91 Ridiculously Helpful Journal Prompts for Self Growth

These journal prompts for self growth will help you connect the dots between who you are now and who you want to become.

Imagine yourself a year from today — you’re happier, healthier, and more successful than ever…

You’re starting to see your wildest dreams come true and for the first time in your life you are truly content with who you are and proud of who you are becoming.

Sounds too good to be true, huh?

Good news sis, it’s not.

And as simple as it is, journaling can help you get there. I’ll tell you more about that later but first let’s talk about how to get the most out of your personal growth journey.

How to Maximize Self Growth (Real Talk)

Ready for some real talk?

This blog post is about self-growth, but to get the best results you can’t do it by yourself.

I am convinced that our relationship with God is the key to maximizing self growth.

He is, after all, the one who created you.

And good news sis, He calls you His masterpiece.

No matter how self-aware you are, He still knows more about you than you know about yourself.

So you can’t truly become all that you were created to be apart from your Creator.

As you lean into and spend more time with God, He’ll help you grow in more ways than you ever thought possible!

Trust that.

So invite Him into this process with you and get ready to see real transformation.

Onto the personal growth journal prompts…

2 Types of Journal Prompts for Self Growth

They’re broken into 2 main categories: Reflection Prompts and Execution Prompts.

The Reflection Questions will help you take a closer look at where you are in your life now and why.

The Execution Questions will help you discover how you want to improve and what to do next.

Let’s jump in.

Journal Prompts for Personal Growth  (Reflection)

via GIPHY

The word reflection automatically makes me think of a mirror.

And i don’t know about you, but i’ve definitely had a love-hate relationship with the mirror.

For better or for worse, it always serves up a reality check.

Hitting the gym and working out? The mirror will show you your results.

Eating half a dozen donuts a week? The mirror will show you your results.

Also I’ve totally never eaten half a dozen donuts in 1 week. #dontjudgeme 🙃 🤣

Why is self reflection important for self growth?

The mirror is like a good girlfriend – it gives you the truth you need, whether you want to see it or not. And truth is required for growth.

But your bathroom mirror is limited to showing you what you look like physically.

What about the rest of you though?

That’s where these self reflection journal prompts come in. They’re like a mirror for your soul. Corny, but true. haha

Seriously though, they’ll help you take a good look at yourself so you can answer 3 insanely important questions:

1. Am i happy with myself / my life right now? Why or why not?
2. What parts of myself / my life do I want to improve?
3. What steps should I take to improve?

Your self reflection prompts will help you answer the first 2 questions. The Execution Prompts will help you answer question #3.

To make it easy, I broke the prompts out into 6 main categories.

Journal Prompts for Spiritual Growth

1. How would I describe my relationship with God?
2. How have I grown spiritually over the last year?
3. Is there anything I sense God’s been leading me to do or change?
4. Is God a priority in my life? Explore this.
5. Am i walking in obedience to God or am I struggling with obeying God? Explore this.

Self Worth / Self Love Journal Prompts

1. What do I like and appreciate most about myself?
2. What am I most proud of?
3. What are my biggest accomplishments?
4. How have I grown over the last year?
5. What’s the last courageous thing I’ve done?
6. What are my most productive habits?

Journal Prompts for Personal Growth

1. What’s an area of my life I’m dissatisfied with and why?
2. What’s an area of my life I’m happiest with and why?
3. What area of my life have I seen the most progress in over the last year?
4. What areas of my life am I most disciplined in?
5. What areas of my life am I least disciplined in?
6. Am I taking good care of myself physically?
7. Am I taking good care of myself mentally and emotionally?
8. Am I managing my money well?
9. Am I managing my time well?
10. What goals am I actively pursuing?
11. What’s stopping me from hitting my goals?
12. What do I waste the most time on during the week?
13. Am I more selfish or selfless?
14. Finish this sentence, “I think my life would be better if…”
15. Finish this sentence, “What I love most about my life is…”
16. What area of my life have I seen the most progress in over the last year?
17. What are my most productive habits?
18. What are the habits I need to break?
19. What are my biggest regrets?
20. What don’t I like about myself?
21. Am I living above, at, or below my potential?
22. What area do I want to grow in most?
23. What am I most afraid of?

Mindset Prompts

1. What are some positive beliefs I have about myself?
2. What are some negative beliefs I have about myself?
3. Do I usually take responsibility or make excuses for my mistakes?
4. Do I usually view the glass as half empty or half full?
5. In the last 24 hours which did I voice more – my complaints or my gratitudes?
6. (If I don’t have any goals ) Why don’t I have any goals?
7. What’s my motivation for pursuing my goals?
8. What emotions do I experience the most on a daily basis?
9. How have I dealt with failure in the past?
10. How have I dealt with rejection or loss in the past?

Relationships / Community Prompts

1. Who do I have in my life who helps make me a better person?
2. Is there anyone still in my life who I’ve outgrown?
3. What makes me a good friend?
4. How have I impacted the lives of those around me?
5. Do the people closest to me inspire me to grow and be better?
6. Can I count on the people closest to me to be honest with me?
7. How do I think those closest to me would describe me?
8. What do I want people to say about me when I’m dead?
9. What impact do I want to have on the world?
10. Am I showing up authentically in my relationships or am I hiding parts of myself? Explore this.
11. What do I think my husband loves most about me?
12. If my husband could change anything about me, what do I think he’d change?

Career / Work Prompts

1. How does my life match up to what I thought it’d look like 10 years ago?
2. Am I satisfied with my career?
3. Am I doing work that I enjoy?
4. How has my career progressed over the last 5 years?
5. What is my biggest career goal?

Read this next: 44 Inspiring Vision Board Printables (Free)

Journal Prompts for Self Growth (Execution)

Like we said earlier, the Self Reflection Journal Prompts help you gain clarity on yourself and your life thus far.

Now it’s time to look ahead and discover what self growth will look like for you.

The Execution questions below will help you figure out what you want your life to look like and how to grow into the person you want to become.

1. Write a letter to yourself describing what you want your life to be like 10 years from now.
2. Write a love letter to yourself that comforts, encourages, and motivates you.
3. What kind of person do I want to be?
4. How do I want to change/evolve?
5. How can I take better care of myself physically?
6. How can I take better care of myself mentally and emotionally?
7. How can I manage my finances better?
8. How can I find more joy and fulfillment in the work I do?
9. How can I be a better spouse/partner?
10. How can I be a better friend?
11. What are 3 things I can do every week to grow personally?
12. What’s one new habit I can develop that would make a big difference in my life?
13. How can I grow spiritually?
14. How can I spend more time with God during the week?
15. Who can I reach out to and connect with this week?
16. What am I most grateful for?
17. What am I most passionate about?
18. What do I think my life’s purpose is?
19. Are there any new skills I want to develop?
20. What are my goals for the next year?
21. What are my goals for the next 5 years?
22. What are the things I need to do to hit my goals?
23. What can I do to experience more joy in my life?
24. What can I do to experience more peace in my life?
25. What are 3 core values I want to define how I live my life?
26. What goals have I accomplished in the last 3 months?
27. What can I do daily to feel more inspired and motivated?
28. What’s my life’s motto?
29. How can I move past my insecurities?
30. How can I tweak my daily routine to make it more productive?

How to use these Journal Prompts for Self Growth

Like we said earlier, journaling is a self growth habit that can help you change your life for the better, if you let it.

Remember in the beginning of this blog post, I asked you to imagine yourself a year from today, happier healthier and more successful than ever?

You know that change like that doesn’t happen overnight.

But it also doesn’t happen without a crazy amount of clarity on where you are and where you want to go.

That’s where journaling comes in.

Think about our mirror analogy from earlier.

Journaling can help you better understand your thoughts, beliefs, motives, needs, desires, limitations and advantages.

That’s invaluable information that’ll help you make decisions that move you closer to being your best self and living your best life.

These journal prompts for self growth are a great place to start.

To get the most out of them, try using my 3 golden rules for journaling:

1. Be honest

No matter how gritty, raw, or unattractive you think the truth is, the truth is still important. Your journal is the place to be vulnerable with yourself. Say the things that you probably wouldn’t say to anyone else.

After all, if you can’t be honest with yourself, who are you going to be honest with?

That brings me to my next point.

“The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

2. Go with the flow

As your journal, try not to filter yourself. Allow yourself to just write whatever comes to mind.

As you do this, you’ll find yourself going from talking about your conscious thoughts, to revealing your subconscious thoughts.

Did you know that we have over 6000 thoughts per day?

SIX THOUSAND.

If I asked you to tell me about all 6000 of the thoughts that swirled through your beautiful mind today, could you?

I’m guessing the answer to that question is a hard “no.”

But even though we’re unaware of those thoughts, they’re still affecting us. They’re shaping our beliefs and influencing the choices we make.

Journaling is an easy way to become aware of some of those hidden thoughts.

This process will help you become more self aware, which is necessary for growth.

“Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing.” – Lawrence Bossidy

3. Go 3 levels Deep

When you ask yourself a question, the first answer that comes to your mind is only a starting point.

Challenge yourself to ask, “why?”

Simply asking “why?” will help you go beyond the surface level. This is where clarity and breakthrough happen.

So ask yourself “why?” 3 times for each question.

“Your mind is like a gold mine, if you dig deep you will find something golden.” — Gift Gugu Mona

Read this next: New Month, New Goals 

The Truth about Self Improvement

Before we get in too deep, let’s circle back and cover the basics.

What is self growth?

Self growth, or personal growth is the process of deciding who you want to become and figuring out how to do it.

How do you grow personally?

Make decisions daily to be the best version of yourself. The beauty in life is that we all get to decide who we want to be.

Unlike our circumstances which are often out of our control, the journey of reaching our highest potential is something we choose to pursue.

Find self-growth activities and work them into your daily routine. As you practice them consistently you’ll find yourself growing and improving.

Use these journal prompts for self growth for 30 Days

Journaling, like any other self-growth practice, can have amazing effects on your life. However like any other habit, it requires practice and repetition to see results.

So I challenge you – Don’t just do this for a day or two, do this for the next 30 days.

And don’t rush through answering these questions, follow my 3 golden rules.

Allow yourself the time and space to answer these questions as honestly and completely as you can.

I guarantee that at the end of 30 days you’ll find yourself feeling more self-aware, confident, and clear on who you want to become and how to get there.

Prayer For self-growth

Father God thank you for creating us with purpose, unique gifts, interests, and abilities. Please help us, today and everyday, to choose to be the best version of ourselves. Give us the desire to develop Godly character. Please help us be purposeful in pursuing the life that you have for us. Help us remember, that as our Creator you know exactly who you’ve called us to be. So as we continue to get closer to you, we ask for clarity, wisdom, and resources to help us in our self growth journey. We thank you for loving us. We love you. Amen.