50 Insightful Journal Prompts To Get To Know Yourself Better

A good journal prompt will get you to think about your life, a great journal prompt will help you to get to know yourself.

A collection of journal prompts that will motivate you to think deeper about yourself. When you are in a mood for some soul searching and self-discovery use these journal prompts to give you a direction.

Journal prompts to get to know yourself

Every day choose a different prompt to get to know yourself. Take your time, answer slowly and thoughtfully, be honest and loving with yourself.

10 words

Write a list of 10 words that describe you the best. Then write a list of 10 words you wish would describe you. Are the two lists the same or are there differences? Write some changes you could make to become more like the person you wish you were.

Perfect day

Describe your perfect day from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep. What do you do, with whom are you spending time?

Do it spontaneously without too much thinking, this will reveal your real priorities. Notice the differences between your average day and the perfect day. How can you make your average day look more like your perfect day?

Blessing in disguise

Describe a situation that at the time you thought it was a misfortune but it turned out to be a good thing. What did you learn from that?

Boundaries

What are your boundaries in a relationship, at work, with friends, with strangers?

How do you set and protect your boundaries?

My comfort zone

What is your comfort zone?

What is outside your comfort zone that you wish was in?

How can you expand your comfort zone?

How do you challenge yourself to grow? If you’re not, then how could you challenge yourself to grow?

How do you deal with uncomfortable situations?

Forgiving

How do you forgive yourself?

How do you forgive others?

Which grievances or resentments are you holding on to? Can you find a way to let it go?

Are you blaming yourself for something? Can you find a way to forgive yourself?

Encouragement

What makes you feel strong?

What makes you feel confident?

How do you encourage yourself to try new things?

Role-models

Who are your role models and why?

This will show you the kind of person you would like to be.

Injustice

How does seeing injustice makes you feel?

What do you do when you see injustice being done to somebody?

Help

How do you ask for help when you need it?

How do you feel when asking for help?

Coping

What are your coping strategies to deal with stress?

How do you handle emotions like anger, guilt, sadness, frustration, disappointment, and fear?

Finish the sentence…

Finish the sentence and then elaborate it with more details.

My life would be incomplete without…

It makes me sad when…

I will never accept…

If I could…I would…

My biggest regret is…

My greatest achievement is…

I often fear that…

My biggest problem is…

I am happiest when…

My priorities are…

First thought

Notice the first thought that pops in your head when you wake up. Keep a record of those thoughts in your journal. From time to time revisit your entries. These will usually be the thoughts that most occupy your mind. It’s a treasure trove of your unconscious mind.

Past or future

Where are your thoughts the most, are you thinking more about the past or the future? What are you thinking about, how does that make you feel?

Habits

Which are your most unhealthy habits, how do you feel about them?

Which are your healthy habits, and why did you choose those habits?

Need more journal prompts? Here you’ll find a collection of 365 journal prompts that will inspire you to explore and express yourself.

Fear

What is your biggest fear? What would you do if your biggest fear came to life, how would you handle it?

Letter to younger self

Write a letter to your younger self. Pick an age, try to remember what were your thoughts, fears, insecurities at the time. Then write an encouraging letter you wish someone wrote to you at the time.

Purpose of life

What is the purpose of life for you? What do you think is the meaning of your existence?

Optimist, pessimist, and realist

Describe your current situation from three perspectives. First from a perspective of an optimist, then from a perspective of a pessimist, and lastly from a perspective of a realist.

Define

What is your definition of success?

What is your definition of failure?

Clearly defining success and failure will give you a clear picture of what you want to achieve and what you most certainly wish never to experience.

Job

Write about your job. What do you like, what do you dislike? Does it bring you joy or are you dreading doing to work? Why?

What do you think about your colleagues and boss?

Job is a big part of your life, it occupies a large part of your day. Get to know yourself by being honest about your thoughts and feelings about your job and work environment.

Life advice

What life advice could you give to someone younger than you? Some words of wisdom or helpful tactics to navigate the complexities of life you learned the hard way. Get to know yourself through the lessons you would teach to your younger self.

Leisure

What do you do in your free time? Are you happy with how you spend your free time or do you wish you would spend it differently?

How do you relax? Which relaxing activities do you do to unwind? Comparing how you spend your leisure time with how you wish you would spend it will reveal a lot about you.