Growing up, I was an avid journaler (that’s a thing, right?!). I loved being able to put pen to paper and write anything and everything as I transitioned through various stages of life. Unfortunately, it had been years since I had journaled, and I genuinely missed it. Let’s say law school left little time for self-care.

I heard about The Five Minute Journal on several occasions over the last few years. I was curious to see what the craze was all about, but I kept forgetting to pull the trigger. Then, one day I stumbled upon a copy at an Urban Outfitters in Chicago. I took it as a sign and committed to focusing on daily gratitude consciously.

After using it for just a month, I was hooked and committed to the entire Intelligent Change product line, but I’ll tell you more about that later.

The Five Minute Journal is one of the best ways I have found to practice gratitude and, more importantly, to maintain a positive mindset. I am definitely someone who can sometimes focus on the one thing that didn’t go as planned during the day. But, this Journal has helped me realize I shouldn’t judge an entire day by a bad moment or unfortunate moment.

The Journal is gorgeous, minimalistic, and has a very aesthetically pleasing design. Intelligent Change intentionally created a simplistic design to be able to market The Five Minute Journal as “a journal for people who don’t write in journals.”

The Journal is broken up into two parts: a section for the morning and one for the evening.

Format of the pages:

The idea is to set the tone for the day. How can you welcome the morning before you from a place of gratitude? What would make your day great? How can you encourage, uplift, and inspire yourself? This Journal is a beautiful way to prevent yourself from “dreading” the mornings. Of course, there will be mornings when you wake up, and you’re tired, but The Five Minute Journal encourages you to find gratitude in any way, big or small. Let’s start with the fact that you woke up that morning.

The second half of the Journal is reserved for you to have the opportunity to reflect on the evening. You’re prompted to name three things that happened that day. They can be positive or negative. Be honest, though, because the book is meant to help you come from a place of gratitude. You can’t see the changes you need to make when you look back at the week if you’re not transparent. After, you have the opportunity to think about what YOU, yes, YOU, not other people, could have done to make today even better. This question screams accountability, and I’m 100% here for it.

As mentioned above, I look back at the previous seven entries at the end of the week (usually Friday or Sunday). How did I do this week? Were there opportunities to show more gratitude? Was I kind to myself? Was I kind to others? Being able to reflect is one of the most beautiful guided principles of this book.

With consistent daily use, The Five Minute Journal will last six months. I, for one, can say I feel like my relationships have improved, I’ve focused on all the blessings in my life, and my overall well-being feels healthy.

My success with using The Five Minute Journal prompted me to look at the other products Intelligent Change offers. So far, I’ve purchased The Best Year Journal and The Productivity Planner, and they didn’t disappoint.

If you or someone you know would benefit from using The Five Minute Journal, I encourage you to move forward and purchase. It was by far the best self-help and self-love purchase of 2021.

Linking it here:

The Five Minute Journal
The Best Year Journal
The Productivity Journal