Journaling Prompts

Journaling  is a form of creative expression and a powerful tool for transformation, growth and action. It helps us, as we navigate lives full of transitions, to get outside ourself and see events and possibilities more clearly. Capturing our thoughts and experience through journaling is a way of consciously noticing and integrating changes. Remember, there is no one way to journal, use whatever medium feels most natural and interesting for you!

BEING PRESENT

  1. What did I really see today?

  2. How can I describe this moment? What do I see, smell, feel, hear with my senses and my heart?

  3. What is one practice, place, or person that helps reduce stress in my life?

  4. What are 3 things I could give up that would give me more time, energy, and peace  in my life?

CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET

  1. What are some areas of my life where I have a fixed mindset? How am I cultivating a growth mindset there?

  2. What else do I want to learn?

  3. When did I experience something that seemed like a set back but ultimately opened the door to new possibilities?

  4. When life knocks me down, how do I get back up?

DESIGNING A RESONATE MID-LIFE

  1. As I move to a new chapter of my life, how do I introduce myself? What is my new “elevator speech”?

  2. What am I looking forward to being and doing now? What keeps me up at night as I move into this new phase of life?

  3. What wisdom would I like to share with others now? What new things am I curious about learning, doing or being?

  4. Am I living in the best place for me at this time in my life?

EFFECTIVELY NAVIGATING CHANGE

  1. How can I integrate life’s changes with more thoughtful transitions?

  2. As I start a new phase of life, what do I need to intentionally complete and end? How will I do that?

  3. How will I make the most of the creative power of the “messy middle” of a transition?

  4. How will I embrace a “beginner’s mind”?

EMBODYING HEALTHY LIVING

  1. What can I learn and implement for my own healthy longevity from the Blue Zones?

  2. How can rituals help me in my life?

  3. How am I a caregiver to myself each day?

  4. What areas of my health and well-being are hardest for me to maintain? How can I get support for healthy habits?

ENJOYING PLAYTIME

  1. What does being creative mean to me? How am I creative?

  2. What is my superpower and how do I use it?

  3. What am I doing when I lose track of time?

  4. When I was a child, what did I want to be when I grew up? Why did that seem so exciting and interesting to me?

EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

  1. What do I want that I already have?

  2. What would a day without envy and comparison look like?

  3. Who made it possible to be who I am and do what I am doing right now?

LIVING WITH + ON PURPOSE

  1. How do my unique talents and interests complement the needs of the world today?

  2. What are 3 core values that are important to me and how do I honor those values in my life?

  3. What will I regret NOT doing and being in 1 year/5 years time?

  4. What would I do even if I knew I could fail?

MAKING MEANINGFUL IMPACT

  1. What assumptions do I hold about my role as a leader? How do they get in the way of empowering others?

  2. How do I define success now and how will I know when I achieve it?

  3. Am I living my own “success script” or someone else’s?

  4. How do I describe legacy. What does leaving a legacy mean to me?

NURTURING RICH RELATIONSHIPS

  1. If I were the person my dog thinks I am, how would they describe me?

  2. Who are my 3 AM friends?

  3. How am I a good friend, sibling, partner, parent, colleague?

  4. How do I nurture existing friendships + create new ones at this stage of my life?

If you want to dive deeper into writing for wellbeing and personal growth, I encourage you to visit a community of people who love journaling at the International Association for Journal Writing (https://iajw.org/).