Going Deep with U Journaling
U Journaling is a guided process that leads the participants through a deep and reflecting process.
I’m a big fan of journalling as it is such a powerful way to get the ideas, fears and confusing wish mash of thoughts out of my head and into the world. It is therapeutic, but also incredibly useful. Seeing something written down can help create clarity and often spark new tangents and realisations.
I first came across U Journaling while doing the introduction to Theory U online course last year and was amazed at how thought provoking and emotionally deep the practice can go. The time limit between questions really limits the amount of thought you can put into each answer, so very soon you realise the answers that come out here are the coming from a more fundamental place beyond thought.
Journaling means that you think through the writing not to think and reflect, and then write up the reflection. With the instruction emphasize that participants want to just start writing and see what emerges — Theory U website
Try It Yourself
There are different ways to approach the U Journal. The first time I did it I read the questions and then wrote out the answers in my own time. The next time I had someone read out the questions. I found this process beneficial as it helped keep the pace up and stopped my mind taking over and overthinking the answer. This way I felt I was able to get a more honest set of reflections.
So because I’m a massive nerd, I decided to record myself saying the questions (and then divide it up with the necessary pauses between questions) so I can repeat the process when I am by myself and don’t have the luxury of having someone keep the pace for me. I originally made the recording for myself, but decided to share it here so other people can make use of it if they so wish.
I won’t describe the process here — you can find a concise set of principles and instructions of the Presencing Institute’s website
My U Journaling Practice — 21/3/2017
Below are the results of a U Journaling session I did during the School of System Change led by Anna Birney. I’ve just typed up the results as they were when I did it in written form, without changing it (minus a few spelling mistakes!).
Reading it back is quite eye opening, and a little uneasy. The process really seems to stop me from hiding behind false walls, and really open up to some unsettling realisations about myself.
1. Challenges: Look at yourself from outside as if you were another person: What are the 3 or 4 most important challenges or tasks that your life (work and non-work) currently presents?
Working in isolation has been a big challenge — how do I find an organisation / group of people to work with and add my skills to as a part of a larger whole?
2. Self: Write down 3 or 4 important facts about yourself. What are the important accomplishments you have achieved or competencies you have developed in your life (examples: raising children; finishing your education; being a good listener)?
I learned how to speak Mandarin, experienced living in multiple countries, started working as a freelancer.
3. Emerging Self: What 3 or 4 important aspirations, areas of interest, or undeveloped talents would you like to place more focus on in your future journey (examples: writing a novel or poems; starting a social movement; taking your current work to a new level)?
Co-creating, working with people, helping people reach potential, being able to let go and be comfortable in uncertainty.
4. Frustration: What about your current work and/or personal life frustrates you the most?
A feeling that I’m not at full capacity and working to my complete potential. Feeling overwhelmed and stuck.
5. Energy: What are your most vital sources of energy? What do you love?
A learning environment, sitting on the beach meditating, the feeling I get after having been on a run along the cliffs in Brighton, holding the space for meaningful conversations.
6. Inner resistance: What is holding you back? Describe 2 or 3 recent situations (in your work or personal life) when you noticed one of the following three voices kicking in, preventing you from exploring the situation you were in more deeply:
Voice of Judgment: shutting down your open mind (downloading instead of inquiring)
Voice of Cynicism: shutting down your open heart (disconnecting instead of relating)
Voice of Fear: shutting down your open will (holding on to the past or the present instead of letting go)
The idea that I’m not good enough/ not experienced enough -> Holding me back from progress
The desire to be somewhere else rather than enjoying the present (both physically and mentally)
A fear of pretending to be someone I’m not — and not always being confident enough to ask for payment to the value that i feel I’ve added.
7. The crack: Over the past couple of days and weeks, what new aspects of your Self have you noticed? What new questions and themes are occurring to you now?
Realising that it is okay to ask for help and to not know the answers. That it is the journey (process) that is important and not the destination. Realising how important it is to create space. How do you do this…?
8. Your community: Who makes up your community, and what are their highest hopes in regard to your future journey? Choose three people with different perspectives on your life and explore their hopes for your future (examples: your family; your friends; a parentless child on the street with no access to food, shelter, safety, or education). What might you hope for if you were in their shoes and looking at your life through their eyes?
That I could be okay with myself and what I’m doing — to really believe in myself.
To embrace myself and be confident in my value.
9. Helicopter: Watch yourself from above (as if in a helicopter). What are you doing? What are you trying to do in this stage of your professional and personal journey?
Walking around in zig-zags and circles — being on the periphery of lots of things, but not yet having rally taken the plunge off the cliff of uncertainty. I’m still being controlled by fear too much.
10. Imagine you could fast-forward to the very last moments of your life, when it is time for you to pass on. Now look back on your life’s journey as a whole. What would you want to see at that moment? What footprint do you want to leave behind on the planet? What would you want to be remembered for by the people who live on after you?
As having had a positive impact on the communities I’ve been involved in (or helped to build). I hope that I could gave had the opportunity to understand multiple perspectives and help bridge gaps to improve the societies we live in.
11. From that (future) place, look back at your current situation as if you were looking at a different person. Now try to help that other person from the viewpoint of your highest future Self. What advice would you give? Feel and sense what the advice is and then write it down.
Believe in yourself and don’t worry about what other people may be saying or thinking. It is better (necessary) to try and fail, than to live your life by someone else’s values.
12. Now return again to the present and crystallize what it is that you want to create: your vision and intention for the next 3–5 years. What vision and intention do you have for yourself and your work? What are some essential core elements of the future that you want to create in your personal, professional, and social life? Describe as concretely as possible the images and elements that occur to you.
I will continue learning bout myself (through experience and living — not just books!) I will let go an work with what emerges. I will keep on developing new skills to compliment my current ones.
13. Letting-go: What would you have to let go of in order to bring your vision into reality? What is the old stuff that must die? What is the old skin (behaviours, thought processes, etc.) that you need to shed?
I need to let go of the things that torment me inside my head. To stop dwelling on fears from the past and future. I invite myself to let go of my prejudices and hold my briefly lightly.
14. Seeds: What in your current life or context provides the seeds for the future that you want to create? Where do you see your future beginning?
I think the seeds are sown right now — I’ve been on a journey into myself over the past few years. I’d like to water the seeds of collaboration and grow with others.
15. Prototyping: Over the next three months, if you were to prototype a microcosm of the future in which you could discover “the new” by doing something, what would that prototype look like?
Working with other people — creating ‘Art of Hosting’ type experiences with others — groups/organisations. To begin living what I believe.
16. People: Who can help you make your highest future possibilities a reality? Who might be your core helpers and partners?
My friends (especially the Brighton ones). Family. The Art of Hosting team and AoH Brighton Community. Forum for the Future and the ongoing connections through the School of System Change. Myself.
17. Action: If you were to take on the project of bringing your intention into reality, what practical first steps would you take over the next 3 to 4 days?
To start new conversations with people and get the ideas/hopes/fears out into the open. To open source a solution with others I think may be interested. To create some time and space for myself to reflect.
I highly recommend giving U Journaling a go yourself. You can find a full list of questions and instructions here.
