Journaling is known to be a great tool to help keep your thoughts organized and reflect on your day.
I myself use journaling mainly as a way to help me track and ultimately reach my goals (both short and long term).
Setting and keeping up with my goals is something I’ve been struggling with for as long as I can remember, and journaling has turned out to be be my ultimate saviour!
I love to journal based on fun yet insightful prompts to either look back on my day or use it a form of inspiration for events in the (near) future.
When I’ve had a long day though, I found it can be quite challenging to come up with some powerful journal prompts that actually will ultimately help me get further ahead in life.
That’s why I decided to make a list of 101 fun and powerful journal prompts which I would love to share with you as well. I hope it will help you as much as it helps me!
101 Best Fun And Powerful Journal Prompts For Adults
- What would your dream life look like?
- If you could go 5 years back in time, what advice would you give yourself?
- What is the thing you like most about yourself and why?
- Name 10 thinks that make you smile
- Today I am going to treat myself with …
- Today I will let go of the following negative thought: …
- What is one goal you are going to commit yourself to reach by the end of this year?
- How have you changed since last year?
- What is your favourite place in the world and why?
- What would be your absolute dream job? Why?
- What is something you can you do today to get you a step closer to your ultimate goal(s)?
- Describe your dream partner
- What is something you would do if you knew for sure you could not fail?
- What is your main characteristic you want to be remembered for? Why?
- What were you most grateful for today?
- If you could give the entire world one piece of advice, what would it be?
- Who made you smile today and why?
- What is a skill you enjoy and are good at and how could you incorporate it more in your daily life?
- How would you personally define success?
- What are you most proud of and why?
- What is something your have never done and still want to do some day?
- What is the one main thing that is standing in the way of reaching your ultimate goals? And what would be a first step to eliminate this thing?
- Who do you need to tell you love them more often?
- Do you believe in true love?
- What is something you can add to your self-care routine?
- Who in your life do you trust most?
- What was your best date ever?
- What could you do today to improve your relationship?
- Who have you been out of contact with for a while and would you like to reach out to again?
- What type of fashion style would you like to try out that you don’t normally wear?
- What is your favourite physical feature of yourself?
- Have you ever truly been in love?
- What is skill you would like to learn somewhere in the (near) future?
- Would you like to travel solo at some point in your life?
- Who is your best friend and why?
- Who do you like to spend your time with most?
- Do you prefer to be alone or in company?
- Who has helped you the most throughout your life?
- What is your favourite quote and why?
- What is the last dream you’ve had?
- What is the most powerful podcast you’ve listened to lately?
- Choose a word that best describes this current year
- When do you feel like the best version of yourself?
- What type of morning routine would you ideally like to have?
- What is something that you would never tell anyone?
- When do you feel most inspired?
- Who is someone you admire and why?
- What is your number one favourite memory?
- What is your favourite book?
- What is something you would like to do with your partner someday?
- What is something you should say ‘no’ to more often?
- What is something you can’t stand in another person?
- When you think about the future, what is the number one thing that you hope to have achieved?
- What movie has impressed you the most and why?
- In what way did a negative event in your life actually turn out to bring you something positive as well?
- Write a poem or quote that describes your current mood
- Describe a compliment that was given to you that you remembered ever since
- What is something that you should forgive yourself for?
- What is something you should ask other people to help you with?
- In what way could you add value to your community?
- What qualities do you think the people around you value you for most?
- What would your dream home look like?
- Make a list of 10 people you love and describe in detail why you love them
- Who is the wisest person you have ever met and why?
- What could you to today to improve your overall health?
- What does your evening routine look like and what would you like to change or add to it?
- What is your favourite part of the day?
- When do you feel most at peace?
- Do you think others would describe you as an introvert of extrovert?
- What is the best thing that happened to you this week?
- What is on the top of your bucket list?
- In what way is journaling positively effecting your life?
- What would you say is your superpower?
- What would your life look like when you are living up to your fullest potential?
- What is something you’re looking forward to?
- What is something new that you would like to try out this week?
- What can you do to receive a deeper connection with your friends and family?
- What has been your bravest moment in life?
- What would you describe as your biggest strengths?
- What is something you should stop worrying about because you have to control over it anyway?
- When are you going to schedule an entire self-care day?
- What is something you want to celebrate this month?
- In what way did your life change most compared to last year?
- What emotion would best describe your day?
- Think of three ways to help you live more in the present moment
- Would you like to run your own business some day?
- Which famous person would you like to switch places with and why?
- What year has been your best year so far?
- What is something that can help your relax the most?
- Who would you say is your role model?
- What is your favourite time of the year and why?
- What song or lyrics best describe your current life situation?
- Who do you currently (secretly) have a crush on?
- What do you find most attractive in another person?
- Would you rather live in the city or the country side?
- Do you think that you’ve already met your soulmate? If so, who is it?
- Where do you see yourself in 6 months?
- What are you currently avoiding out of fear?
- What are your health related goals for next year?
- What are you grateful for to have let go of?
- What can you do to make today better than yesterday?
How Do You Start And Write A Good Journal Prompt?
A good journal prompt is often a prompt in the form a of a question. These questions can cover different aspects of your life.
You could think of questions about your personal development, relationships, career, finances, your opinion on specific subjects and so on.
A very important thing to keep in mind here though, is to ask questions in an open-ended manner. That way you won’t be left with just a single worded answer, but you will actually gain more insight in your thought process and feelings. When you do want to ask a ‘closed’ type of question like for example ‘who do you look up to?’, try to automatically add the question ‘and why?’ to it.
How To Keep Your Journal Private
Your journal is probably the one place where all your deepest secrets get spilled. So it’s only understandable that you don’t ever want someone to find it and start reading all your heart-spilled stories, thoughts, feelings, ideas and maybe sometimes embarrassing incidents.
I personally love to write down my swirl of thoughts into a physical journal with an actual pen instead of a computer. That does come with a risk of course.
I will share with you a few of my favourite ways you could use to minimize the risk of your journal to leak into unwanted hands:
- Digital: If you want to be absolutely sure no one gets insight in to your deepest thoughts, I would recommend to ditch the pen and paper altogether and securely lock your words digitally. A great and easy way to do this is by using an app like Penzu. With Penzu you can lock your journal with a password and has an auto-lock option for ultimate security.
- Lock It Up: When you still want to keep using a physical journal, you could buy a journal with an actual lock and hide the key somewhere only you know where to find it. Try to keep it in your wallet for example so you will have the key on you any time you leave the house. Another great option is this awesome journal with a three-digit password combination! Good luck to whoever tries to break in to your journal!
- Privacy Policy: Another way to hopefully help keep nosy people from reading your journal, is to start of your journal with an actual personally written ‘Privacy Policy’. Describe in clear words that they’ve entered a very personal space and include some karma-inspired quotes that will hopefully mess with their conscience and convince them to step back from your precious journal straight away!
- Fire place: my last advise to keep your journal private is a rather drastic yet effective one. After writing down your deepest thoughts and secrets that you would never ever want anybody to find out, the best thing to do to prevent someone from reading it is to toss your written words straight in to the nearest fire afterwards. That way you will ensure to sleep sweet and sound at night knowing nobody will ever find your journal, yet at the same time you’ve gotten whatever you needed off your chest.