Writing a diary is great, unless you run out of ideas for what to write. Or, worse—you start writing about things of no importance that are not aligned to your goals and purpose, or things that make you sad. The goal of personal growth and self-development journal prompts is to write about the things that uplift you, that help you find perspective, and help you become a better person.
Positive psychology is the name of the game. And if you want some inspiration as to why you should journal in the first place, studies have shown it can help improve self-efficacy, while also reducing symptoms of stress, burnout and trauma according to a study done with registered nurses.
So without further ado, here are some brilliant personal growth journal prompts that can really serve you on your personal growth journey.
Popular Growth Journal Prompts for a Positive Mindset
Ell Du Clos uses the personal growth prompt "What are 10 positive things about my life?” Deceptively simple? Yes. But so necessary. One of the main things holding us back in life is that we focus on what’s not working. When we start looking at what’s working, we create more of that.
Ell also suggests the growth journal prompt “What are 3 of my life passions? (hobbies/things that set my soul on fire).” Sometimes we forget our passions, don’t we? We get caught up in our studies, our work, our family, or working on paying our bills. When we start writing about our passions, we start thinking about living them. And once we start thinking about our passions, it propels us to take action to start living them.
When it comes to living your passions, an alternative prompt is: “What can I do today to live my passions, if so only for five minutes?” You may not be able to start a band today, but you could play your guitar for five minutes. Sometimes keeping it simple is the key to making it happen.
Other great ideas for positive journal prompts are:
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“What progress have I made in my life in the past five years, five months, five weeks?”
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“What things about my body am I the most thankful for?” (The fact you can smell gorgeous flowers, dance through fields, or swim through the ocean using our body?)
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“What are my ten favorite compliments I’ve received?”
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“What do I love about the people who are close to me?” (List their individual traits that you enjoy.)
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“What are ten things I’ve done that I’m thankful for having done?”
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“What are some positive things I learned from “bad” events in my life?”
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“What advice would my older, wiser and more loving self give me right now?”
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“What can I do to show myself love?”
Our journals, desk pads and planners come complete with lots of prompts for a positive mindset, making your life easier as you don’t have to add that many of your own!
Personal Growth Journal Prompts for Self-Awareness
Seeing is undoing—once you see your negative beliefs, thought patterns, and habits, you can start to undo them. Becoming aware of them gives you the option not to engage with them, or to change them to empowering beliefs, thought patterns, and habits.
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“How do I sabotage myself?”
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“What are some of the consistent negative thoughts I have?”
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“What limiting beliefs do I have about money/relationships/career/friendships/health/etc.?” (Pick one at a time.)
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“What are the functional thoughts (positive beliefs) I have around money/relationships/career/friendships/health/etc.?” (Pick one at a time.)
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“What are the things in life that make me feel good, or make me laugh?”
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“What motivates me?” (Is it fear that motivates you to perform well at work, or the idea of a nice paycheck, or perhaps praise? Go through different areas of your life to find out what motivates you.)
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“Whose opinions do I care about the most? What would my life be like if I did not care about those peoples’ opinions?”
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“What are my main coping mechanisms? Are they serving me well?” (This one comes from Eric Sangerma and is well worth pondering— what we do to survive is not always what we need to do to thrive.)
Need some more tips on self-awareness? Read our blog—3 Steps for Cultivating Self-Awareness in a Crisis.
Growth Journal Prompts for Dream Journaling
Not all growth journal prompts are complicated. Sometimes, it’s as easy as writing down what you dreamt about last night. You can also add prompts to check in on recurring themes in your dreams and write about what they mean to you. For example, you might have been dreaming about water a lot lately. Or maybe you felt chased by something in your dreams? Is stress chasing you in real life? Or is it something else that’s chasing you?
It’s usually only when we look back at the last week, or month, that we find patterns. So keep journaling about your dreams every day and write down prompts that remind you to have a look at recurring themes and journal about what they mean to you.
Journal Prompts for Goal Setting
There are some goal setting prompts everyone should have in their journal.
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“What did I accomplish this day/week/month?”
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“What would I like to accomplish more of tomorrow/next week/next month?” (Be sure to include personal and professional goals, as well as specific relationship goals with different people—whether you want to set time aside to spend more time with someone, or compliment them more often.)
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“What are the actions I need to take to achieve my goals this day/week/month?”
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“What are my main life goals?”
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“Which main life goals do I wish to focus on right now?”
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“What do I need to do to get to where I want to be one year, three years, and five years from now?”
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“What might I do to accomplish my 5-year goal in 6-months, if a gun was up against my head?” (This prompt comes from Tim Ferriss and is a great one to ponder if you want results fast—less great if you go into overwhelm and try to do too much at once…but then again, that’s not what you would do if you had to accomplish all your goals in six months, is it?!)
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Where in my life can I trade a short-term, incremental gain, for a potential longer-term game-changing upside? (Benny Glick recommends this prompt and it’s truly something worth pondering when you are setting your goals.)
Keen to get better with goal setting? Read our blog about The Difference Between Goals and Possibilities (And Why You Need Both).
Putting the Prompts in Your Diary
If you don’t want to constantly google new ideas for personal growth journaling prompts, consider spending some time putting them into your yearly planner. Either make a list you consult on a weekly basis, or put them right in your diary, so that you don’t forget to write!
In our Dailygreatness journals you will find daily and weekly prompts for personal growth for an epic journaling experience.
