Journal prompts for new beginnings
A new beginning, like a new year, a move, a new job or the first weeks after an ending, is when many people decide to change something. These prompts help you close the last chapter, picture where you're going, and pick one first step. They also plan for the first slip, before it happens.
How to use these. Do the groups in order over a week, one a day. The picture of the future works best with time to write: give it 20 minutes if you can.
Closing the last chapter
A start is easier when the last chapter has an ending. Name what you're leaving.
Picturing what's next
This group uses a tested exercise. Write as if things have gone well, but realistically well. Picturing alone can lower effort, which is why the next group turns the picture into a plan.1
It's a year from now and things have gone about as well as they reasonably could. Describe an ordinary day in detail.
Answer this with JoyThe first steps
Big starts fade fast. One step, tied to a time and place, tends to last longer.
What's one thing I can do this week that the person I'm becoming would do?
Answer this with JoyWhat would a small version of this change look like, one I could keep on a bad week?
Answer this with JoyBeing kind when it's slow
A missed day will probably come. Decide now how you'll treat yourself when it does.
What will I say to myself the first time I slip back into an old habit?
Answer this with JoyHow will I know, a month from now, that something has started to change?
Answer this with JoyIf this start doesn't go to plan, what will I still be glad I tried?
Answer this with JoyWhy fresh starts work, and how to make one last
The first of the month feels different. There's a reason. Researchers found that Google searches for "diet", gym visits and sign-ups to pursue goals all rose after "temporal landmarks": the start of a week, month or year, birthdays and holidays.2
They suggest these dates make past failures feel like they belong to an earlier chapter, one you've already closed.2
The "Picturing what's next" group borrows the best possible self exercise. In the first study, students wrote for 20 minutes on four days about a future in which things had gone well.3 They found it less upsetting than writing about trauma, and they were happier with their lives three weeks later.3
A review of 29 studies found it lifted wellbeing and optimism scores by small to moderate amounts.4
The "When X, I will Y" prompt is an if-then plan. Across 94 tests, plans in this form made people more likely to reach their goals.5
"A year from now: I'm up at seven in the new flat, light through the kitchen window. I walk to work in 20 minutes. I know two neighbors by name. First step: When I unpack the kettle on Saturday, I'll knock on 4B and say hello."
- Close: Name what you're leaving and what you'll take with you.
- Picture: Write an ordinary good day a year from now.
- Plan: One first step in "when X, I will Y" form.
- Expect a slip: Decide now what you'll say to yourself when it comes.
When a new beginning wasn't your choice
Not every fresh start is wanted. A layoff, an illness, a breakup or a move you didn't choose can bring grief along with the change.
If that's where you are, the prompts for breakups or grief may fit better this week, and the ones here will keep until you can picture the future again.
Questions people ask about new beginnings journaling
What should I write at the start of a new year?
Close the last year first: what you're glad to leave and what you'll take with you. Then write one ordinary good day a year from now, and end with one first step you can take in the next seven days.
Why do fresh starts feel so motivating?
Dates like a new year or a birthday seem to make old setbacks feel like part of a past chapter, which makes trying again easier.2 The motivation tends to fade, so a small, specific plan helps it last.
How do I keep going after the first week?
Shrink the change until you could do it on a bad week. Tie it to something you already do. And decide in advance what you'll say when you miss a day, so one miss doesn't turn into quitting.
Related
In the journaling section: journal prompts for self-discovery, journal prompts for breakups and how to start journaling.