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Our self is the person we should know better than anyone else. Even though most of us think we have great self-knowledge, it is not as simple as it sounds.
Getting to know yourself is a self-discovery process that takes good listening skills directed at yourself. You need to become your new best pal, and journaling can help with that!
Keeping a journal sounds like something only a younger version of yourself would do, but it is a great self-discovery tool. It is widely used in cognitive therapy and has been linked to major wellness benefits.
Journaling is like sitting down and having a nice chat with yourself. It helps you evaluate the daily events and what is going on inside. Eventually, you will open up to aspects of yourself you didn’t know existed.
Are you ready to give journaling a go? Here are 25 + 1 journal prompts to get to know yourself better.
Is Journaling Good For You?
Before we dig in, let’s answer this big question. If you have given it a try, you may intuitively feel like journaling is good for you.
We empirically know that when we put thought to paper, we feel better and have our minds sorted out. But the benefits of journaling are actually backed by science!
So, what are the benefits of journaling?
Journaling Can Make Emotional Expression Easy
The fast and demanding way of living may not leave time for processing emotions. Sometimes, it is easier to sweep hurtful and hard-to-handle feelings under the rug. Moving past emotional blocks can be challenging, and maybe talking about it can feel like a lot of exposure.
Your journal is a safe and private space for you to open up. There is no need to disclose your thoughts to anyone else, nor do you have to reread anything you write about.
Carving up some time for journaling can help you prioritize emotional expression and integrate it into your busy life. You can use journal prompts like, Write down the positive and negative emotions that came up today.
Journaling Can Have Long-Term Health Benefits
One study has demonstrated that writing about traumatic events resulted in an immediate drop in the mood but led to fewer health center visits in the following six months.
A later study suggested that letting out and confronting negative experiences (talking or writing about them) can improve immune function.
Journaling Can Improve Your Mental Health
Writing about negative experiences like trauma can help reduce stress and depression.
In one study, writing about traumatic experiences (aka journaling about ’em ) has been reviewed in contrast to doing psychotherapy. They concluded that both are equally effective in the “emotional resolution of stressful and traumatic events.”
Journaling Can Help You Track Your Progress
We are constantly evolving creatures, changing with each passing day. Sometimes, it is hard to understand how far you have come when you have nothing to compare your progress with.
Each entry in your journal can serve as a testimony of a past version of yourself. You can go back and read about your thoughts, feelings, and aspirations and see how they have evolved through time. Your notes can secondarily help you track your success toward your life goals.
Journaling Is A Useful Tool In The Learning Process
According to David Boud, journal writing can be a “form of reflective practice, that is, as a device for working with events and experiences to extract meaning from them.”
In other words, we can search for meaning in everything that happens and view life’s experiences as lessons to be learned. After writing about an event, you can look at it from a different perspective and break it down, eventually getting something out of the process.
Also, journaling can help you keep note of your progress in acquiring new knowledge. You can reflect on new learning material, your thoughts, and your feelings about it. You can use journal prompts like: What is interesting about this new knowledge, or how would I like to deepen my understanding of this matter?
How Can Journaling Help In Your Self-Discovery
Journaling Can Help You Learn About Your Likes And Dislikes
It might seem trivial, but when you rush through your day, it is hard to identify the things that bring your mood up or down. We may not have the time to let an experience sink and leave a positive or negative impression.
By journaling about your day, you shine a light on these little moments. You can write about daily events and reflect on how they made you feel.
You may discover that loud honking noises on the street annoy you. Or that the smell of freshly cut coffee from the store puts a smile on your face.
Journaling Helps Identifying Stressors And How You Respond
Similarly to finding out what you like or dislike, journaling can help you pinpoint the things that stress you out. When we are in “go” mode, we may disregard the negative emotions. This can lead to emotional imbalance, which piles up and can result in burnout.
It is also important to note how you react to situations that cause anxiety. Do you deal with stressful situations, or do you flee from them? Can you rationalize or use emotional buffers to calm down, or does the negative experience affect you in the long term?
Pro tip: This process can help you figure out ways to handle your triggers positively and healthily.
Journaling Can Help You Explore Your Dreams And Ambitions
Dreamers are discouraged by modern society. When you dream “out of the box”, insecurities may creep up, like: Am I competent enough, or will I be safe?
Your journal is a personal space where you can be as bold and “irrational” as you want. This freedom may unlock the inner child that wants big things in life. You can write about the life you would like to have ten years from now, your ideal job, or your dream relationships.
Pro tip: By journaling about your dreams, you reveal them to your conscious mind. This makes it easier to start forming a practical plan to achieve them.
Journaling Can Help You Learn About Relationships In Your Life
You can journal about how people in your life make you feel. You may reflect on what you need from a relationship to feel emotional stability. With this information, you can evaluate the relationships in your life and keep close to your heart only people that improve you and make you feel good.
You can also identify your strong and weak points in communicating with others. Find ways to improve your relationships and recognize what more you need from them.
How To Journal
Lashing out on your paper for your daily triggers can sometimes be undeniably necessary. There is no right or wrong way to go about journaling. But there are some things to keep in mind to make the most out of it.
Take The Extra Step
In one study, written emotional expression of a traumatic event was tested in contrast to both emotional expression and cognitive processing of the event.
People who engaged in the second activity were encouraged to write about their efforts to understand the traumatic event, make sense of it, deal with it, and how their feelings may have changed about it.
It was shown that the group that also focused on cognitive processing reaped greater benefits from the journaling process.
Make journaling an active process. You can write down everything you want but also break it down and make sense of it.
Write Daily
Make journaling your new daily habit. One of the factors that matter most in progress is consistency. You need time to ease into a new activity and find purpose in doing it.
You don’t need to journal for hours, but just a few minutes are enough. If you find it hard in the beginning, you can use some of the following useful journal prompts to get to know yourself.
Do Not Use Filters
You don’t have to criticize the things that come out of your mind before you write them down. It can inhibit your initiative and create negative emotions around this activity.
Put your mind to the pen and let everything out raw and unfiltered. Avoid judging your thoughts and emotions. Practice unconditional acceptance and self-love instead.
Also, try not to care about grammatical mistakes, bad letters, or sentences that don’t make sense to others.
26 Journal Prompts To Get To Know Yourself
If you want some ideas on journal prompts to get you started, here are some great journal prompts to get to know yourself better.
Journal Prompts About Your Day
- How was your day?
- What was the best part of your day?
- What would you have changed about your day?
- Did something stress/ annoy you? Why? How did you handle it, and what would you change about your response?
- What are 5 things you appreciated about your day?
Journal Prompts About Yourself
- How would you describe yourself?
- What are your strengths and flaws?
- What can you do to improve yourself?
- How can you live life better?
Journal Prompts About Relationships
- Which people are most important to you? Why?
- What do you appreciate about your friends/ partner?
- What can you do to show up better in your relationships?
- How do you value friendship? What are the aspects of a good friend?
- How do you show and perceive love?
- Which people can you trust? Why?
- What do you have to offer in a relationship of any kind?
Journal Prompts About Your Values
- Which ideals do you feel most passionate about?
- What are the rules you live by?
- What is more important to you than money?
- How can you offer more to the world tomorrow?
Journal Prompts About Your Ideal Future
- How would you describe your ideal future self?
- Describe an ideal day in your life.
- What have you dreamed of for a long time but haven’t done it? Why?
Journal Prompts About Your Mental Health
- How was your mood today? Did it fluctuate? What affected it and why?
- Evaluate your self-talk.
- Did you notice any emotional triggers?
Conclusion On Journal Prompts To Get To Know Yourself
Taking the time to reflect on your thoughts and feelings can lead to a better understanding of yourself and your needs.
Journaling is an excellent tool for self-discovery, and these 26 prompts provide a starting point for exploring various aspects of your identity and personal growth.
By writing regularly, you can gain insight into your motivations, beliefs, and values and identify areas where you want to make positive changes.
Remember to be patient with yourself and approach journaling with an open mind. The process of self-discovery is ongoing, and the more you explore, the more you will learn about yourself. So grab a pen and notebook and start your journey of self-exploration today!
