31 Journal Prompts for Self-Reflection

Looking back on this week

1. 1.What were the high point and the low point of your week?
2. 2.What did you learn this week that you did not know last week?
3. 3.Which moment this week would you handle differently, and how?
4. 4.Where did you show up as the person you want to be?
5. 5.What took up more of your energy than it deserved?
6. 6.Who made your week better, and did you tell them?

How you respond to life

1. 7.When something goes wrong, what is your first reaction: blame, fix, freeze, or withdraw?
2. 8.What criticism have you received more than once? Is there truth in it?
3. 9.How do you usually handle conflict, and how do you wish you handled it?
4. 10.What is a habit you keep meaning to change? What does it give you that makes it hard to drop?
5. 11.When was the last time you changed your mind about something important?
6. 12.What situations bring out your best self, and which bring out your worst?
7. 13.How do you react when someone else succeeds at something you want?

Your inner voice

1. 14.What does your inner critic say most often? Whose voice does it sound like?
2. 15.What is a story about yourself you repeat that might be outdated?
3. 16.When do you trust yourself, and when do you second-guess?
4. 17.How do you talk to yourself after a mistake?
5. 18.What do you need to hear right now that nobody is saying?
6. 19.What are you avoiding thinking about?

Bigger picture reflection

1. 20.How have you changed in the last year, and what caused it?
2. 21.Which past decision are you most grateful you made?
3. 22.What chapter of your life are you in right now? Give it a name.
4. 23.What regret still visits you, and what is it trying to teach you?
5. 24.Are you spending your days in a way that matches your priorities?
6. 25.What would the version of you from five years ago think of your life today?

Carrying the lessons forward

1. 26.What is one lesson from this season of life you want to keep?
2. 27.What do you want to start, stop, and continue?
3. 28.What is one question you want to keep asking yourself this month?
4. 29.What does progress look like for you right now, in practical terms?
5. 30.What advice would you give yourself if you were your own mentor?
6. 31.What will you do differently tomorrow because of what you wrote today?

Tips that make it stick

• •Reflection works best with a little distance. Wait a few hours after a heated moment before writing about it.
• •Notice the emotion behind a memory, not just the event. Naming it precisely, like regret, pride, or embarrassment, makes the lesson clearer.
• •Balance every critical observation with one thing you did well.
• •Keep reflection time short and regular rather than long and rare.

Related feelings