Journal prompts are an essential part of journal writing: Journal prompts provide quick sources of inspiration on what to write about for each journal entry you want to start.
For this blog post, I have brainstormed 100 journal prompt ideas for self discovery for anyone looking to start a journal and need that extra inspiration to keep it going.
Journaling is great way of growing a deeper connection and sense of awareness with yourself and how you react to the world around you.
I know for sure that much of who I am now has developed through journaling – And I want to help as many people out there get into journaling for that reason… Because journaling can be hard to keep up with when you don’t know what to write about each day.
I hope that this list of journal prompts for self discovery make it easier for anyone looking to start a journal as a form of self care.
Journal Prompts For Self Discovery
1. Who am I?: Start with “I am _.” Fill that blank with as many words describing yourself as you can. Start off with the obvious, but then try to go as far as you can with this… get creative or get a little crazy – But it’s when you dig deeper that you’ll become aware of all the little things that make up who you are.
2. What is most important to me?
3. Am I happy? What is happiness to me?
4. What are 15 things I love about myself?
5. Write a letter to the younger you.
6. What’s has been bothering me recently?: You journal certainly doesn’t have to be filled with only the positives. If something has been bothering you, write about it; But make sure to also write about how and why this is affecting you. Try to understand your emotions. And most of all, try to find solutions or ways to cope with these problems.
7. Write down a list of short-term goals and long-term goals.
8. What are my most favorite things to do?
9. Write a list of favorite quotes here.
10. What are ten things in my life right now that make me happy?
11. What is something I’ve always wanted to do?
12. Write a letter to an older you.
13. What am I afraid of?
14. How can I be a calmer person?
15. Where do I want to be in 5 years?
16. What is my dream job? How can I get there?
17. What worries me? How can I cope or solve my worries?
18. Write down the definition of beauty in your own words: What is beautiful about life? Do I find myself beautiful? Why or why not?
19. What do I dislike?
20. Write the lyrics of a favorite song.
21. What is the meaning of love? How can I be a more loving person to others and to myself?
22. Is there someone I want to apologize to?
23. What is the meaning of life?
24. Am I simply reacting to life instead of taking my own initiative over life?
25. What is a habit I want to change?
26. What is a new habit I want to adopt into my life?
27. Am I taking care of myself enough? What can I be doing more for self care?
28. What makes me sad?
29. Who are my role models? What about them to I admire?
30. What are some things I can do now that I couldn’t do before?
31. What is a secret I should confess?
32. What do I love to do for fun?
33. What is the most dominant emotion in my life right now? Why is this so?
34. What are my most favorite (movie or book) characters? What is it about them that I love?
35. What are my pet peeves?
36. What are my favorite foods?
37. Is there something or someone I need to forgive in life? Am I forgiving myself enough?: Many of us hold onto pain for way to long and need to just forgive and let go. What is something in your life that you find painful holding onto and who do you need to forgive to let it go? It may be another person, but oftentimes, it can be ourselves.
38. What is my favorite childhood memory?
39. What is something new I want to learn?
40. Is there something I am procrastinating on in life? What should I be doing now?
41. Write a poem you love.
42. What is my ideal world/life like?
43. What makes me unique?
44. Am I waiting for something in life?
45. What are the traits of a good person?: Do I exemplify these traits and if not, how can I become a better person?
46. What is my top priority in life right now?
47. Do I care too much about what others think of me?
48. What makes me feel truly alive?
49. What do I need more of in my life?
50. What are my strengths?
51. What is something amazing that has happened to me this past week?
52. What do I believe to be true?
53. What are my most favorite feelings? What things make these feelings arise?
54. What am I good at?
55. What am I not good at? How can I get better at these things?
56. Am I being my true self?
57. Am I self-disciplined? How can I motivate myself more to accomplish the things I want to do?
58. Describe your dream setting: It can be a real place or fictional.
59. Are there ways in which I am causing pain to myself? (Physically, mentally, or emotionally): What steps can I take to lessen the amount of unnecessary pain in my life?
60. Am I exploring and experimenting enough in my life? How can I be more adventurous and try something new?
61. What do I think/believe about other people? Is this a healthy, loving perspective to have?
62. What are ten ways in which I am the same as everyone else?
63. What do I want more of in my life?
64. What was it like having my first crush? What did I learn from it?
65. How do I feel about silence?
66. Describe a perfect day.
67. When is my most productive time of day? How can I utilize this time better?
68. How can I organize my tasks/space?
69. What is a recent failure or mistake I have made? What have I learned from it?
70. What is something about myself that I keep in and never let others know about?
71. Are the thoughts I have throughout the day positive or negative?: If you have more negative thoughts throughout the day than positive thoughts, stop them in their tracks. Be aware that you are having these thoughts and find the positive in it all. Write out the trail of where your thoughts go in your journal. This exercise is a great way of developing your self-awareness.
72. What are ten insecurities I have about myself?
73. Write a list of self-affirmations to regularly remind yourself of.
74. Is there something I want to do that I think is impossible? How can I overcome my perception of impossibility?
75. What are my hobbies? What is it about my hobbies that I enjoy?
76. Do I compare myself to others? How can I stop doing this?
77. Write about your day.
78. What do I promise myself?
79. Write a list of things you want to have/buy and why.
80. What is my life purpose/goal?
81. Do I like change? Do I adapt well to change?
82. What are my personality traits? What is my MBTI personality type?: If you don’t know you personality type, take this Free Personality Test from 16personalities.
83. Do I eat healthy and exercise enough? How can I adopt a more healthy lifestyle?
84. Do I feel comfortable in my own skin? Why?
85. How can I become more comfortable with the uncomfortable?
86. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
87. How have I changed in the last 5 years?
88. What is family to you?: Write about your family.
89. What is something funny that I’ve experienced recently?
90. What is something that I have learned recently?
91. How can I help others?
92. What causes stress or anxiety in my life?
93. In what ways do I care for others? How can I be a more empathetic person?
94. Do I base my decisions on love or fear?: Think of a choice you have made recently. Was it directed by love or fear? How can you start making more decisions from now on based on love instead of fear?
95. What are some of the little things that bring me great joy?
96. Where do I want to travel to one day?
97. Do I focus on the present moment enough?
98. Try a stream-of-consciousness journaling session: Write everything that comes to mind, whether it makes sense or not. Write your random thoughts out. Read more about stream-of-consciousness writing here in my blog post.
99. What is something I want to do tomorrow?
100. What kind of person do I want to be in the future?
I hope you enjoyed this list of journal prompts for self discovery.
It can be hard sometimes to keep up with a journal, especially on days when you don’t know what to write about, so I hope this list can help guide you in the right direction.
Remember, there is no wrong way to journal: Journaling is great way of discovering gems in yourself that you never knew were there before.
It’s all about taking the time to sit down and let your own thoughts play out because it’s something we rarely make time for these days.
In fact, many of us spend all of our time reacting to the world rather than creating from within ourselves – And I think it’s something we all need to experience more of… that there is always more to ourselves than we believe.
Read my Related Blog Posts:
100 Life Lessons I’ve Learned at 24 Years Old
34 Things to Do When Sad
100 Questions To Ask Yourself for Self Growth
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Is there a journal prompt of your own you’d like to share? Leave it in the comment section to share with our little community here!
This is absolute GOLD! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m sure these questions are going to teach me something about myself
Thank you so much for your comment <3 Enjoy ^^