INSIDE: How to get to know yourself better through journaling. In this post I’m sharing why I love journaling so much, the benefits of journaling AND 30 journaling prompts to get you started. Includes a FREE Journaling Prompts printable for you to add to your own journal!
How well would you say you know yourself? Like, REALLY know yourself. Not just what clothes you like to wear, movies you like to watch or foods you like to eat. Things that go MUCH deeper than that.
What makes you tick? What are your dreams and desires? Your goals and ambitions? The things that make you happy, sad, frustrated or annoyed and the things that you fear? If I asked you to tell me all about you, what would you say?
Not sure? You’re not alone.
We all think we know ourselves pretty well, but it’s not until someone asks the question that we realise we don’t. All that surface-level stuff is all very well. But it doesn’t reveal very much about who we are underneath. How can we share who we are if we don’t know the answer ourselves? And so, if we want to be able to answer this question and get to know ourselves properly, we have to dig a LOT deeper.
How do we do that? Through journaling.
Want my FREE Journaling Prompts printable? Find it in my Subscriber’s Resource Library! Simply enter your details below to subscribe to my mailing list and I’ll send you the password to gain access right away! Once subscribed, you’ll also receive weekly emails from me packed FULL of motivation and inspiration.
The power of journaling…
If you’ve never done it before journaling is an incredibly powerful exercise. As someone who is slightly addicted to pretty notebooks (hello Paperchase and Kikki K!), journaling is one of my most favourite things to do. Why? Well, it’s not just about the pretty notebooks. Although that does help! I love journaling because not only does it relax me, but I learn so much about myself that I wouldn’t find out any other way.
Put pen to paper, write whatever comes to mind and you’ll be surprised just how much you learn about yourself. By writing down your thoughts and feelings you learn what makes you happy and what makes you sad. You’ll discover your struggles, your pain and your joys – some of which you didn’t even know existed. You’ll know what areas of your life you need to let go of and move on from because it’ll be right there in front of you. You’ll learn what drives you, what motivates you, what inspires you and what’s important to you.
And when you know all of that you’re able to start making changes that’ll bring you closer to living a life you love. You’re able to work on the areas that need your attention most because you’ll know what they are. You’ll find it easier to make a change for the better because you’ll have figured out what you want to hang on to and what to say goodbye to.
Related: 12 Habits that’ll Dramatically Improve Your Life.
Using journaling prompts…
When you’re new to journaling, a blank page can be incredibly daunting. Just what do you write? You have no idea where to start and you worry that what you write is going to be stupid. Journaling prompts can help you push past those worries. They give you a starting point when you don’t know what to write. They give you permission to be free with your writing and to write whatever comes to mind without judgment.
A quick search for ‘journaling prompts’ on Google or Pinterest will bring up literally thousands of different journaling prompts you could use. How do you know which to choose? Which ones do you choose to start with? Well, to make life easier, and to save you hours of searching, I’m sharing with you 30 journaling prompts for you to start using today so that you can get to know yourself better right away!
Want my FREE Journaling Prompts printable? Find it in my Subscriber’s Resource Library! Simply enter your details below to subscribe to my mailing list and I’ll send you the password to gain access right away! Once subscribed, you’ll also receive weekly emails from me packed FULL of motivation and inspiration.
Why 30?
So that you have one for every day for the next month! Grab yourself a notebook and set aside some time each day to journal. It doesn’t matter whether it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night, pick a time that suits you. Scroll through the list of questions and see which one takes your fancy. Do them in order or just pick and choose each day depending on your mood.
Don’t think about your answers too much. Just write the question at the top of the page and let the words flow. Write whatever comes to mind, no editing, no judgment, just keep going until you feel like you don’t have anything left to say.
A month of journaling prompts…
- What areas of your life are you really happy with?
- What areas of your life are frustrating and annoying you right now? Why?
- What makes you smile?
- What gets you excited?
- What makes you embarrassed?
- What pushes your buttons? Why?
- How do you know that you’ve had a good day?
- What do you love most about your relationship with your spouse?
- What do you love most about your relationship with your kids?
- What aspects of your home do you love? What do you wish you could change and why?
- What one goal do you want to have achieved by this time next year?
- What one thing has been on your to-do list for months that you’ve not yet done? Why are you avoiding it and what do you need to do to make it happen?
- What one thing do you want to achieve more than anything? What obstacles are standing in your way?
- When you think about your life in 1 years’ time, what do you see?
- When you think about your life in 3 years’ time, what do you see?
- When you think about your life in 10 years’ time, what do you see?
- How do you measure success? How will you know when you’re successful?
- What’s your favourite thing to do to unwind and relax? Why do you like it so much?
- What’s your favourite quote and why?
- What’s one secret hobby you’d love to pursue but haven’t yet done anything about?
- If you had a day off, all to yourself with no distractions, how would you spend it?
- If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you want to have with you? Why did you choose those?
- What mum guilt do you suffer from the most? Why?
- If you could wave a magic wand over any area of your life which would it be and why?
- What’s your biggest fear?
- Who’s the first person you turn to when you want to talk to someone? Why do you think that is?
- What did you love most about your childhood?
- What is your most treasured memory?
- What career did you want to have when you grew up? What was the appeal?
- What does your soul want?
Want my FREE Journaling Prompts printable? Find it in my Subscriber’s Resource Library! Simply enter your details below to subscribe to my mailing list and I’ll send you the password to gain access right away! Once subscribed, you’ll also receive weekly emails from me packed FULL of motivation and inspiration.
Journaling prompts to get to know yourself better…
If you really want to get to know yourself better, journaling is THE BEST way to do it. And when you don’t know how to get started, journaling prompts such as these can really help. Try journaling every day for a whole month. Use as many of these journaling prompts as you want. At the end of the month set aside some time to read back through all the answers you’ve written. On a fresh page make a note of all the things you’ve learned about yourself.
Pick out all the things you’ve noticed that light you up and make you happy and start making a conscious effort to bring more of them into your life. Equally, take note of the aspects you don’t like so much and see what you can do about them. It’ll really open your eyes and you’ll discover so much about yourself that you didn’t realise.
Related: 50 Things that Make Me Happy.
My favourite tools for the job…
Using journaling prompts is an incredibly effective way of getting to know yourself better. But you need the right tools for the job! And so, here are my favourite resources for journaling. I highly recommend each one, I own all of them so trust me when I say they’ve been thoroughly road-tested!
1 | Paperchase
I’ve already confessed to my love affair for all things Paperchase, but seriously, their stationery is ah-mazing! I absolutely LOVE their notebooks and can’t resist spending at least an hour browsing through the store every time I go shopping. The notebooks are so pretty and the lines are nice and wide – which is perfect for my giant handwriting! The best part is that as well as blank journals, they have a great range of life-journals too. So whether you’re looking for more journaling prompts or a journal for happiness, fitness, wellbeing or a journal for practicing gratitude, guaranteed you’ll find one to fall in love with!
Related: The Benefits of Practicing Gratitude and How to Do it.
2 | Frixon pens
Pens that erase?! I know, seriously cool, right?! These pens suit the perfectionist in me down to the ground! I hate using a pencil, but I also don’t like it when I make a mistake in pen and have to draw a line through it. It makes my journal look messy! But these Frixon pens erase! Thanks to some seriously clever stuff, if you make a mistake, you can just rub it out and start again. Brilliant for journaling, especially if you’re into bullet journaling. And, if you’re not keen on using coloured pens, you can buy just a pack of black Frixon pens instead.
3 | The 52 Lists Project
If you prefer a journal where the questions are already laid out for you, The 52 Lists Project by Moorea Seal has to be my favourite. With a journaling prompt for every week of the year, it’s split into seasons and helps nurture self-expression and self-development. So it’s a great journal to use if you want to get to know yourself better. I have a copy and although it’s taken me a couple of years to work my way through it, the questions are incredibly thought-provoking and really get you to dig deep. If you check it out, be sure to take a look at her 52 Lists for Happiness too – which I also highly recommend! Her latest book is called 52 Lists for Togetherness: Journaling Inspiration to Deepen Connections with Your Loved Ones. I’ve not read it yet but it’s at the top of my wishlist!
4 | Get Your Sh*t Together Journal
A journal that helps you to figure out what you want from your life and develop a plan to get there, it has some great questions for getting to know yourself better. The latest in a series of books by Sarah Knight that started off with The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**K, this journal helps you take action as well giving you somewhere to put your thoughts on paper. The language is a little fresh, so I warn you now, but the content is to the point and delivers just enough gentle tough love to help you dig deep and really question what you want out of life.
Using journaling prompts to create a life you LOVE…
Once we know ourselves on a deeper level and we know what makes us tick, we’re in a much better position to start creating a life we love. We’re able to start making a change for the better because we know what it is we want to change. And any time we start to feel lost again or feel like we’re losing direction, we just need to pick up that pen, start journaling and guaranteed we’ll find the answers.
That’s it for this post!
Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to the A Simple and Contented Life community and gain EXCLUSIVE access to my FREE Resource Library where you’ll find my Journaling Prompts printable and tons of other awesome cheatsheets, checklists and printables all designed to help to create a life you LOVE!
Simply enter your details below and I’ll send you the password to gain access right away! Once subscribed, you’ll also receive weekly emails from me packed full of motivation and inspiration.
Do you journal? Has this post inspired you to start journaling? Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time…
Leave a Reply