's when you go to bed. 

Dear Me... Try to imagine a good friend coming to you with all of the same problems that you have. What would you say to that friend to comfort them? Do you have any advice to share or is now a time to fully acknowledge their feelings? Write those things down for yourself. Talk directly to you, for you. Tell yourself exactly what you need to hear. And keep in mind, you don't have to solve the problem to feel better about it. Sometimes just getting the thoughts out of your head and onto the page is enough to release the emotion your holding along with it. 

Working on... Inevitably, after all the other prompts are filled in, there will be something that stands out as needing your focus and attention. Call this area out as something you'd like to work on and your brain will begin to find opportunities for you to practice. 

This daily journaling practice is split up into groups of ten to help you keep track of how far you've come. Every ten days are divided with a dot grid spread that is perfect for diving deeper into one of the themes you see coming up a lot in your journal.  At the 50 and 100 day mark there are extra opportunities for you to reflect on what you've written. Additionally at the start of this journal there are some prompted pages for you fill in, these will help you on days where you don't have much to write down.

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PLEASE NOTE: 

This listing is for a 100 day journaling notebook. It is predesigned and not customizable. If you would like to create your own custom coil design, check out my Custom Coil Upgrade page!

The Bess Mental Health Journal includes 100 undated daily journaling pages in addition to 50 dot grid pages for a total page count of 152 pages. 

Mockup photo shows a B6 coil planner. Cover pattern placement and text size may vary slightly based on the size of the planner you select.

Coils are constructed of nylon coated steel, making them sturdier, stronger and heavier than plastic coils. Covers are protected with a crystal-clear photo quality 10mm laminate cover. Combined with excellent quality, 140 gsm (roughly 38lb) black paper. Unlike any other paper I've found, it features a nice, smooth surface with a slight drag as you run your pen across it. It makes for a wonderful feel when used with any white or light color inked pen. 

All inserts are cut, punched and bound by hand with love. This means binding and holes may not align exactly from one notebook to the next. You will not notice such small variance once inserts are placed your planner.