Journal prompts to kick start your self development journey

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’ve finally (FINALLY) created my Vision Board. Yes it’s 6 months into the year but I just couldn’t get my butt off the ground this year. Well better late then never!

Sometimes you just need a little inspo to get restarted. Sharing 20 journal prompts to kick start your self development journey. You don’t have to do all of them, but I would suggest you respond to the prompts that energetically call out to you to answer.

What areas of my life do I feel most unhappy & why?
What specific changes would I like to achieve this week/next month?
What habits do I perform that improve my personal growth?
What new skills do I want to acquire to enhance my personal or professional life?
How do I currently prioritize self-love in my daily routine?
What negative self-talk do I need to overcome to reach my full potential?
Who are the role models or mentors (virtual or in person) I admire & what qualities do l aspire to emulate?
How can I cultivate a mindset of optimism & positivity?
What steps can I take to improve my physical health, such as exercise, nutrition, and sleep habits?
How do I manage my time effectively what strategies can I implement to enhance productivity?
What activities/hobbies bring me joy and how can I make more time for them?
What boundaries do I need to set in my relationships to prioritize my well-being & happiness?
How can I practice mindfulness t0 reduce stress?
What past achievements can I celebrate & draw inspiration from as I embark on this journey?
What fears hold me back from pursuing my dreams, and how can I overcome them?
How do I currently handle failure and what lessons can I learn from these experiences?
What support systems or resources can I enlist to help me on my journey of self-improvement?
How can I cultivate a sense of purpose in my daily life to fuel motivation?
What small, actionable steps can I take today to start making progress towards my goals?
How will I hold myself accountable and stay committed to mv journev of self-improvement

Journal prompts for your birthday!

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

If you know me (or have been around my blog for a few years) you know that I love to journal and truly believe in the benefits of journaling.

Journalling is a form of therapy. It offers a mental and emotional release that you may not even know you need. Furthermore, using journal prompts offers a quiet reflection and forces us to be honest and thoughtful.

For my birthday this year, I chose a few birthday journal prompts to get me to both intentionally reflect on the past 12 months and refocus on the year ahead.

How are you celebrating your birthday (today, this weekend, later this week/month)?
When you think about the last 12 months, what is 1 word that immediately comes to mind? why?
What happened this year that you are so grateful for?
How have you stepped out of your comfort zone this year?
If you could speak to yourself 10 years from, what would you say to yourself? What would Older Self say to you?

Do you use Journal Prompts? Which journal prompts do you love to use?

Happy Journaling!

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Current meditation & journal routine

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Over the last few months I’ve developed a morning routine. Simply put I’ve added meditating and journaling to the start my day.

My focus for these activities is to breath, visualize, have gratitude, be intentional, learn more about myself and connect to shared wisdom.

My longest stretch was ~200 days. At one point I missed a day but because I did it that long it formed a habit. So when I do a miss a day I feel complete outside of myself.

I recently heard someone say, the only thing you can control is your spiritual practice. And it’s so true. Meditation and journaling has been my practice for quite some time now and what I love is no one can take that away from me. I love it so much I share my practice and technique with people at work and my friends.

If you are looking for a sign to start meditating and journaling – let it be this.

Everything is on the other side of consistency, all you have to do is start.

Sitting still and breathing

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I used to think that meditation was about sitting, uncomfortably, for long periods of time. I thought it was mythical and that only a few people achieve it’s intended benefits. I thought it had to be done in complete silence. I thought people who meditated could easily turn off the sounds, sensations around them and thoughts in their mind could be ignored.

I had to let all those ideas go to find my own meditation journey. That said maybe some day I’ll be able to meditate that way. Until then I’ll rely on my favourite guided mediation app Insight Timer.

This app lets you choose the topic of your meditation and a preferred time of the meditation.

My topics of choice are usually: morning meditation, chakra clearing, future self, protective white light, breath work, affirmations or mindfulness. Time wise the sweet spot for me is 7-11 min, preferably 8-9 min.

Now for me the absolute game changer has been to journal after my meditation. I always include a gratitude list but other than that I may journal about what the meditation taught me, what I saw or learned, affirmations, future journaling/thank you letter etc.

I learned this trick after completing the 21 day meditation challenge created by Deepak Chopra and Oprah. It was a whatsapp meditation group (sounds awks – but the community was helpful). And although the meditation topics didn’t resonate with me completely, the practice did (thankfully!)

My Evolution Of Journaling

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Looking inward to find ways to be better for myself is by journaling.

For free writing and diary type entires, I’ve relied on my @dayoneapp. I can write long, free-form and always had an option to export my entire month or year of journaling to a PDF.

I started using the @fiveminutejournal 3 years ago because I wanted to be more present and grateful. It was by far the easiest way to keep me grounded.

When my mornings got to busy and I couldn’t even find 5 minutes to write in the morning because I didn’t have the time to myself I started using the app version of the journal. I would use it on my morning commute – it and made gratitude journaling more convenient.

A few days ago, I found out that I can combine my free form journal writing with my gratitude practice with the ease of an app! I still use paper and pen daily but having everything available on the go without the bulk of a book is a game changer!

Do you journal? Which app do you use or do you prefer a paper journal?

Why I journal (and why you should too!)

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’ve had a “paper and pen” journal for about 6-7 years. I have used a journal different things:

To Do lists (or just lists of things in general)
Trip Planning
Photo/Post ideas
Bucket Lists
Gratitude/Affirmations
Goals/Dreams

There are other things you can use a journal for:

“Dear Diary” type of journaling
Sketching
Scheduling your day/week/month (love love when you can customize a blank page journal to the planner of your dreams!)
Recipes

…obviously the options are endless…

Since I started journaling, I’ve research a lot about journaling and became kind of obsessed with the moleskin journal. I love moleskin because it has so many different types of journals but also the simple blank page or lined page journal perfect for sketching or free-thought-writing.

For me personally, I’ve found that journaling has helped me:

Be more creative
Organize my thoughts
Be mindful
Brainstorm

I believe in journaling so much (good old fashion “paper to pen”) that when Miss S was a few months old, I got her her own moleskin (8×11, blank page). We do all sorts of art projects (seasonal or just something fun) and I usually write a little note about what’s going on that day. I hope one day she’ll see the benefits of it too.