52 ESSENTIAL Journal Prompts For When You Feel Stuck In Life
Feeling stuck in life is a common challenge many people face which is why I have pulled together the ultimate list of 52 journal prompts for when you feel stuck.
As a Mindset and Productivity Coach for perfectionists, this is a regular topic I discuss with my clients as I help them move from feeling hopeless to empowered.
These journal prompts are designed to provide you with practical tools to overcome stagnation and move forward with purpose and in alignment with your values.
Why do perfectionists often feel stuck in life?
There are so many reasons why clients reach out to me for help moving forward in their lives.
Common symptoms of perfectionism such as fear of failure, procrastination, burnout, and unrealistic high standards play a big role in feeling suck in life.
Here are some common reasons you might feel stuck:
- Career stagnation: either you have climbed to the top of the career ladder and feel like there is nowhere else to go. OR you’re stuck in a dead-end job with no career progression available because you’re scared to risk pursuing jobs that you actually want
- Relationships: you struggle with people-pleasing and often neglect your needs in favour of meeting your partner’s expectations. Over time you start to lose who you truly are
- No direction: you spend so much time focusing on the small details and lose sight of your wider goals and values. You feel like you’ve made no progress because you fail to self-reflect regularly
- Not in alignment with values: you are living a life that is not in alignment with who you truly are. You’re playing the ‘role-self’ which you created when you were younger to please your parents however playing this role is making you deeply unhappy
- Procrastination: you waste most of your time scrolling on social media and ‘researching’ ideas without ever actually putting pen to paper and actually DOING something
- Burnout: you go through cycles of go-go-go and burnout because you put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect. You don’t want to delegate and try to take on everything yourself which is unsustainable
- Rat race: you keep going after promotion after promotion and never stop to reflect on whether you actually WANT to take on more responsibilities. You keep striving for society’s definition of success and it is not in alignment with your true self
What is the impact of feeling stuck?
Feeling stuck can have significant negative effects on your mental and emotional wellbeing. For example, you may feel:
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Burnout
- Frustration
- Helplessness
- Despair
- Irritatableness
- Depression
3 reasons journaling helps
- Mental clarity and self-awareness: journaling provides you with a structured space to organise your thoughts and reflect on your experience which will improve your self-awareness over time
- Emotional release: journaling helps you release your pent-up feelings in a safe space without judgment and provides you with a healthy outlet for stress and anxiety. You’ll probably feel lighter and more free after getting everything off your chest
- Intentions and goal-setting: journaling can help you set clear intentions and goals in a way that makes sense for you and enables you to break down the tasks into smaller steps. It is an empowering process that will help you focus on progress rather than perfection
How to journal when you feel stuck in life
- Start small and scrappy: Start with small, messy journal entries. Don’t worry about your spelling, sentence structure or anything really. The goal is to start getting into the habit of writing without judgment. Over time you might want to write more detailed journal entries or you might not. Who knows? Starting is all that matters
- Be honest and open: being authentic with yourself is a key step for getting yourself out of this feeling of being stuck. Allow yourself to express your true feelings without judging yourself for having ‘bad thoughts’ or ‘dreaming too big’. The more honest you are in your journal the more breakthroughs you will have in your healing journey
- Don’t beat yourself: just chill out. Write as little or as much as you want because, at the end of the day, no one has to read it. The purpose of journaling is to help you gain clarity and release emotions not become the next Jane Austen. So have fun with it, scribble over the pages, and write in your messiest ugliest handwriting. Do it because no one else cares. This is YOUR time
52 important journal prompts to help you move forward
Self-reflection journal prompts
Self-reflection journal prompts will help you get a better understanding of your inner world (e.g. thoughts, feelings and behaviours). When you learn how to check in with yourself properly and acknowledge your areas of development, you can make decisions about your life that move you forward.
At the end of the day, self-awareness is the most important skill you need for self-development. It is a step you can’t skip.
- What are my core values and how do they influence my decisions?
- When do I feel most at peace with myself?
- What are my greatest strengths and how can I utilise them more effectively?
- What areas of my life make me feel the most fulfilled?
- What are my biggest fears and how do they impact my life choices?
- Who do I look up to the most and why?
- What am I most unhappy about in life and why?
Related Post: 7 easy ways for perfectionists to increase their self-awareness
Analysing emotions journal prompts
Many people get stuck in their negative thoughts and use their emotions as a tool to keep them living a life they don’t want inside of their comfort zone.
Your emotions can be a powerful resource to help you move forward in life BUT ONLY if you use them correctly.
When you analyse your emotions, you can identify the things that trigger certain feelings and learn how to manage them better. Fear is a normal feeling but as Susan Jeffers said ‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway’.
The more you work WITH your emotions rather than letting them rule you or repressing them completely, the better you will be at dealing with life’s challenges.
- What emotions have I felt most strongly this week and why?
- How do I typically react to stress, and how can I improve my response?
- What emotion am I avoiding, and why am I avoiding it?
- How do my emotions influence my interactions with others?
- What are the underlying causes of my current emotional state?
- What emotions do I struggle to name or identify at the time?
- How does shame and guilt impact my behaviour?
Related Post: 9 Realistic Ways To Have A Guilt-Free Self-Care Day
Letting go of past mistakes journal prompts
When you hold on to your past mistakes, you prevent yourself from moving forward and learning from them. Journaling can help you process your repressed feelings and release them so that you can make room for new opportunities.
You can’t change the past because it has already happened but you can choose to forgive yourself and show compassion for your past self.
I always like to remind myself of this Maya Angelou quote ‘I did then what I knew how to do, now that I know better I do better’.
- What past mistakes do I need to forgive myself for, and how can I begin to do so?
- How has holding onto the past affected my present life?
- What lessons have I learned from my past experiences?
- How can I transform my past mistakes into opportunities for growth?
- What steps can I take to let go of guilt or regret?
- Why am I choosing to punish myself for my past mistakes?
- What still feels unresolved and how can I resolve it within myself?
Related Posts: 123 Affirmations For Growth Mindset and Success
Goal-setting journal prompts
Setting clear, achievable goals gives you direction and purpose when things feel hopeless. You don’t need to set massive long-term goals that feel overwhelming.
Instead, I recommend that you just pick something small and achievable. For example, when I felt stuck in life and I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I focused on small things that would make me feel better e.g. making my bed every day, doing 5 minutes of yoga daily, and loading my dishwasher every night.
Start small, start scrappy!
And when you have the energy, then start thinking about longer-term goals but either way, don’t worry. You don’t need to have all the answers.
- What are my top three short-term goals?
- What small thing can I do every day that would make me feel better?
- How can I make my life better 1 day at a time?
- Where do I see myself in five years, and what steps can I take to get there?
- What daily habits can I develop to support my goals?
- What resources or support do I need to achieve my goals?
- How will I measure my progress and stay accountable?
Related Posts: 8 Areas In Life To Set Goals With 100 Examples (FREE Workbook)
Overcoming challenges and obstacles journal prompts
Life is full of challenges and hard times but journaling can help you navigate them more effectively. Getting into the right mental headspace for success means embracing a growth mindset.
According to Carol Dweck,‘In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work’. This is why you need to train your mind to not give up at the first hurdle.
You need to be proactive, driven and resilient and journaling can help you develop those skills.
- What is the biggest challenge I am currently facing?
- What resources or skills do I have that can help me overcome this challenge?
- How have I successfully overcome obstacles in the past?
- What can I learn from my current difficulties?
- What is one small step I can take today to move past this obstacle?
- What is a challenge that took me by surprise?
- What is an obstacle that turned out to not be a big deal in the end?
Related Post: 7 Growth Mindset Myths That Keep You Stuck
Future-self journal prompts
Visualising the future self-actualised version of yourself can provide you with clarity and motivation to move forward. I know many people who stop themselves from visualising their ideal version of themselves because they are scared of failure and don’t want to let themselves down.
But by doing that, they are robbing themselves of the opportunity to dream big and work towards actually BEING their best self.
When you imagine the person you want to become, it gives you the opportunity to align your current actions with your long-term goals. It keeps you focused on your future and enables you to make decisions that bring you closer to being the best version of yourself.
- What do I see myself doing in 10 years?
- What qualities does my future self possess?
- What habits does my future self maintain?
- What advice would my future self give to my present self?
- How can I start embodying my future self today?
- What emotions does my future self feel on a daily basis?
- How does my future self show up for themselves daily?
- How do people feel around my future self?
- What does my future self look like? How do they feel when they look in the mirror?
Related Posts: Why Perfectionists NEED To Live A Values-Based Life If They Want To Be Happy
Dream life journal prompts
Now you have a clearer idea about the type of person you want to become, you can start working on building a picture of the type of life you want to live.
Your dream life.
Giving yourself the opportunity to explore your dreams and desires will help you connect with your true passions and ambitions. Don’t hold yourself back, just allow yourself to dream big because remember this is your ONE life so you might as well make it worthwhile.
Use these journal prompts to help you create a vision that inspires and motivates you to make the necessary changes in your life that will stop you from feeling stuck.
- What does my ideal day look like from morning to night?
- What activities or hobbies bring me the most joy and fulfilment?
- Where do I want to live, and why?
- What kind of work or career would make me feel most satisfied?
- What relationships do I want to cultivate in my dream life?
- Who do I want to surround myself around?
- What does my home look like?
- How do I spend my weekends?
Related Posts: 8 Simple Steps To Be Anti-Hustle Culture And Productive
Start today and get unstuck
So now you have the tools to help you get out of the hole you have fallen into. Use these journal prompts as often as you need to help develop your self-awareness and motivate you to make the necessary changes in your life.
You don’t have to be a victim anymore.
You can CHOOSE a more empowering story and rebuild your life step by step.
Remember, you only have ONE life and life is for LIVING!
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