One of the best ways to ensure stay on track with your New Year’s Resolutions is to keep yourself motivated. These 31 journaling prompts will hype you up and get you excited to conquer your goals.
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According to an article published by Business Insider in 2017, 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail by February. So, whether you want to save money, lose weight, be more productive, or get promoted, unfortunately, the odds are stacked against you.
But, that’s not to say that you will fail.
The #1 key to accomplishing your goals is having a game plan. That game plan is going to include a lot of small daily actions.
One of those actions should definitely be to motivate and hype yourself up. Often, people start off with a lot of motivation and drive. It’s what keeps you going when the going gets tough. But after a week or so, that motivation begins to drop off and it’s easier and easier to slip into old habits.
That’s where journaling comes in to play. Journaling can increase your productivity and keep you engaged with your goal.
A study performed by Harvard Business School showed that employees who wrote in a journal or log book each day saw a 22.8% increase in performance compared to those who didn’t.
But, what should you write about?
That’s why I created this post. I have spent hours researching and finding motivational triggers to help you achieve your New Year’s Resolution this year, and put them into a list of 31 journaling prompts for you to start in January.
But, before rushing into this list of journaling prompts for the New Year, I want to give you some other tips to help you along the way.
Tips to Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution
Hold Yourself Accountable with a Habit Tracker
The idea of the habit tracker comes from bullet journaling. But, you don’t have to keep a bullet journal in order to track your daily habits.
You can have a look at this post for everything you need to know about habit trackers.
Write Down Your Goals
It’s very highly recommended by most life coaches, motivational speakers, and business professionals to write down your goals. It makes them concrete.
I recommend writing them down, in depth, in the same notebook you will be doing your journaling in. Visualize your goal and then write it down.
For example, if you want to lose weight, describe what that looks and feels like. Describe what excites you about the goal. Go into detail with how you plan to achieve your goal.
From there, copy the main goal onto sticky notes and place them around your house where you will be forced to see them frequently.
Find an Accountability Partner
Ask your friends, significant other, sibling, co-workers, etc. to be your accountability partner. It’s much more effective if they have a similar goal and you can work together to achieve your goals.
But, even if you don’t have anyone who is working towards the same thing as you, find someone you can report in with.
Make a plan to call or text them daily to tell them what you have accomplished.
Perhaps you are an aspiring novelist and your goal is to finish your draft by May. So, every day you are going to write 700 words. When you have written your chosen amount of words, send a text to your accountability partner.
Ideally, they will be motivational and send a congratulatory message back.
Forgive Yourself and Move Forward
Everyone slips up here and there. But, just because you ate an extra cookie that Susan brought into the office doesn’t mean you have to throw out your goal and call it quits.
Allow yourself room for error and failure. That’s how you grow and learn.
The important part is that you stay consistent. If you fall off the wagon for a minute, get right back up, dust yourself off, say a few motivational words, and start again.
Recommended Journaling Supplies
31 Journaling Prompts for the New Year
There is no right or wrong way to journal. But, you like anything else, you should make a plan.
Decide how long you want to commit to journaling each day. Choose a manageable time that will allow you to get your thoughts out on paper, but not so much time that it becomes a gruesome chore.
I recommend starting with five minutes. You can always keep writing past the five-minute mark but aim to write for at least five minutes.
During that time, get rid of any distractions. Shut off your phone or put it on silent in another room. Turn off the television. Close the browsers and email client on your computer.
If you absolutely hate silence, like me, turn on some classical music. It’s been proven to help with cognitive function.
Most importantly, just respond to the prompt. Don’t set expectations on how you should write, your spelling, handwriting, or other irrelevant details. You are only doing this for you, so allow yourself to write freely.
Also, don’t forget to snag the free printable list of journaling prompts at the bottom of this post.
31 Day Prompt List
- My goals for 2019 are…
- My biggest reasons for pursuing this goal are…
- I am inspired by ______ because…
- My biggest fears are ______ because…
- Achieving my goals looks like…
- To date, my greatest accomplishment is…
- Something hard I have overcome in the past…
- My action plan for next week is…
- Week one was…
- I am most productive at ______ time and I think it’s because…
- Some of the things that make me happy every day are…
- 10 things I love about myself are…
- My biggest, craziest goal in this life is…
- If I had 24 free, uninterrupted hours I would…
- My friend, ______ is an amazing supporter because…
- In five years I see myself…
- My favorite motivational quote is ______ because…
- Today, my biggest struggle was…
- I may need to ask for help with my goal. I would ask ______ because…
- How would I feel if I didn’t achieve my goal?
- When people talk about me, I want them to say…
- The biggest challenge I have faced so far with this goal is…
- My current plan of action is ______. Do I need to revise or change anything?
- My biggest role models have ______ traits that I would like to embody. How will I do it?
- I will keep myself motivated in the following months by…
- What will I be missing out on if I continue to pursue this goal? Are those things really important?
- My ideal day looks like…
- Sometimes I wish… How can I make that wish become a reality?
- I will hold myself accountable for my actions by…
- Once I reach my goal, I will maintain it by…
- It’s been one month! I did it! I am proud of myself for…
These prompts can be used at any time, not just at the beginning of the year. If you are starting a new goal, consider journaling throughout the process.
Perhaps, after you have completed these 31 journaling prompts you will continue on with your daily journaling if has proven effective. You don’t need prompts.
Write what is on your mind. What is weighing heavy? But also, what are you grateful for, proud of, inspired by? Sometimes it just takes getting the thoughts onto paper for the emotions to kick in and pump you up.
Free Printable Prompt List
Of course, in the usual fashion, I created a printable prompt list so you can easily reference it each day and check off the prompts you have completed. This is a US Letter size PDF and only requires black ink. I hope you enjoy it!
If you feel comfortable, let me know what your goals are for 2019 in the comments below. And if you complete this month of journaling prompts, let me know how you liked it. Did it inspire and motivate you?
Thetesa says
Thank you for sharing, this is a great list!
Aurora says
I have a regular journal, but I think I’m going to buy a journal for 2019 where I write from daily prompts. While I like writing down my thoughts and memories, I really like the idea of contemplating something specific each day of the year. Even just reading that sentence back makes me feel excited. Totally something I’m going in 2019.
Quieralyn Mary Bourdo says
I love this post! Thanks for all the ideas! <3 You are wonderful!
erinnichols91 says
Thank you so much! This makes me smile and I cannot fully express my gratitude for your kindness. Thank you!