Journalling has become a pretty big part of the wellness and spiritual community of late, but that’s for a very good reason. Journaling or keeping a diary has been proven to help you sort through difficult emotions, unlock the subconscious and learn a whole lot more about yourself.
Journal prompts aim to give you a focus so you can set an intention for your journaling session. If you just sit down to write, you can often struggle to get started, so grabbing a few prompts from Pinterest or blogs can get the ball rolling for you. Of course, you could just think about the answers, but writing things down makes a thought tangible. Written words give our thoughts and feelings life in our external world, making them easier to comprehend and ultimately face head-on.
With our exercise today, we’re going to be using the power of journaling to prove to ourselves that we are incredible beings, capable of incredible things. We’re going to prove to ourselves that we have the ability to do anything that we feel called to do, so let’s take a look at some of the journal prompts waiting to be explored.
Write down 5 challenges you have overcome in the last 12-months
Exactly as it says on the tin. No matter how small, think about what challenges or obstacles you have had to face in the last 12-months. It could be something as huge as facing a job redundancy, or something smaller like having your phone stop working.
What did you learn from overcoming those obstacles?
Every challenge and obstacle teaches us something, even if we don’t realise it at the time. Think about who you were before the challenge came along and who you were after. Did your perspective shift during that time? Did you realise something about yourself? Did your priorities change due to the challenge?
If you could tell yourself anything at the start of the year, what would it be?
Imagine being sat in front of yourself at the beginning of this year. What would you want you to know? What words of wisdom would you give to yourself?
List 5 things you have achieved in your personal life over the last 12-months?
Again, these can be small things like running outdoors for the first time or big things like having a baby or getting married!
List 5 things you have achieved in your professional life over the last 12-months?
Just like above, only this time we’re going to be focusing on your job, career or business.
Did you achieve anything this year that you hadn’t planned for?
If you’re anything like me, you like to create goals and work until you reach them, but sometimes life throws things your way that requires a bit of spontaneity. Is there anything you’ve achieved that you never even thought you’d have to achieve? As an example, this year I started to learn to roller skate, not something I thought I’d be achieving this year, thanks lockdown!
List 5 ways you are different compared to the beginning of this year
How have you changed over these last 12-months? We are never the same year on year, things happen that change us, as well as age and experience of life in general. Compare the person you were at the start of this year to the person you are today. Are there any changes that you feel particularly happy about?
What were your priorities at the beginning of this year?
Think back to the start of this year and list what your key priorities and values were.
What are your priorities now?
What are your priorities and values now? How have they changed or shifted since the start of the year? Why have they changed?
If you were to describe your life now to yourself 3 years ago, what would past you say?
If you had the opportunity to talk to yourself 3-years ago and tell them about your life and everything that has happened in those 3 years, what do you think past you would say? Would they be surprised, happy, excited?
If you struggle with the task of journaling, try and break it down into small chunks. Instead of sitting down to go through all 10 prompts at once, choose to quickly do 1 a day. There’s no rush and approaching each prompt with a fresh mind may prove useful!