I’ve a love/hate relationship with my journal—and I’m positive I’m not the one one. I’ve been maintaining with a diary intermittently since I used to be a tween as a manner to unleash the muddle from my mind and higher perceive myself and others. In some methods, I see my journal as a pal with whom I can share my objectives, fears, and typically seemingly empty ideas with out judgement. It helps me refocus and regroup, and holds up a mirror to my headspace, revealing what’s actually happening in my mind. But a number of the time, I’ve seen journaling as a tireless chore that led to no actual solutions. Plus, my journals doc an incriminating report of my deepest ideas and emotions, typically in sharpie. (No one wants to know who I had a crush on in 2003.) That was, till I found the magic of journal prompts.
Before journal prompts saved me from considering that journaling wasn’t for me, I had tried—and failed—to preserve a constant every day writing follow over time. I’d stress myself to fill a web page with one thing profound day by day, and as a substitute report patches right here and there between lengthy stretches of off-the-record present. But these instances I wasn’t journaling had been additionally the instances I felt probably the most estranged from myself. Times I used to be doing extra present than actually dwelling. I’m not the type of one who can course of my feelings in my head immediately, and oftentimes I’ve to get them out of me to perceive how I actually really feel.
Featured picture of Riley Reed by Jenn Rose Smith.

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53 Journal Prompts to Help You Discover a Greater Sense of Self
These days, as a substitute of seeing journaling as yet one more obligation for self-improvement, I see it’s a vital means to understanding myself. Plus, on this act of slowing down and being current, I’ve discovered that no thought or second is just too small to write down.
No matter what phrases fall onto the web page, journaling can reveal the continuing dialogue between your previous and current self, out of which higher consciousness emerges.
Whether you’re into journaling or not, the advantages are simple. Writing issues down day by day not solely preserves recollections to look again on, however leads to inspiration, self-discovery and stronger connections to ourselves and others. Even although being current with your self can typically be uncomfortable, journaling has been credited as the only most transformative ritual of so many profitable individuals. But constructing this every day behavior begins with letting go of your interior critic and expectations. When you’re getting out of your personal manner, typically it helps to begin with a immediate to get the ball rolling.
So preserve studying for 53 inspiring prompts—throughout classes like gratitude, values, and goal-setting—which can be designed to enable you get to the guts of what’s actually essential and true for you.

Gratitude Journal Prompts
- What are three nice issues that occurred yesterday?
- What are 10 issues that convey you pleasure?
- What are you trying ahead to proper now? If you may’t consider something, what are you able to do to change that?
- What is one totally-free factor that’s reworked your life?
- What issues in your life would you describe as priceless?
- What are 10 belongings you’re actively having fun with about life proper now?
- Write about probably the most enjoyable you had lately. What had been you doing and who had been you with?
- Write about an act of kindness that somebody did for you that took you unexpectedly.
- What are a few of your favourite methods to present the individuals in your life that you just love them?
- Reflect on a second of profound magnificence that you just lately skilled. What about it stunned you and drew you in?
- In this second, what are three issues in your life that you just really feel probably the most grateful for?
- Write 5 responsible pleasures you don’t really feel responsible about.
- In what methods have you ever felt supported by mates, household, otherwise you neighborhood lately?
- Name three wholesome habits you began inside the final yr which have modified your life for the higher.
Reflective Journal Prompts
- Name the top three emotions you are feeling at the moment. What are the emotions you want to feel today?
- What is the one thing you would tell your teenage self if you could?
- What is your body craving at the moment?
- What are 10 questions you wish you had the answers to right now?
- What do you know to be true today that you didn’t know a year ago?
- What are you scared of right now?
- What’s not working in your life right now?
- Write about someone you miss, what do you miss about them? How do they make you feel?
- Picture someone who you’ve experienced a conflict with in the past and try to drop into their perspective. What were they feeling at the time of your conflict? If it’s available to you, how can you express sympathy for their experience?
- What areas of your life are causing you stress? What areas of your life are bringing you joy?
- What would you describe as being the greatest accomplishment of your life so far?
- If someone was to describe your life story back to you, which three events would you want them to highlight the most?
Goal-Setting Journal Prompts
- What would your ideal day look like? Where would you be, what would you be doing, and who with?
- Describe your perfect home. Where is it, what does it look like, and who do you share it with?
- When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up and why?
- If failure wasn’t possible, what would you be doing right now?
- If you only had one year left of life, what would you do?
- In another life, who would you want to be? Write out this character, what they do for a living, their personality traits, etc.
- Reflect on your career and personal goals. Are there parallels and consistencies between the two? How do you keep these two areas of your life separate? How are they the same?
- If you could master one skill, what would it be?
- What are new ways you can measure progress this year?
- What is standing in your way of reaching your goals?
- Who are the people in your life you trust the most to help you create the life you’ve always dreamed of?
- What habits and actions can you incorporate into your daily routine to help you prioritize your time in 2023?
- What would it feel like to step out of your comfort zone? How can you step out of your comfort zone more this year?
Values-Based Journal Prompts
- What top three qualities do you value most in life?
- In what ways are you acting outside of those values?
- In what ways are you acting in alignment with them?
- What do you want to invite more of into 2023?
- What do you want to leave behind?
- What’s something you wish others knew about you?
- Who is someone you admire? What qualities do you love about them?
- Who is someone you envy and why?
- What distracts you from what’s truly important each day?
- If you decided right now that you had enough money, and that you would always have enough, what would you do with your life?
- When you picture yourself 10 years from now, what do you want to have achieved and experienced?
- How do you want to contribute your talents and passions to the world? Who could be touched by you and how would it affect them?
- What role does love play in your life?
- What does friendship mean to you?
This post was originally published on September 30, 2020 and has since been updated.