8 Morning Journal Prompts

Morning journal prompts for self-discovery, mental health, mindset to help your start your day and be your best self

Last year was full of changes for me, both wonderful and stressful at the same time. As a result, many of the daily habits and routines I had built had fallen to the wayside as I was trying to find my new stride.

One of those things was my daily journaling habit. But with the start of the new year I’ve added journaling into my morning routine again. And I can already feel the difference it’s made for me.

I’ve been using these 8 morning journal prompts to help prepare my mindset for the day, affirm my goals, and find more joy on a daily basis.

Brand new to journaling? Check out my post on How to Start Journaling for Beginners

My Morning Journaling Routine

Journaling in the morning is a great way to start the day and give your self some self care time before the hustle and bustle of the day. Even if you don’t have a lot of time, a morning journaling practice of 5-10 minutes can help to set yourself up for a productive day.  

Each morning when I sit down at my desk, I like to spend 10-15 minutes journaling. This daily habit helps to prepare me mentally for my day. Allowing me to start my day off fresh by offloading any weighing thoughts I might be having.

I typically follow these 8 daily journaling prompts every morning. Often there is some repetition, but I actually like this. The daily repetition of these journal prompts keeps me focused on my goals and my desired mindset.

8 Journal Prompts to Kickstart Your Day

These are great journal prompts for mental health, self discovery and mindset. Some of these daily writing prompts I’ve found online, while others have evolved over time for me.

Each of these morning journal brings prompts helps to bring sense of purpose and prepares my mindset for the day ahead.

Typically, I like start each daily journal session with a quick brain dump. It can be as short as a couple words about the weather to a few sentences about a situation that had happened yesterday or bothered me.

I use this as an opportunity to release negative thoughts or anything that is on my mind so I can start my day off fresh.

How you answer these journal prompts are depends on how much time you have, and how it fits it your morning routine.

I would say to set aside 10 minutes to start, and and depending how it fits in to your morning routine, you can develop your habit of writing gradually. Even by picking just one of 2 of these prompts a day! 

I follow this 8 step morning journal prompt format:

1. 1. Today I choose to…

1. 1. Three things I’m grateful for

1. 1. Today I’m excited for…

1. 1. I’m ready to welcome…

1. 1. What I’ll do today that will bring me joy

1. 1. I want to carry myself with…

1. 1. I want to treat myself and others with…

1. 1. At the end of the day I want to feel…

Keep reading as I go into detail about how to approach each on of these journal prompts so you can be thoughtful and effective with them..

8 Morning Journal Prompts

1. Today I choose to…

I like to start with this morning journal prompt because it helps to set the tone for the day.

It’s a fairly open ended prompt and can be anything from something an activity you want to do to a mindset you want to keep.

Some examples of mine have been:

• • Today I choose to make to be more thoughtful about my sugar intake. 

• • Today I choose to do one kind thing for a stranger

• • Today I choose to allow myself to take more time for myself

2. Three things I’m grateful for..

Gratitude is really such a magical thing. I promise, just doing this one journal prompt alone daily will make a difference for you. So if you only have enough time to do one journal prompt, this is the one you should do! 

When it comes to writing about what you’re grateful for, choose something specific and something that you are presently thankful for. For me, this feels most rewarding.

3. Today I’m excited for..

With never ending to-do lists, it’s sometimes hard to feel excited for your day. But if you create something to look forward to it, it brings a sense of purpose and reward.

For me these are often simple things like:

• • I’m excited to have ice cream for dessert because it will be a great treat after working all day

• • Watch a movie with my husband without distractions because we’ve both been so busy lately

• • I’m excited to meet my friend for lunch today because it will be so great to catch up.

And as a bonus, I often catch myself enjoying the activity more if I’ve noted it earlier!

4. I’m ready to welcome…

This journal prompt is a bit of a manifesting exercise. It’s for you to welcome whatever you want more of in your life.

It can be as broad as something like joy or prosperity, but like the writing prompt on gratitude, the more specific you can be the better. This will help bring your vision closer to life.

For me, this journal prompt has turned into a bit of a daily list of bigger goals that span my life, career and blog. I use this prompt as a reminder to keep them a daily reminder what I’m working towards.

5. Choose to do something that will bring you joy

I believe that everyday you should do something that brings you joy. This can be something as simple watching the sunset, or doing a face mask.

So every morning choose something nice to do for yourself and actually do it! You deserve it and this is how you build a loving relationship with yourself!

6. I want to carry myself with…

This morning journal prompt helps to remind me who I am and the kind person I want to be.

This prompt is such a great daily check in for how you want to show up for yourself.

Do you want confident for presentation, or calm for a busy day ahead? With this prompt you can help set the tone for your day and how you want to act.

7. I want to treat myself and others with…

This one is pretty self explanatory, but I like this journal prompt because it gives me a daily reminds me to be thoughtful of others, as well as myself.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own worlds we don’t consider how we’re treating both ourselves and the people around us.

8. At the end of the day I want to feel…

I love ending my morning routine with this journal prompt because it helps to give your day purpose.

If I want to feel accomplished at the end of the day I know I’m going to have to cross some items off my list. And if I want to feel relaxed and refreshed, I know I’m going to have to make some time for myself before the end of the day.

On a typical day, doing these 8 morning journal prompts take me about 10-15 minutes. I’ve done it in less or more just just depending on mood and available time.

Making a habit of doing these daily writing prompts have been greatly improved my anxiety and stress, as well as help me understand myself better through self discovery.

I feel like having a morning journal habit is great mental exercise for adults, teens and kids alike, with so many benefits for physical, mental, and emotional health. 

Do you have daily journal habit as well? Let me know in the comments below!

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XOXO,