The 7-Day Challenge That Changed My Life (You Can Do It Too!)

Ready to change your life with a simple 15-minute habit? 🌟 Join me on a 7-day illustrated journaling challenge! Grab a pen, a sketchbook, and let's capture life's moments through words and drawings. No art skills required!

👉 Prompts:
1. Breakfast
2. Outfit
3. Book/Music
4. Pet
5. Place I visited
6. Quiet moment
7. Bedtime

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00:00 Introduction to Life-Changing Habit
00:16 What is Illustrated Journaling?
01:06 Benefits of Illustrated Journaling
02:39 Materials Needed to Start
03:26 Seven-Day Illustrated Journaling Challenge
03:59 Day 1: Sketch Your Breakfast
04:25 Day 2: Outfit of the Day
04:49 Day 3: Favorite Book or Music
05:20 Day 4: Sketch Your Pet
05:55 Day 5: A Place You Visited
06:25 Day 6: A Quiet Moment
07:00 Day 7: Drawing in Bed
07:35 Conclusion and Encouragement

[pesto]

Your "non-perfect" art is my masterpiece!

[margaretpolly]

I've spent a lot of time the past week sitting by my daughter, who was in the hospital. I began to draw her bed, the cords, the monitor, all those things that reminded me of the miracle of her healing. Drawing helped me stay calm and dwell in gratitude, not worry.

[julesjma]

"Simple"? Your art is INCREDIBLE!

[elizabethwareing]

One thing I’ve noticed since committing to doing something ‘arty’ daily is what difference it’s making to lifting my mood and energising me!

[TheCoissac]

As a guy in his early twenties struggling to make sense of himself, exercises like this are so life-affirming - thank you for sharing - the world's a better place with this video

[thebardo]

03:59 Day 1: Sketch Your Breakfast
04:25 Day 2: Outfit of the Day
04:49 Day 3: Favorite Book or Music
05:20 Day 4: Sketch Your Pet
05:55 Day 5: A Place You Visited
06:25 Day 6: A Quiet Moment
07:00 Day 7: Drawing in Bed
07:35 Conclusion and Encouragement

[nancydb]

About two months ago I started picking out one Bible verse a day and illustrating it in a journal. It's not fancy but it is highly meaningful to me. I enjoy looking back and it motivates me to continue.

[arpanjoshi]

In the digital world where people think AI would take over the art I find your channel very comforting to watch! The traditional art is much more expressive in this regard.

Keep up the good work!!!

[dajeongko]

hi, I live in Korea and I’ve read your book ‘every day matters’ all most 20years ago. my dad told me even just your book title is worth to buy. I’m so glad to find you on youtube. 😊

[zetazeta]

0:35 Well that looks like perfect art to me ❤️

[babs]

Totally agree. I am 82 years old and am on my 7th illustrated journal. Love trying out different media as well as jotting down my poems and or thoughts. It’s been a great way to take up bad weather, and otherwise empty days and to improve my art. ❤

[BookishRenee]

I would love to do an illustrated journal. But, I get stressed out because the simple picture in my head does not come out on paper like I want it to, not even close. It doesn't have to be good... but it should be good enough to make myself happy... and my drawings never are. But I really love this idea and have tried it over and over many times. Your journal is beautiful.

[aubreypost]

for whoever finds this journal in the future, it is a goldmine for understanding how people lived everyday in the past

[absolute-urazz]

my therapist had me do this when I was 7 (after a traumatic life experience) I couldnt verbalize everything that happened to me. So she had me draw it out. This helped me immensely ...

thank you for bringing me back to this

[samreevesartist]

This is genius! I tried it today and ended up creating three paintings. That's a record for me. Thank you.

[maryammohamed]

Day 1: Breakfast: Sketch your breakfast and jot down your thoughts.
Day 2: Outfit: Draw and describe your outfit of the day, including details and feelings about the clothing.
Day 3: Book or Music: Draw a book cover or express a piece of music through abstract patterns inspired by the music.
Day 4: Pet or joyful thing: Capture your pet or any object that brings joy, focusing on essence rather than perfection.
Day 5: Place: Draw a place you visited, focusing on personal experiences and feelings.
Day 6: Quiet moment: Capture a peaceful moment, whether it’s tea, sunset, or relaxation, with a simple drawing.
Day 7: In Bed: Draw in bed at the end of the day, reflecting on the week, how the journaling practice impacted you, and how to continue.

I'm a therapist and these are additional random tips from me:

-Drawing or writing with the left hand can stimulate the right hemisphere to potentially enhance creativity and emotional access and processing especially if you're right-handed and especially if you suppress emotions (Individual experiences may vary). The novelty of using a non-dominant hand can also ease some perfectionism and unlock playfulness which can unlock emotions.
-If you struggle with forming habits, stack the task with something you already always do (ex: taking 5 mins in the car before driving home from work)
-If you struggle with perfectionism, try these:
-> Set a timer and/or draw a shape to draw inside (creating a container to fight against overwhelm)
->Focus on making something as UGLY as you can and then take in that you were successful at doing that (rewires your neurons to redefine 'success' and releases dopamine to pavlov yourself into continuing)
->Focus on QUANtity not QUALity using a mental image like thinking you're a cheap clothes factory, not an artisan tailor (shifts mental goal post, redirects from the pressure of Quality)
->Use ONE tool only (predictability, consistency, familiarity, and clarity are all comforting and containing)
->If you have an erase board, you can start with that (erasing evidence could help make things low stakes at the beginning especially if you have trauma from people judging your work)

[arthmental]

you know what this video is one of the best things that happened to me in 3 years. I have been trying to improve my drawing for 3 years to get into art school but still couldn't get any results. I turned 21 this month and I felt like it was too late. I know it's not like that but I don't know I can't stop thinking about it. ANYWAY. I haven't even felt like drawing a little flower for 2 months but this video... this video... I don't even know why I gave all this useless information I just want to thank you so much. Today I bought myself a sketchbook that I liked and I drew something for the first time in a looong time. This means a lot to me. I am so grateful to you for this video. Thank you...

[cartr]

I used to do art a lot before entering college, I lost my passion for it because I was drowning in Essay assignments. It's been 5 years since I last drew anything (apart from sketches, so using this method may help me finally get my spark back. It's very sad that my most loved passion just faded away over time like that... I really hope one day that I can call myself an artist again. Thanks for the video

[amy_lialee]

3:03
"It's about the process of doing this rather than the result of creating something amazing."

Learned something valuable today because of you! 😁
Thank you!

[johndoe-rqpu]

"it's whatever you think mattered about today." Oh good, It's already done.