Self reflection is such a huge part of personal growth that should never be understated.
Without having an awareness and understanding of our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, we’re unable to hold ourselves accountable and take the steps necessary to grow within ourselves.
Which is why I find insightful journal prompts for self discovery so transformational.
I know from my experience that journaling is a powerful tool to develop this level of self awareness, but that it’s not always easy to know what to journal about to get that transformation.
That’s where insightful journal prompts like the ones in this post come in.
Journal prompts for self discovery can play a powerful role in allowing us to look deep within when we’re struggling to find the answers.
I’m sharing some of my favourite self reflection journal prompts with you in this post so that you too can reap the benefits of journaling for personal growth!
Keep on reading to find out more about using self awareness journal prompts to get the most from your personal growth journey.
This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure.
Why use self reflection journal prompts?
So before we get onto some of my favourite insightful journal prompts for self discovery let’s look at an important question… why should you use self awareness journal prompts?
Well… if you’re wanting to cultivate more self-awareness to grow and improve on yourself then that’s a good start, right?
But of course there’s more to these journal prompts than that.
Truth is, developing self awareness isn’t always easy, especially if you’ve never made an attempt to try and get in tune with yourself before.
It can be difficult to know how to look within when you’re not used to doing so. It can even be difficult when you are used to doing so.
And while some people may find it completely easy and natural to identify their inner workings quickly, it takes a little more digging than that for most of us.
And if that’s the case for you then self awareness journal prompts can help to make that a hell of a lot easier.
Self reflection journal prompts help to give you that nudge into your own subconscious when you need a little helping hand in identifying what’s going on beneath the surface.
They prompt you to think about things in ways that you may not have ever considered before, which is how you get the most transformational results on your personal growth journey.
In summary, they can be powerful assistants on your journey to self awareness!
So if you’re ready to level up on your journey of personal growth then consider using these insightful journal prompts to help you get there.
How to use journal prompts for self awareness
Hopefully by now you have a good understanding of why to use insightful journal prompts for self discovery and awareness, but let’s look at how to use them.
Knowing how to use your self awareness journal prompts will help you to get the most out of them.
Follow these simple steps to get the best results from your journaling practice.
1. Set aside a time to write
As with any other practice, it’s important to set aside a time that you can dedicate purely to your journaling.
This will ensure that you actually do the practice rather than just thinking about doing it (we’ve all been there).
You also want to be completely free of distractions so you can focus solely on reflection. Allocating time to your journaling will allow for this to happen.
It’s up to you how frequently you do this, and it will depend on your schedule how much time you’re willing to allocate, but try to stay dedicated and consistent no matter how little time you have to spare.
And as a general rule of thumb I would aim to set time aside for journaling at least once a week at a minimum!
2. Choose a journal prompt
When you’re ready to sit down and journal during your allocated time, it’s time to choose a journal prompt to work with.
I know what you’re thinking… just one?
Yes! The idea is to pick just one prompt to work on per session.
Working with a singular prompt means that you have enough time and energy to go in depth around the prompt, rather than just touching the surface.
You’ll find that you get much more transformational results when you allow yourself to go all in on a singular prompt than you do speeding your way through all the insightful journal prompts on the list.
So choose a journal prompt that you think feels the most relevant and aligned to you right now so that you can start getting to work on it!
3. Write whatever comes to you
The most transformational way to journal is something that I like to refer to as “free writing”.
This is the process of writing continually during your allocated time without taking any breaks.
That means not stopping to think about what you’re going to write next in between sentences, and definitely not thinking about what words are going to sound best.
The aim is to practice free writing whatever comes to you and allowing it to spill onto the page, without thinking about it or questioning it.
This might sound like a hefty task, but you’d honestly be surprised at how carried away you can get once you start allowing yourself to get lost in the process.
And the best part is that this technique allows you to write from the subconscious, rather than the conscious mind.
This means you’ll be digging deeper into your inner workings and revealing more hidden truths about yourself, which will result in a huge impact on your levels of self awareness.
4. Aim to write a certain amount
To really get in depth on the topic, you should aim to write a certain amount in response to your journal prompt.
Only writing a few paragraphs means that you’ll likely still only be scratching the surface, even if you practice free writing for those few paragraphs.
So instead, aim to write a certain number of pages, or alternatively aim to continually write for a period of time e.g. 15 minutes.
You might wish to start out with a lower page count or time goal while you’re getting used to the practice, and then slowly increase the amount you aim to write as you get more familiar and confident with writing from deep within.
And remember, your page count or time goal should be seen as a minimum, not a place where you have to stop.
If you reach your milestone but you still feel like there’s words that need to come up and out onto your page, then please please keep going! The last thing you want to do is stop the process prematurely.
So once you hit your page/time goal and once you feel like you’re in a natural place to stop then you can close your journaling session and go about your day.
80 Journal Prompts for Self Discovery
Now that we’ve covered the basics of why to use self awareness journal prompts and how to get the most of them, let’s give you some material to work with!
These journal prompts for self discovery have been designed to help you dig deep into your unconscious and your inner workings so that you can become more self aware and work towards becoming your best self.
Remember to work with one of these insightful journal prompts at a time and to allow yourself to go deep with it to get the best results.
In fact, why not challenge yourself to 80 days of self awareness journaling with these prompts? The PDF below will help you stay on track.
Now, without further ado, here are 80 of my favourite insightful journal prompts for self discovery…
- I am grateful for…
- I am craving…
- I feel most like myself when…
- Something I would love to do but not sure I can is…
- I feel amazing about myself when I…
- I feel negatively about myself when I…
- I’ve been putting off…
- I would love to get some support with…
- I feel…
- My biggest regret is…
- My ideal day would look like…
- One thing I’ve always wanted to try but haven’t is…
- To me, success looks like…
- My biggest fear is…
- My biggest strength is…
- Over the next year, I would like to improve on…
- The best piece of advice I’ve ever received is…
- If I was speaking to younger self, I would tell them…
- Right now, I feel like I am missing…
- The most important people in my life are…
- My biggest insecurity is…
- The thing I love most about myself is…
- I can’t stand it when other people…
- I feel most valued and loved when…
- To someone I mistreated in the past, I would say…
- My spiritual beliefs are…
- My boundaries are…
- My dream career is…
- I feel most unsatisfied when…
- I show my love for others by…
- When I am challenged, I feel…
- When somebody breaks my trust, I feel…
- When I am struggling, I need…
- Signs that I am overwhelmed are…
- I feel most creative when…
- When I feel unappreciated, I…
- I am most productive when…
- When I am feeling low, the best way to lift my mood is…
- I feel most at home when…
- My worst habit is…
- My fondest memory is…
- My worst memory is…
- I couldn’t imagine living without…
- To me, love means…
- Something I wish others knew about me is…
- I feel healthiest when…
- I would describe myself as…
- My biggest life lesson has been…
- Something I would love to learn more about is…
- I feel happiest in my skin when…
- In ten years, I see myself as…
- To me, happiness means…
- If I knew I couldn’t fail, I would…
- If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go…
- The person I look up to most is…
- I feel most at peace when…
- I want to be seen/recognised as…
- Something I need to let go of is…
- I could take better care of myself by…
- By the end of my life, I want to have accomplished…
- I feel most alive when…
- I feel most inspired by…
- I manage stress by…
- The best gift I’ve ever given or received is…
- Something that excites me about the future is…
- My relationship with social media is…
- My favourite hobby is…
- Something that has been bothering me recently is…
- I could be calmer if I…
- To me, the meaning of life is…
- Something that makes me sad is…
- I feel most anxious when…
- I would like to feel…
- Habits that support my wellbeing are…
- I feel guilty when…
- I feel connected to the universe/god when…
- I feel most confident when…
- I could enjoy my life more by…
- I often get compliments about…
- My favourite thing to do with other people is…
Journal Prompts for Self Discovery PDF
If you’d like to print these journal prompts out so you can easily access them for your journal practice, you can get all 80 of them in a printable PDF!
Sign up to get your free journal prompts for self discovery PDF!
Other resources for personal growth and reflection
Start Where You Are: a journal for self-exploration
Self Discovery Journal for Women: 365 magical lists for happiness, gratitude and everyday bliss
The Year of You: 365 journal writing prompts for creative self-discovery
And there you have it, those are my 80 favourite insightful journal prompts for self discovery.
I hope that you enjoy working with these self awareness journal prompts to cultivate more self awareness in your own life.
Remember, consistency is key for the best results so try to keep a regular journaling practice even if this is only 5 minutes every week.
Enjoyed these insightful journal prompts? Check out these related posts:
- A Guide to Moon Journaling for Sacred Self Care
- 34 Journal Prompts for Depression Relief
- 30 Days of Gratitude Journal Prompts
- How to Start a Gratitude Journal (and Keep It!)
- Improving Yourself: 28 Positive Questions To Ask Yourself Daily
- 51 Powerful Mindfulness Journal Prompts for Self-Awareness
- 55 Insightful Journal Prompts for Self Growth and Healing
And don’t forget to pin this post for later!
Esther is the founder of Through the Phases. Her mission is to help other women to cultivate self-awareness and find what lights them up, so that they can more easily navigate the stressors of life! She does this through sharing healthy mind/body/soul practices and habits. Read more about her story here.