If you’ve never journaled before, you are truly missing out on an amazing practice. Journaling helps you clear your mind of thoughts, bring you into a better headspace, and make you feel better overall.
But whether you’re new to the practice or have been writing in a journal for years, it can be really helpful to have some prompts at hand that will kickstart your writing flow.
One of my favorites are positive journal prompts. They immediately put be in the right mindset for the day and help me to grow and build a better life for myself.
I wanted to share some of my favorite prompts with you today, so you can benefit from them, too!
35 positive journal prompts
1) What is something that always puts you in a better mood?
2) What is a unique talent you have? How can you use it more often?
3) What are 5 things that went right today, no matter how small?
4) Imagine your perfect day as your ideal self, what would you do?
5) What is the nicest compliment you’ve ever received? Why?
6) What are 5 things people can love about you?
7) What can you do today to make someone else’s life a tiny bit better?
8) What can you do today to bring you a step closer to your goals?
9) What are 5 things you are grateful for today?
10) If you reached all your goals and dreams, how would you feel?
11) What is the most fun you’ve ever had? What were you doing?
12) What do you like to do for yourself to help you when feeling down? Why does it help?
13) Think of something you are afraid of. Then break it down and see why there is no need to be scared at this moment.
14) What has bothered you lately? Will it still matter in a month? Or in a year?
15) What is something that makes you happy every time you do it?
16) How can you use your skills and talents to help someone else?
17) What is the most amazing thing that has happened to you? Why was it amazing?
18) What is something you would love to learn, but never had the courage to start? Why don’t you?
19) Why shouldn’t you give up on your dreams?
20) What is your strongest trait?
21) Who is in your support system? Have you thanked them lately?
22) What is something you’ve been putting off? Why? What can you do to change that today?
23) How can you show someone else that they matter to you?
24) Where do you feel like you “should” be by now? Why do you feel that pressure?
25) How could you make your life more positive?
26) Write about how much you’ve grown in the past year and why that makes you proud.
27) Which mindset will propel you forward the most?
28) Why are healthy relationships so important?
29) Who are you most grateful for in your life?
30) What makes you feel alive?
31) What thoughts and feelings do you want to experience today?
32) How can you take care of yourself today?
33) What is something you are good at?
34) What risks are you willing to take today?
35) What is high self-esteem to you?
What makes positive journaling different?
Now that you’ve read all these journal prompts, I hope you feel inspired to start writing right away!
However, you might be wondering what exactly makes positive journaling different from a normal journal.
Well, here are 10 of the main differences you will find:
1) Positive journaling focuses on what is going well in your life, rather than what isn’t
First off, when you practice positive journaling, you focus more on what is going well in your life, rather than what isn’t.
That might sound like it’s easy to do, but when you’ve had a bad day or week and you’re feeling overwhelmed with stress and anxiety, it can be very difficult to think of something positive.
But the more you practice this technique, the easier it will become for you to see all the good things that are happening in your life.
And just seeing how fortunate you are can make a huge difference in your life!
2) Rather than writing about the problems in your life, you write about how you are going to fix these problems
Another difference in positive journaling is that you don’t necessarily brood over the problems in your life.
Instead, you write about how you are going to fix these problems.
So instead of writing about how stressed you are over a project, you write about what you’re going to do to complete the project more efficiently.
When you focus on solutions rather than problems, it’s much easier for you to feel good about yourself and your life.
Now: don’t get me wrong, I love a good journal rant session where I can let out all my frustrations, but I’ve always found that after I write about how to fix my problems, I feel much better than when I just complain.
So give this technique a try next time you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Also, who says you can’t do both?
You can write about all your frustrations, take a quick break, and then use a positive journaling prompt to come up with a solution!
3) It is a way for you to explore the things that make you happy and what makes your life meaningful
When we are in the rut of everyday life, it can be easy to forget what makes us happy and what makes our life meaningful.
We get so caught up in the day-to-day tasks that we forget about the things that really matter, and we can start to feel like we are just going through the motions of life.
That’s why positive journaling is such a great way to remind yourself of all the things that you love about your life.
And when you do this, it becomes much easier for you to truly appreciate all that you have.
So try writing down three things every day that make you happy and give your life meaning, and see how it changes your perspective on everything!
And the best part?
Sometimes, when we are at a certain job for a long time, we completely forget what our true passions were when we were younger.
Through positive journaling, you get to really dive deep into those passions and get a better idea of what you really want to do with your life.
This can actually help you to gather the courage to turn your life around!
4) It is not a place for complaining, but rather a positive place where you can remind yourself of all the good that’s happening in your life
As I mentioned earlier, there is nothing wrong with complaining and getting things off of your chest every once in a while.
However, during positive journaling, things are a bit different.
Instead of writing about all the things that are going wrong in your life, you are supposed to write about all the things that are going right in your life.
This can be an incredibly powerful way to remind yourself of everything that is truly good in your life and why you should never take it for granted!
When we complain, we focus on everything that is bad in our lives and what’s not working out.
However, when we write about the good things in our lives, we get to focus on all of the positive aspects of our life and how much joy they bring us!
We can also use positive journaling as a way to really appreciate certain people in our lives or certain situations.
For example: if you have a really stressful job or if you have been going through a difficult time with one of your relationships, you can use positive journaling as a way to remind yourself that you are still in a really good place and have so much to be grateful for!
5) It can help you discover your hidden talents and passions
I truly believe that we all have talents and skills that are just waiting to be discovered. Often, they are painfully obvious, while other times, they can be hidden away until you discover them.
However, only a few people are lucky enough to actually discover their real talents and hidden passions and then actually live their life pursuing them.
This is why positive journaling can be such an important tool for self-discovery.
When you combine the act of writing with your passion, you get to really dive deep into yourself and figure out what exactly you love doing.
Not only that, you will find out what you are truly good at.
What is a skill that comes effortlessly to you? Everyone has something that they can do, that takes a lot of work for other people.
If more people took the time to explore these questions and then align their career and life with those skills, the world would be a much better place!
6) It can help you discover your life purpose and mission statement
Writing down your goals is a great way to get things done and take action.
However, positive journaling is not always just about day-to-day goals, it can help you with the bigger picture.
It can help you discover your life purpose and what it is that you are truly passionate about.
Your mission statement is a statement of who you are and what your purpose in life is. It is something that defines you and helps other people understand why they should follow your lead.
So if you are looking for a way to take action toward your goals and also your life purpose, positive journaling can be a great tool for you!
And, it can help you actually understand what your purpose is on this Earth!
7) It can help you create your future in an effective way
Positive journaling is not just about reflection and looking back at the past.
It can also be a way to create your future!
If you are struggling with where you want to be in the future, positive journaling can be a great way to help you figure out how you want your life to look.
What do you want to accomplish? What do you want your life to look like?
What is that picture that keeps popping up in your mind?
You see, we often get told what our futures are “supposed” to look like, and with all that influence, it can be difficult to really know what you want at your core.
If you want to be able to create a future that truly makes you happy, positive journaling can be a great tool for you!
With this practice, you get to really dig deep and understand what YOU want from your life, regardless of societal standards.
8) It can help you find your voice and speak up for yourself and others
One of the most important things that we all need to learn, is how to assert ourselves and speak up for ourselves.
Sometimes we are too afraid to say what we think, or we are too afraid to go against the grain.
But, if you want to be heard and make a difference, you need to speak up for yourself!
Positive journaling can be a great tool for helping you find that voice inside of you and then use it.
It can help you express yourself in a way that resonates with your true self and is also effective in getting your message across.
So if you want to find your voice and use it in an effective way, positive journaling can be a great tool for you!
9) It can help you practice self-love and self-care
Speaking of finding your voice, that is generally only possible when you actually like who you are.
If you are looking to truly live your best life, it is important to be able to love and care for yourself.
If you don’t love yourself, it is hard to truly love others and open yourself to them.
Positive journaling can be a great tool for helping you learn to love yourself more.
You get to take time with your thoughts, reflect on the challenges that you have faced, and then think about things that make you feel good!
You get to write down all of the things that are unique about you, all of the things that make you special, and then take time to appreciate them!
This is a great way to build up your self-esteem and start loving yourself more.
So if you want to learn how to love yourself more, positive journaling can be a great tool for you!
10) It can help you to change your mindset
Apart from loving yourself, positive journaling has one last amazing advantage: it can help you change your mindset!
This is actually the reason that I started writing in my journal.
I was in a dark place and I wanted to change my mindset.
So, I started writing down things that made me happy and things that made me feel good about myself.
And, as I continued to write down positive thoughts, they began to outweigh the negative ones.
The positive thoughts became more prominent and I began to see things differently.
I began to realize that there were so many wonderful things happening right in front of me that I had previously been overlooking!
But not only did I become a bit more positive, but I also started to feel more ambitious and driven.
I started to feel a lot more inspired and I began to see things in a whole new way.
I saw opportunities that I hadn’t seen before and I began to take advantage of them.
So if you are looking for a way to change your mindset, positive journaling can be a great tool for you!
What if you’re feeling negative?
Now that we’ve talked about all the things that make positive journaling different, let’s also take a look at a pretty common issue that you might face when you are about to journal: feeling negative.
Let’s be honest, not every day is great, and sometimes, it can feel as though there is nothing positive to write about.
But, if you feel negative when you are journaling, you are actually in an important place!
It’s ok to be feeling negative sometimes, but don’t let it hold you back from writing in your journal.
You see, writing in your positive journal when you are feeling great is a good practice, but what really helps you grow is to think about these positive prompts while you are feeling down.
That’s when you will truly start to rewire those neural pathways in your brain and you will start to see things differently!
My tip for feeling super negative?
Start with a short gratitude list to put you in the right mindset. This could be anything, you could be grateful for the coffee you are about to drink or the fact that you have a bed to sleep in tonight.
Whatever the case may be, start with something that makes you feel good and then move on to some of these prompts.
Pulling yourself out of a negative mindset for the first time will be such an amazing feeling!
What if you’re feeling stuck?
I know that sometimes when you journal, you might get to a point where you really can’t think about anything to write.
The thing is, your journal is a private thing and you get to choose what to write and when to write it.
If you get stuck, you can simply end your practice for the day, or move on to another prompt without finishing that one, the freedom is up to you!
The important thing is that you are writing in your journal and that you are writing from the heart.
That’s the key to a positive journaling practice.
How often should you journal?
After all that information on journaling, you might be wondering how often you are supposed to do it.
Well, the truth is, there is no real guideline here.
If you feel like it would be beneficial, you could try to gather the discipline to journal every single day for a month, for example.
Personally, I’ve been journaling for years, but I’ll have phases when I write every single day for a few weeks, and then only every few weeks for a few months.
The important thing is to not be hard on yourself. Sure, you can be disciplined, but if you simply don’t feel called to the practice in a certain phase of your life, that is totally fine!
The most important thing is to journal regularly and know that it is a tool in your repertoire that you can always access.
If you can only manage to do it once a week or once a month, that is fine, just make sure that you are not completely forgetting about it.
Sometimes, when I know I have a busy month coming up, I’ll try and journal every single day for the first few weeks of the month so that I have time to write down all my thoughts before they are forgotten.
Final thoughts – listen to what you need that day
Finally, I just wanted to mention that there are so many ways to journal, and none of them is “better” or “worse” than the other.
When you sit down to journal for the day, listen to what you need and what you could benefit from that day.
Maybe, that’s one of the journal prompts I mentioned earlier, or perhaps it would be a rant session to get things off your chest!
Other days, you might want to capture a beautiful memory you don’t want to forget.
You see, there is no rule to what you have to write – be flexible and open to the flow of life and you will always find something to journal about.
I hope this article has given you some useful information on how to start a positive journaling practice and what benefits it can bring.
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