When you sit down to journal do you find yourself focusing on negative feelings? Do you tend to focus on what went wrong and downplay your achievements? It could be good for your mental health, happiness and relationships to focus on the positive aspects of your life more. Introducing positive journaling into your daily life can help you change your thoughts.
Why use prompts for positive thinking
Let’s first talk about the benefits of positive thinking. Simply put, when you focus on the positive aspects of your life, you’re more likely to feel good about yourself and your future. You start developing a positive attitude.
Remember, your thoughts shape your reality, and by focusing on the positive, you’re paving the way for a brighter future.
Using positive journal prompts
Prompts provide you with a starting point for your journaling practice. Instead of staring at a blank page and not knowing what to write, they give you a direction to go in. They encourage you to focus on the positive aspects of your life and stop the negative thinking before you start writing.
Positive prompts also encourage us to connect with ourselves on a deeper level, to appreciate our worth and potential, and to reaffirm our unique strengths.
What are journal prompts?
Journal prompts are questions or statements that help writers by giving them inspiration or a focus. Prompts can help you to think about a situation or issue from a different perspective, which is why they are beneficial for personal development purposes.
Why and when to use journal prompts?
The main reasons to use journal prompts are when you don’t know what to write, you want to challenge yourself with some different topics or when you want more structure or guidance.
Daily Positive journal prompts
There are two different ways to include positive prompts into your daily journal practice. You can choose to use a combination of both methods; either to concentrate on a certain subject or to vary your writing practice.
Have a list of prompts, and you pick one (or more) that either resonate with your or at random when you want to write.
You can find many prompt ideas by doing an internet search. These prompts are often grouped into themes, so you can get suggestions for the area you’re wanting to focus on. Choose prompts that feel meaningful and relevant to you. For example:
- What’s one thing you love about yourself?
- What is a unique talent you have?
- What is something you love wearing? Why?
- Write down three things that make you smile?
Use the same set of prompts in each journaling session.
I aim to use the same journal writing prompts each evening before bed. I’ve developed this list over a few years, to help me focus on the positive aspects of my everyday life and to support self-reflection.
- Three things have I achieved today
- Three positives from today
- Three things I’m grateful for today
- How have I incorporated my word of the year today?
What next?
Incorporating positive journal prompts into your day means you’ll start to shift your focus to the positive aspects of your life. You’re training your brain to look for the good things, which can lead to improved mental and physical health, increased happiness, and better relationships.
If you decide the practice is beneficial for you, you may decide to experiment with your journaling habit. You can try writing at different times to find what works best with your daily routine. Some people like using positive prompts in the morning as a form of positive affirmations to set up a positive mindset for the day. Other people (including myself) like to do it before bed as a way of feeling calm and grateful before sleeping. You could also create a dedicated gratitude journal or positivity journal.
If you decide you enjoy using positivity journal prompts, you may want to explore other journaling ideas. You can check out more journal prompts to inspire your writing or read more about journaling.