Mental Health Journaling Prompts

Day 1: Think of all the positive, non-physical words that describe what an amazing human being you are. You can have fun with this and make it creative by writing it in a crossword style format or just list them all out. Come back to this page when your feeling down or not your best to remind yourself of why you’re here and how important and wonderful you are

Day 2: Write the word “HAPPY” in big letters somewhere on your page. Now write all the things that make you happy that you can think of off the top of your head. Come back to this page whenever something makes you feel happy and write down. Leave a blank page so you have plenty of space in the future.

Day 3: Daily affirmations! An affirmation is typically an “I…” statement that helps to encourage positive thinking and self-empowerment. I find that saying mine out loud regularly helps me. Here are some examples: (pic) Feel free to use any of these as a starting point for your affirmations and what you think you need. Write down 10-15 affirmations and try to say them out loud for a few days and see if it makes a difference!

Day 4: How are you, really? I want you to tell your journal exactly how you’re feeling and be as honest as possible. For some reason, we are programmed to reply with “I’m good!” when some asks how we are, even if we aren’t. This is a space to check in with yourself and let out how you’re really feeling. Maybe you feel fantastic, great! Write about it! Maybe it's been an absolute shit day, write about it. Just be truthful with yourself and allow yourself space to feel. This type of check in is great to do regularly.

Day 5: Things you can control! Think about 5 to 8 things that you are in control of and write them down. You can get as creative as you want with these pages. I drew (or at least attempted to) a cartoon octopus and used each tentacle as holding onto one of my things I can control. Just making a list is completely fine too! Whatever you’re in the mood for. This is another great page to come back to, especially if you’re feeling overwhelmed. I attached my poorly drawn octopus and things I can control for some jumping off points. It may also be helpful for you to think of ways you can control these things.

Day 6: We hear a LOT about self-care, but self-care can take so many different forms and target certain areas of the self. Set up three categories on your page: Mind, Body, Spirit. Write 3-6 different self care activities for each aspect of self-care. Try to make it a goal to do one from each category a day. If you already do 1/day from each category try to do 2.

Day 7: Think about the year 2030…. Seems a long time away, but time’s funny and it will be here sooner than we realize. Think about what a day in your life in the year 2030 is going to look like. What are you doing for work and does it make you happy? Do you have any side projects? Are you married with a family or single and going on regular weekend adventures when you get off work? Do you have a house, a skyline apartment in the city, or maybe one of those amazing converted vans to support your wanderlust? Any furry friends? Are you excited for any upcoming trips or events? Using first person, write about a day in your life in 2030.

Day 8: Think about all the loving, supportive people in your life that you know you can turn to for both when you succeed and when you’re down and out. Make a list of those people on this page. Maybe even reach out to one of them that you haven’t talked to in a while and say hi.

Day 9: Check in with your body. Write about how you’re feeling and what you need? Do you realize your lips feel kind of dry and you haven’t really had water while you were watching lectures? Maybe your back and neck are stiff and some stretching would help. Have you been looking at a screen all day and your eyes are sore? Maybe a break or turning on a blue light filter would help.

Day 10: Manifestation wheel! Put a circle in the center of the page and write down what you want. Draw a bigger circle around it and write positive affirmations around what you want.

Day 11: Take a separate piece of paper and write a letter to someone you want to forgive. Fold it up, put it in an envelope and tape it in your journal.

Day 12: What do you wish you could tell your younger self?

Day 13: List things that haven’t gone right or the way you wanted in your life and next to them in a different color, write what the silver lining was or what you learned from it. Everything happens for a reason, even though you may not be able to see what it is right away.

Day 14: Separate your page into two columns. In the first one, make a list of things that give you positive energy. In the second, things that give you negative energy/drain you. Identifying what fills you up versus what drains you can help you to prioritize things that fill you up. Notice which column is a longer list and think about how that affects you and if you want to try to make any changes based off your lists. Some negatives we may not be able to avoid, but others we definitely can. Be mindful of your energy.

Day 15: My #1 Priority this week is... --> I want to do less .... --> I want to do more.... --> This week I want to feel.... --> To feel this way I will.... --> If I get stuck I'll remember

Day 16: Write about one of your favorite memories

Day 17: What are you grateful for today? Try to be as descriptive as possible rather than something more general like “nature” or “food” write what exactly it is about the general thing, like the way the warm sun feels on your skin or the smell of sauteed onions and garlic, that you’re grateful for. A general list works too, but being more specific helps us to really appreciate the little things! Do whichever you prefer or have time for :)

Day 18: Five reasons someone would be lucky to have you as a part of their life.

Day 19: Write about your perfect day from when you wake up until you go to sleep. Who are you with? What are you eating? Where are you or where are you going? What are you doing? Think of all the things that would make up your perfect day and let your mind run wild.

Day 20: Consider yourself at your worst- at a point where all of your most negative and disruptive traits have come to surface. Capture that version of yourself in your mind. Then write a letter of love, understanding, and compassion to that version of you. (This is another page you can revisit!)

Day 21: What’s one thing you need to do but keep avoiding? Write it down. Then write a step by step description of actually doing it, including every action needed to get it down. At the end of the exercise, explore how you feel.

Day 22: What do you need to forgive yourself for?

Day 23: Write a letter to your parents.

Day 24: If there was no chance of failure, what would you do?

Day 25: What are your current short term goals?

Day 26: What would your child self say/think about who you are today?

Day 27:Make a list of things you love it when people do them (yes, the cute trend on tiktok)

Day 28: Who says you can only set goals and resolutions on New Year's?? Set a goal that excites you. Set a that scares you.

Day 29: Think of how you've changed and grown over the past year or so. Think about what you can thank yourself for in that time and write yourself a thank you note