One of the hardest parts about journaling is knowing what to write about.

In this post, we’re going to help kickstart your journaling habit. We’re going to provide you with 30+ journaling prompts to help you kickstart your journaling practice.

These journaling prompts can be people of all ages — adults, teens, and even children (some of them).

We have divided them into a four sections:

• Daily Journal Prompts
• Journal Prompts For Self-Discovery
• Journal Prompts For Mental Health
• Journal Prompts For Gratitude

You can use a single prompt or multiple prompts for each journaling session. What matters most with journaling is consistency. Don’t feel like you have to work through dozens of prompts each time you journal. Doing just one each day is enough to have a profound effect on your life. 

Create your own Journaling practice with our free journaling tool: Reflection.app.

Daily Journal Prompts

Use these journal prompts to help you evaluate how your day went, what successes you had, and what you want to change tomorrow. These prompts will help you ensure that you live each day to the fullest.

What did you experience today?

What were the highlights of your day? What brought you joy?

Were there patterns in your highlights?

What were the lowlights of your day? What challenged you?

What did you learn from your lowlights?

What do you want to do differently tomorrow?

What do you want to keep the same?

What are you grateful for today? Why?

Journal Prompts For Self-Discovery

Use these journal prompts to discover more about who you are, your hopes and dreams, your fears, and what you hope to accomplish in your lifetime. These prompts will help you discover more about who you are, what you love, and the things that bring you joy in life.

How do you define success?

Who are you grateful for today? Why?

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? What’s keeping you from making that change?

What is your personal motto? In what ways are you not living by your motto?

What advice would you give to your past self?

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? How often do you apply that advice to your life?

What were your hopes and dreams in the past? What are your hopes and dreams today? In what ways have they evolved?

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

What is something you’ve never done but want to do?

If you weren’t afraid of anything, what would you do?

Who do you look up to the most from your past?

What character qualities do you admire about this person?

Journal Prompts For Mental Health

Use these journal prompts to think through difficult problems, sort through painful issues, and achieve greater mental health and clarity. These prompts are helpful for resolving sticky issues that you can’t seem to get out of your head.

How would your life change if you fully believed in yourself?

When did you experience the most pain? What did you learn from that pain? How have you found peace beyond it?

What one event in your life has changed you the most? Why was it so transformative?

What is keeping you from living your most fulfilled life?

What beliefs are you holding on to that no longer serve you?

What scares you? How can you use your fear to motivate you to take action?

What do you wish you could change about your past? What would change if you made peace with the past?

What do you love most about yourself?

What makes you feel most alive?

Journal Prompts For Gratitude

Use these journal prompts to spark gratitude in your heart. As you journal through them, ponder all that you’re grateful for, why you’re grateful, and how you can continue to grow in gratefulness.

Who are you grateful for? Why are you grateful for them?

What are five things you’re thankful for?

What are some moments where you experienced joy?

What were the best five days of your life? How can you recreate those best days more often?

What are you looking forward to most in the next month?

Who do you need to tell that you love them?

If your life is a story and you’re the author, what does a happy ending look like?

Start Journaling Today

Journaling is an incredibly valuable practice. It has numerous health, emotional, and spiritual benefits. It allows you to take a step back from your life and evaluate what’s working well and what needs to change. Ready to get started? We have created a simple app to help you start and keep a journaling practice. 

If you're looking for additional journaling prompts to grow your self-reflection practice, check out Holstee's Reflection Cards.