La Ivana Cert. Life Coach · The La Ivana Podcast

PERSONAL GROWTH

50 Self-Discovery Journal Prompts to Improve Your Life

journal prompts

Do you sometimes feel a negative emotion and your first reaction is to fight it? In this post, instead of telling you how to escape your emotions, I’m sharing 50 deep thought-provoking self-discovery journal prompts to help you deal with your emotions and improve your life.

“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” 
― Lao Tzu

Earlier (before I knew about self-discovery journal prompts), my first instinct when I didn’t like something about my life was to go on a solo trip or move somewhere new. It never changed anything in the long term.

Do you sometimes feel bored in the place where you live so you think that you would have a more interesting life in Melbourne or Rome?

That used to be me. I used to blame external circumstances for my internal state of being. I was blaming a small city for my lack of joy.

In December 2017 I went to Prague for a week hoping that I’d have fun there. Guess what, I was bored. And if you’re bored in Prague, believe me, the problem is much deeper and Prague has nothing to do with it.

Since then, I started asking myself questions for reflection. I decided to work on my mindset instead of chasing feelings of short-term excitement.

When it comes to mindset work and shifting your perspective, deep self-discovery journal prompts are my favorite tool.

Let’s dive in!

Self-discovery journal prompts

1. What are you struggling with right now?

2. How do you feel about where you are vs. where others think you should be? 

3. Do you feel like you’re not where you want to be in your life?

4. How are other people’s opinions and expectations holding you back?

5. Who do you want to be?
 
6. How do you feel when you compare yourself to others?
 

7. Do you care about what others think of you? In what way does that hold you back in life?

8. How would your life change if you prioritize yourself?
 
9. Who do you compare yourself with? How does that make you feel?
 

10. What would happen if you gave yourself permission to go after your dreams and desires?

FREE DOWNLOAD:

70+ Journal Prompts to Create a Life You Love

111 Powerful Affirmations to Build Confidence and Feel Empowered

 
11. How do you want to feel about yourself and your life?
 
12. What are some things that always make you feel better?
Make a list in your notes on your phone so that you’re prepared for the next time when you feel down and want to feel better.
 
13. How can you do at least one of the things that make you feel good every day?
 
14. 10 things you’re grateful for right now and why each of them is important to you.
 
15. What do you need to do to start living your best life?
 
16. What needs to happen for you to take full responsibility for what’s happening in your life instead of blaming external circumstances/relying on other people?
 
17. What does success mean to you?
 
18. How do you imagine yourself when you think about yourself as a successful person?
 
19. 10 characteristics you like about yourself.
 
 
21. What would you do if you enjoyed your life more?
 
22. What can you do today to make this day a good one?
 
23. Where do you feel stuck in your life?
 
24. Where do you feel pressured in your life?
 
25. What would it look like for you if you accepted where you are in life?
 
26. What would you say to yourself if you were your biggest cheerleader?
 
27. What do you need to hear right now? 
 
28. What would be most helpful for you right now?
 
29. What is something you haven’t forgiven yourself for?
 

30. How can you show yourself compassion and understanding to forgive yourself?

Read next:

How to Move On: 3 Steps to Heal and Move On with Your Life

Journaling Session When You Don’t Know What You Want in Life

PIN FOR LATER 🙂
journal prompts

 
“The only journey is the one within.” 
― Rainer Maria Rilke
 
31. Who are 3 people you admire?
 
32. What are 5 things you admire for each of the 3 people?
 
33. What do you need to do to develop those characteristics in yourself?
 
34. How does your ideal day look like? What do you eat? What kind of exercise you do? How do you feel throughout the day? What are you working on? What does your apartment look like? When do you wake up? What do you see through your kitchen window while you’re making breakfast? Do you have any plans for the day? What are you wearing? What do you hear? Who are you with? What do you smell?
Visualize and journal all the details about your ideal day.
 

35. How can you start living your life as if it already is your dream life?

36. What kind of person do you need to become to achieve your goals?
 
37. What habits do you need to develop in order to live your best life?
 
38. What habits do you want to get rid of? Why do you want to get rid of them? How are you going to do that?
 
39. What could be one habit that you start doing for the next 21 days just to see how it makes you feel? How can you make that challenge fun?
 

40. 5 things you’re excited about when you think about your dream life.

Read next:

How to Use Visualization to Get What You Want

8 Positive Habits that Changed My Life

5 Proven Strategies to Break Bad Habits

 
41. What are you good at?
 
42. What do you often get compliments about?
 
43. What do you enjoy doing?
 
44. How can you do more of the things you enjoy in your daily life?
 
45. What is your biggest insecurity? What would you tell your friend if they would say they’re insecure about it? Would you tell them that they’re right about it, that they should feel that way, or would you encourage them and help them overcome that limiting belief?
 
“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within; secondary reality without.” 
― Eckhart Tolle
 

46. What affirmation could you repeat to yourself daily to reframe your insecurities into something you’re feeling good about?

FREE DOWNLOAD:

111 Powerful Affirmations to Up-Level Your Life

 
47. Write a letter to yourself when you were in the most difficult situation in your life. Talk about how you’re feeling right now and how everything turned out. Show support and understanding to your younger self. Tell that version of yourself what you wish you had known when you were experiencing that situation.
 
48. Write a letter to the person who’s not in your life anymore. Write what you wish you could tell them. (The point of this letter is to deal with your emotions, not to actually send the letter to that person.)
 
49. Write a letter to your future self asking for guidance and everything else you need on the way to becoming the best version of yourself living your desired reality.
 
50. 10 things you love about your life.

And we’re done! Hope you found these thought-provoking self-discovery journal prompts helpful.

If you’ve been on your own self-improvement journey and you want to dive deeper, check out my journaling bundle.

JOURNALING BUNDLE

If you need more support with taking action and creating the best version of yourself, check out my journaling bundle with journaling workshops for creating the next level you and building confidence. It’s the perfect way to continue your self-development journey after reading this post.

>> get the Journaling Bundle here (workshops and eBook included)

Until the next time,

Ivana

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Comments

  1. This list is awesome. I have been focusing a lot on gratitude using my own list of gratitude journal prompts but these prompts really good for self discovery. I actually decided to think through them as I read through the post and wow! I love them.

    Reply

  3. These are excellent journal prompts! I hope you don’t mind that I screenshotted them all – they’ll also be a great push to get me back to writing in my paper journal every day!

    Xoxo,
    Laura || afinnontheloose.com

    Reply

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