Journaling can be an intimidating activity, especially if you’ve never done it before. If you’re looking for journaling ideas for beginners, you’re in the right place! Hopefully you can find some excitement about getting started – there’s something really powerful about just putting a pen to paper and seeing what ideas flow.
If you’re anything like me, you might feel like you’ve got thousands of thoughts or ideas running through your brain and it can sometimes be difficult to get a solid grasp on any single one. Writing can help to release these ideas, and visualizing them on paper allows you to start to make sense of them and feel like you are in control.
Journaling can serve a variety of different purposes. You might journal for mental health care, to manage anxiety, to set intentions, for productivity and planning, to track habits, to set and track progress on goals, or to reflect on yourself and your life.
If you’re ready to get out of your own head, organize your thoughts, and become more intentional in your day to day life, journaling is an amazing place to start. However, it’s common to feel overwhelmed or like you have no idea where to begin.
The best thing you can do is to just get started, and over time it’ll become more intuitive. If you’re struggling with ideas of where to get started, read through the following journaling prompts and pick one that resonates with you.
Journaling Ideas for Beginners
1. What are 5 things you love about yourself?
We are all too quick to criticize ourselves. Most people would find it easier to create a list of the things they don’t like about themselves. Self-love is a crucial part of mental health, and we all have qualities that make us unique and wonderful humans.
Writing down what you love about yourself can be a powerful tool if you’re experiencing any sort of self-doubt.
2. What is an area of your life that feels hard right now?
Life is hard. There are struggles we all have to work through, and acknowledging what’s difficult in our life can help us to process through the emotions that come along with those struggles instead of letting them slowly build until we break.
Think about an area of your life that is hard right now, and be honest with yourself about how it’s affecting you. Are there any changes you can make to lighten the load that you feel?
3. What goals are you working towards that you’re excited about?
It can be easy to let our goals fall to the wayside when life gets in the way, so bringing our excitement for them back to the surface can help to reignite our motivation to keep moving forward with them.
Pick one or two goals you are working towards that you’re passionate about. Why are you excited about them? If you’re not prioritizing them, what small changes can you make to start making progress?
4. What is your biggest fear?
We all have fears. And I’m not talking about spiders (yikes!) here, I’m talking about emotional fears.
Is there something new you’d love to try but are scared of what other people will think? Is there someone in your life that you want to express something to, but are afraid of how they’ll react or how it might impact your relationship? What might your life look like if you were brave enough to face that fear?
5. Do you feel like you have control over your emotions?
Emotional intelligence, or being able to recognize, understand, and manage our emotions as well as the emotions of people around us, is one of the greatest tools we have to succeed in life.
While everyone has varying levels of emotional intelligence from their lived experiences, this is a skill that can be cultivated. What relationships or situations in your life can you think of that might be improved by increasing your emotional intelligence?
6. What are you passionate about?
Having passions in life allows us to work towards things that give us meaning and purpose. Life can sometimes get in the way of having time to follow our passions, maybe even leading us to forget about them altogether.
What is something that lights you up inside? What do you get overly excited about and want to share with others? If you’re not spending time on that, how can you create space in your life to make it a priority?
7. What is something you’re insecure about?
Insecurities often dominate what we think about ourselves, but generally if we’re thinking about them it’s from a critical standpoint rather than an objective standpoint.
Pick something you’re insecure about, and ask yourself how you can either change it or come to terms with accepting it.
8. Do you see yourself as a loyal friend?
What do your friendships look like? Do you have people you can trust? Do you think that your friends feel like they can trust you?
9. What do you value most in this life?
Getting clear on your values can allow you to find clarity and purpose in life. How do you prioritize your values? How can you build your life around these values?
10. What does success look like to you?
Everyone has different ideas of success, many of which are ingrained into our thoughts by others. For some, success looks like becoming a doctor or a lawyer. For others, it might mean buying a house and having a family.
If you’ve never questioned the idea of success, now is a great time. Is success really getting the next promotion, or could it look like something else?
11. How can you lean into your connections with others?
Our connections with others is what creates meaning in life and makes us feel loved and valued.
What relationships are most important to you? Are there relationships that you feel like you’re missing in your life? What are some steps you can take to strengthen existing connections and build new ones?
12. How do you feel about your physical health?
We only get one body in this lifetime, and if we don’t take care of it now there’s a good chance we’ll regret it later.
Do you eat healthy? Exercise? Sleep well? Identify some habits or accomplishments from a physical health perspective that you’re proud of, but also be honest with yourself about areas that you would like to improve and steps you can take to do so.
13. How do you feel about your mental health?
We live in a society that has stigmatized mental health for far too long. Chances are, you probably didn’t grow up learning about how to take care of your mental health (and if you did, count yourself lucky).
Mental health affects how you think and feel, your behaviors and moods, and so much more. Do you feel like your mental well-being is stable? Are there any areas of your mental well-being you could improve?
14. What brings you joy?
Whether it’s dancing in the kitchen, climbing a mountain, reading a great book, exploring new places, or something entirely different, what comes to mind? Where can you find more joy in the little things, in everyday life?
15. What people in your life do you feel the most yourself around?
Who can you spend hours on end with and just truly be yourself? Also question the opposite – do you surround yourself with any people that you don’t feel like you can be yourself around?
If you are constantly around people who make you doubt yourself or make you feel like you need to pretend to be someone you’re not, it’ll become almost impossible to grow in the directions you are passionate about. Don’t let those people hold you back – find the people who you feel completely open and comfortable with, so you can show up authentically in your life every day.
16. Who is someone you greatly appreciate?
Maybe it’s a person who helped you with something recently, a manager who advocated for you, or a friend or family member that you know will always be there for you.
How did they (or do they, consistently over time) show up for you? Have you expressed your appreciation? How can you pass it forward?
17. What is something about yourself that you’re proud of?
I sometimes find that when I accomplish something, I am quick to set a new goal and move on without ever stopping to truly look back on what it took to reach that milestone or be excited about it.
We focus (probably too much) on our failures, and don’t always give ourselves enough credit for our achievements.
Make a list of things you’re proud of, or pick one and go into detail with it. Remind yourself more often of your achievements – especially the little ones!
18. Where do you feel stuck?
This can be a tricky question to answer, because sometimes the nature of feeling “stuck” is being unable to find clarity around anything.
Start at a high level – think about your relationships, your work, your hobbies, where you live, and how you spend your time. Does one of those categories strike you as feeling off or unfulfilling? Why?
Focus first on getting clear on the what and the why, and if you’re feeling motivated to do something about it, check out this post: How to Get Moving on Your Dream Life
19. Where can you practice more self-care?
The world around us is busy; it places so much importance on productivity and more, more, more. This can make it really difficult to slow down, take a step back, and make sure that our own fundamental needs are met.
Do you need more self-care in your life? This might look like something related to your physical or mental health, or it might be something related to the environment around you. Self-care encompasses several different areas of your life; ask yourself – where do you need it most?
If you’re feeling really inspired to up your self-care game, grab this free self-care journal to get started.
Related Reading: Top Tips for Self-Care (Plus the 8 Areas You Should Focus On)
20. What is your purpose?
The age old question. It’s a daunting question, and not one that can be answered in one journal prompt.
If you feel like you already know your purpose – write about that. Why does it feel right to you? How can you be more intentional in your day to day life in fulfilling that purpose?
If you aren’t sure, explore what feels important to you. What sparks excitement and passion in your life? What type of activities or work leave you feeling fulfilled? Can you think of a way you might be able to invite that into the lives of others?
21. How do you think the people who know you best would describe you?
Think about your family, friends, the people that feel closest to you and know you really well. What qualities do you think they see in you? How does that make you feel?
If anything negative comes to mind, dig a little deeper and question why you think they might see that in you. If it still feels true, is it something you want to change about yourself?
Hopefully some positive qualities come to mind. Do you think other people that don’t know you as well also see this? If not, how can you be more comfortable in letting that part of you bubble to the surface and positively impact the world around you?
22. How can you be more present in your daily life?
We all get too caught up in obsessing over the past or future. While it can be productive at times to reflect on the past or plan for the future, life is what is happening to us in this moment.
Can you incorporate any changes into your daily life to be more present? Maybe you commit to not being on your phone when you are with other people, starting a daily mindfulness practice, or avoiding multitasking.
23. Are you intentional with your time each day?
We all get the same number of hours in a day. Day by day, the little moments in each day add up to the big things in our lives. And technology has increasingly made it really easy to completely lose track of time.
Think about how much time you spend binging Netflix or scrolling on social media. What if you spent that time instead on a project or habit that adds value to your life? Over time, how might those minutes add up to something meaningful?
Related Reading: A Beginner’s Guide to Intentional Living
24. Do you feel a sense of fulfillment from your work?
We spend the majority of our lives working, and the dream is to find a job that feels like you’re making a difference somehow.
Do you feel that sense of fulfillment in your job? If you do, take a moment to be incredibly grateful for that.
If you don’t, you’re definitely not alone. Consider whether you might be able to make a change to something that feels more meaningful. Unfortunately we live in a world where that’s not always possible – sometimes work is truly just about paying the bills – so if it’s not in the cards right now, ask yourself how you can carve out time for something that does feel fulfilling to you.
25. What makes you feel loved?
Whatever it may be – find gratitude, and invite more of it into your life.
Ideas to Make Journaling a Daily Habit
I’ll be the first to admit that finding consistency with journaling is hard. I believe journaling is so beneficial, yet find it difficult to sit down and do it every day.
Choosing a structure that gets you writing for just a few minutes a day without feeling overwhelming can help you to start forming a habit. Here are a few ideas that might work for you:
- 3 things you are grateful for & a check in with your feelings
- Self-care check in
- Productivity & goals check in
- Habits check in
- Reflection on your interactions for the day
- Choosing one journal prompt from above
Final Thoughts
Journaling can serve as a therapeutic tool and help you become more present in your daily life. Just getting your thoughts out of your head and onto paper is an immensely powerful exercise.
Whether you’re interested in journaling for mental health benefits, holding yourself accountable for your goals, or gaining clarity around your thoughts, it can be a simple habit to get started. I hope you found these journaling ideas for getting started as a beginner helpful!
Are you new to journaling? What are some of the greatest struggles you’ve faced with getting started? Can you incorporate any of the above ideas to set up a journaling routine?
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