How journaling for business helped me scale

Every day, I try to do a handful of non-negotiables. Some of these are for business, and some are for keeping on top of all the household and care tasks since I’m full-time Momming outside of work.

I won’t get too much into these other things, because I know you’re here to learn about journaling for business, but here’s an overview to set the scene…

1. A bit of intentional work… I don’t have time to waste on squirrel brain these days, so every day I need to be super intentional about what I focus my attention and efforts on. To check myself, I revisit my personal goals and the business’ goals (nearly) daily.
2. Something for myself right now… Even if it’s a super busy day with not much time outside of work and Momming. That is often journaling, working out at home, or slipping out to the gym for an hour.
3. Something for my future self… That often looks like actively learning or working out. I’ll chip away at a course, read about something I’m interested in, or listen to a podcast because knowledge is something that compounds over time.
4. Something for the family + house… We have a lot to juggle around here! This might not seem like it’s business related, but I’m the type of person who can’t focus on work when the house is a mess, so I try to do at least 1 chore each day.

Let’s dig into the above non-negotiables that are related to business growth. Specifically, my journaling for business practice. I credit my business’ growth to doing these things daily, and reflecting in my journal nearly every day for years now. I have a pile of old journals filled with my thoughts, dreams, wrong turns, and lessons learned.

My daily journaling practice

I journal (almost) daily. It’s a non-negotiable in my schedule, and while it was definitely a challenge in the earlier days of mamahood (hard to write when the baby won’t let you put him down), I’m getting back to this habit now. He needs me a little less every day, so I get anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to journal lately.

Before becoming a mom, I could journal a lot more—journaling for business growth was a must-have part of my morning routine before starting my day.

My best advice if you’re new to journaling in general: Whatever your situation looks like now, just start with what you have. Whatever time you have is better than nothing, and if you dedicate that space to journaling for business, you will notice a difference. 

Journaling for business: The impact of reflection

I’ve been running this business for years now, the last few of which have been amazing and “successful” by all standard definitions of the term. But I’m not done yet—there’s more to come from here. Still nailing down those details because if I’ve learned anything, it’s that the possibilities are literally endless.

One exercise I added to my practice of journaling for business: Checking in on what I want and WHO I am in order to continue growing forward.

What I already know: I have big goals for this business this year…

✨ Develop the team further and continue to grow together.

✨ Focus even more on marketing for The Biz Bar.

✨ Refine an offer that helps people who are stuck where I was a few years ago.

✨ Explore other business opportunities that would compliment this established one nicely (because the multi-passionate entrepreneur in me!).

✨ Help clients grow their businesses too, so they can dream up their next moves.

And even bigger goals for myself personally…

✨ Recommit to more challenging workouts now that my strength is (finally) returning to pre-baby normal. I’d love to end the year the strongest I’ve ever been. Making slow, but steady progress.

✨ Start reading daily again. Audiobooks definitely count. Have already made progress here too!

✨ Maintain space for daily play, both with the little dude/my family, and for myself. Maybe even create for the pure fun of it more often.

✨ Discover who I am as a thirty-something mama, business owner, etc. And learn what my identity is beyond these role-based labels. Oof—who feels me on this one?

If you know me, you know that the above lists aren’t comprehensive either. There’s more, but I won’t bore you with those details.

Sooo… There’s obviously a lot of work to be done. Which brings me back to the exercise I’ve been incorporating into my journaling.

Every day, beyond my usual free flow (ahem—word vomit), I write the answer to the following 3 questions:

1. What did I do today that I want MORE of?
2. What did I do today that I want LESS of?
3. What did I learn about myself today?

Full transparency: I didn’t come up with these questions. I heard them on a podcast at some point, but don’t remember which one.

So far, I don’t have many answers. But I’m confident that they’ll come with time, and the goal is to revisit my notes in a month or 2. Hopefully I’ll see some trends by then.

This daily task has given me more insight into what I want for my future, and has helped push me closer to my goals at every step. My advice? Add journaling for business to your daily routine and watch yourself grow.

Journaling for business: Revisit personal and business goals

An important part of journaling for business versus just free journaling is the practice of revisiting the goals that you set for yourself. If they’re top of mind, they’re more likely to happen.

I revisit the bigger picture weekly. It’s how I make sure that I’m staying on track despite how busy things get. I often refer to these daily, but at the very least I check into ClickUp to see what’s on the list for today and what’s coming up next to see if my actions are in alignment with my goals.

If you want to learn more about how I set goals, I filmed a video that you can watch here.

Other questions to ask yourself when journaling for business

Journaling for business can feel daunting if you’re new to this. Where do you start? The above suggestions are a good place, but you can also ask yourself other questions. Use the following as prompts for your next journaling session.

Questions to ask yourself when journaling for business:

✨ Where do I see myself in 5 years? What does it feel like at that moment?

✨ What does success look like to me? What’s currently holding me back from achieving this?

✨ What small shift can I make TODAY that will get me closer to my definition of success?

Steal my daily schedule as a 6-figure business owner

If you like this and want to get some more routine and calendar inspo, you can steal my exact schedule. The 6-Figure Schedule is a free download that walks you through my day-to-day routines, how and when I get everything done. It includes my monthly, weekly, and daily to-dos, the job description I use to keep myself on track, and the journaling reflection questions I asked myself to grow and scale my business. You can grab it here.