31 Journaling Prompts for Self Discovery

Journaling for Self Discovery

Personal development is an ongoing journey. You should constantly be setting meaningful, manageable goals to improve yourself.

There are many ways to help in your personal development journey. One way to provide yourself support and to recognize areas you want to develop is to journal.

Journaling is an activity that’s unique to each individual. For some, journaling is a documentation of the daily activities of life. For others, it’s about feelings and emotions – documenting the highs and lows of life.

Others still may use journaling to make notes about the future. You can write down dreams and goals that you have and action steps to get there. Or you can do a combination of all these objectives.

The idea of journaling for personal development is to document your thoughts and feelings by writing it down. This simple idea has many benefits that can help you in your journey for self improvement and self discovery.

Benefits of Journaling for Self Discovery

Several studies have shown that journaling can have positive effects on mental and physical health.

Some of these benefits include:

• Releasing anxiety and stress
• Managing negative thoughts
• Decreasing symptoms of certain health conditions
• Improving cognitive function and memory
• Enhancing creativity
• Gaining perspective on situations and problem solving
• Promoting self-discovery

While specific benefits may differ for everyone, you should experience some benefits in journaling based on your personal expectations and application of journal writing.

31 Journal Prompts for Self Discovery

1. Name a role model or mentor in your life. What are three qualities that stand out to you that you would like to incorporate into your life?
2. Describe your favorite thing about your career? What is one thing you would like to change?
3. What is your favorite guilty pleasure and why?
4. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
5. What is one thing you fear and why? What have you done to diminish this fear?
6. Name one thing that you are most proud of accomplishing this month. What actions did you take to accomplish this?
7. Write down some of your favorite blogs and why you like them. How do you use them to learn and grow?
8. Name a book that you remember reading in high school and why it still stands out to you today.
9. Write down a list of 10 things you would do if you could quit your job tomorrow. Does this list show the things you are most passionate about?
10. Name a personal belief or perspective that has changed for you since college. Can you describe why you’ve changed (i.e. learning other perspectives, reading certain books, watching a specific documentary, meeting someone new, etc)?
11. Describe your best friend and the qualities you admire most about them. How are you two the same? How are you different?
12. Name a time when you acted with courage. Describe the situation and how you felt.
13. Looking back to how you envisioned your life in high school, do you think your teenage self would be proud of the person you’ve become?
14. Do you feel you had to give up certain dreams to accomplish others? What dreams did you leave behind and why? Would you go after them again some day?
15. Describe your dream job. Is the job you’re in now getting you to where you want to be? What steps can you take to develop yourself to get your dream job?
16. What is your favorite inspirational quote? Now write down action steps to apply this advice to your daily life.
17. Name something you’ve accomplished that you wouldn’t have thought you’d accomplish at this point in your life. What steps did you take to conquer this goal?
18. Think of a time when you’ve failed. What was the most important lesson you learned from this failure?
19. Write down some bad habits that you want to change. What changes can you make to turn these habits around?
20. What are your greatest strengths? How do you use these strengths to help others?
21. How do you prefer to receive compliments? Written, oral, in front of a crowd, etc?
22. Name a time when you felt you accomplished something big, but didn’t receive any recognition. How did it make you feel? What did you do?
23. Talk about your self-care habits. What do you currently do and what would you like to add to your self-care routine?
24. Write down your life mission. What actions are you currently taking to accomplish this mission? What do you need to do differently?
25. If you were to ask someone else to describe you, what do you think they would say?
26. Write a list of your favorite books or movies. Describe what you like most about these books or movies.
27. Define personal development. What action steps are you taking to obtain personal growth?
28. What does love mean to you? How do you show love and how do you prefer to receive love?
29. If someone random were to read your journal, what would you most want them to know about you? What is something that you would NOT want them to know about you?
30. Think of something that has been bothering you. If you were able to let go of it, how would your life improve?
31. Describe five things in your life that you are most grateful for. Why are you grateful for these things?

Simple Actions Steps for Beginning Journaling

Make time for your journaling

Whether you prefer first thing in the morning, after your coffee, during your lunch hour or before bed, find a time that works for you.

Try to find a time when your brain activity is high and you have motivation to commit to at least fifteen to twenty minutes of writing. Set a timer to help you track the time or schedule time on your calendar if that will force you to commit.

Find the right tools

Are you a pen and paper type person? Do you prefer a lined notebook or a inspirational journal specific for the purpose?

You could also try typing your journal if you prefer using Word or Google Docs. Find the right medium for you and invest in the tools that will help you stay motivated.

Make it a habit

Like anything you want to commit to, you need to consistently journal every day to make it a habit. Create a timeline for when you want to start and then do it every day for at least 21 days.

This is the amount of time most experts say it takes to form a good habit, but then you need to continue after that. If everyday is too much, find the right pattern that works for you.

Avoid outside distractions

Stick with journaling time as strictly for writing in your journal. Turn off phone notifications, shut off the TV and computer and find a quiet space where no one will interrupt you.

If you prefer the computer for typing your journal, close all other windows and turn off email and other notifications.

Go back and review

The idea of a journal is to keep record of your thoughts, feelings, goals, hopes, dreams and anything else on your mind. Take time to go back through your journal often to remember where your head was at last week, last month and last year.

Taking time to reflect and revisit old entries will help you see how much you’ve grown, patterns in your behaviors and give you ideas for future journal entries.

Final Thoughts

Journaling is an important habit for personal development. Everyone is different in how they prefer to journal and what the end goal will be.

Take time to think about what you want to accomplish through your journal, find the right tools to help you stay motivated and make time to consistently work on your journal.

Reviewing your entries over time will also help you self reflect to see areas where you’ve grown and areas where you still need work.

Give it a try to see what works best for you and then incorporate it into your daily routine.

Do you journal consistently? Let me know your favorite benefits of journaling in the comments below!