Inside: Are you ready to look within yourself, but don’t know where to start? Click here to explore thoughtful journal prompts that will help you unwind and self-reflect.
Disclaimer: All of these thoughts are my own. However, as an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission if you purchase from one of the links below.
Are you ready to search within yourself, but don’t know the right questions to ask?
Are you looking for journal prompts to help guide you through tough mental blocks?
Let me first start off by commending you.
I recently read Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by, clinical psychologist, Lindsay Gibson. In the book, she talks about how emotionally immature people don’t have the capacity to self-reflect.
She says, “As children enter their teen years, their ability to self-reflect skyrockets because they become able to think about their own thinking. However, the intense emotions and anxiety that emotionally immature people experience can decrease their ability to think at this higher level.”
She goes on to say, “Because they lack self-reflection, emotionally immature people don’t consider their role in a problem.”
Basically – if you’ve made it this far, then you’re mentally capable of putting in the work.
The Benefits of Self-Reflection
I started this blog as a way to release the negative pent up emotions that come from living with a chronic illness and being undiagnosed. Disability Dame has been one of the best things that I’ve done for my mental health and anxiety, and it’s grown into a community of moms who struggle with similar issues.
According to studies, “Journal writing assignments can benefit students by enhancing reflection, facilitating critical thought, expressing feelings, and writing focused arguments.”
Journaling helps you process difficult emotions and be honest with yourself in a way that you might not do by talking to someone else. In a study done by the Oncologist, “cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.”
Journaling can literally improve your physical health.
Staring at a blank piece of paper is intimidating. Take the stress off and let the below journal prompts guide your self-reflection.
50 Journal Prompts to Help You Unwind and Self-Reflect
- What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago?
- What is one choice that you’ve made in life that led you down a completely different path?
- If there were one thing that you could change about your daily routine, what would it be?
- What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever heard and why?
- What is one thing you wish that your parents knew about you?
- What are 10 unexpected things you’re grateful for and why?
- What food reminds you most of your childhood and why?
- Who has made the biggest impact on your life?
- Who is someone that you feel 100% that you can be yourself around?
- Describe a time in your life that you wish that you could relive again?
- What is something that you’ve discovered about yourself in the past year?
- List one goal that you’d like to achieve in the next year and describe how you’ll get there.
- What is something that you think you would regret not doing before you die?
- What do you think the most important trait of a “good person” is? Do you possess it?
- What is your fondest memory of your best friend?
- What are 10 things that you like about yourself and why?
- List 5 people that you don’t talk to you anymore but that you still think about.
- What is a topic that you would like to learn more about?
- Describe a time in your life when someone’s words made an impact on your life. What would you tell them today?
- What’s the most important trait you value in a partner?
- What would you do if you were randomly given $10,000?
- What energizes you the most?
- Describe what your life looks like in 5 years.
- Imagine yourself on the front cover of a magazine. What are you there for?
- Is the most important value that you would want to instill in your child?
- When do you feel the most stressed out?
- What types of traits do the people that you gravitate to possess?
- What does your morning routine look like?
- Describe one person that you would like to forgive?
- Describe something about the world that you would like to change.
- What is one of your guilty pleasures and why?
- Describe something that relaxes you.
- What is one thing that you wish you were better at?
- Describe a time that you lost an object and never found it.
- What are your favorite types of movies and why?
- Describe a memory that you cherish.
- What was the best gift that you’ve ever received?
- Describe a unique skill of yours that you don’t use very often.
- If you had the time and energy to learn any language? What would it be?
- What would be the last meal that you eat before you die?
- Who inspires you and why?
- What song typically gets stuck in your head?
- What is a different decision that you would have made in the past year?
- Name five things that you offer in a friendship. Why are these things valuable?
- Describe a time in your life when you chose to do the right thing.
- If you could give $10,000 to any charity, what would it be?
- What is something that you’ve always said you’re going to do but never taken the steps to get there?
- Where do we go when we die?
- Tell me about the last time you did something for the first time.
- What is something that you take for granted?
Final Thoughts on 50 Journal Prompts to Help You Unwind and Self-Reflect
I hope these journal prompts help you take some time to self-reflect. Writing doesn’t come naturally to everybody. For that reason, I tried to offer journal prompts that would get your wheels turning with questions that you haven’t thought of before.
If you’re not excited about what you’re writing topic, then you probably won’t have much success. So, make it easier on yourself and don’t waste time staring at a blank page.
Did these journal prompts help you? What are some questions you would suggest? Tell me below in the comments!
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Allie Schmidt
Allie Schmidt is a rare disease advocate and disabled mom living with motor neuron disease. She founded Disability Dame in 2020 to provide tips to other moms living with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
In her spare time, you can find her traveling with her husband (she's been to 38 states and 16 countries!), watching reruns of Survivor, or tending to her near-constant sunburn from spending too much time outside. You can follow her adventures here.