Photo of woman sitting on couch writing in journal in front of window with winter scene. — January daily journal prompts for a purposeful start to the new year

Daily journaling for January

Journal through the month of January with me with these January journaling ideas! These January journal prompts explore a variety of topics. In January we’ll journal about change, memories, relationships, and relaxation among other topics. We’ll also do a few fun journaling exercises involving poetry, free association, our dreams, and a personality test.

P.S. If you’re looking for journal prompts for a different month, find your monthly journal prompts here!

Daily journal prompts for January

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Journal Prompts for January 1st

What are you hopeful about regarding the coming year? What do you want to accomplish this year? Looking for New Year’s themed journal prompts, check out Journal Prompts for the New Year here.

Journal Prompts for January 2nd

What activities that are part of your daily routine bring you the most joy? What does joy feel like in your body? How can you incorporate more joy in your life?

Journal Prompts for January 3rd

What’s something about you that most people in your life don’t know about you? Why is this something that you don’t share with most people in your life?

Journal Prompts for January 4th

How do the relationships in your life help you learn about yourself? How do the relationships in your life help you be more true to yourself? How do the relationships in your life pull you away from being true to yourself?

Journal Prompts for January 5th

What travel experience (near or far from home) most influenced your sense of the world or your sense of identity? Write about everything you remember from that experience and how it influenced you.

Journal Prompts for January 6th

Start with the word “mitten” and write down the first word that comes to mind next. Now write down the first word that comes to mind after that word. Try to feel rather than think the next word. Continue until you’re at the bottom of the page. Look back at the page; which word association was the most surprising to you? Why do you think you made that connection?

Journal Prompts for January 7th

What color most symbolizes this phase of your life? Why does this color symbolize where you’re at right now?

Journal Prompts for January 8th

What’s your earliest memory of music? Write about everything you remember (physical surroundings, how you felt, what happened, etc.).

Journal Prompts for January 9th

Ten years from now, what do you want to have learned that you haven’t learned yet? What can you do to help ensure this happens?

Journal Prompts for January 10th

In the course of your life, what have you learned about change? Write about what you’ve learned and what advice you would give someone younger than you about change.

Photo of journal and pen sitting next to gray blanket with gold star confetti.

Journal Prompts for January 11th

How are you the same across different facets of your life (work/school, home, with family, significant other, friend groups, acquaintances, etc.)? How are you different across different facets of your life? What do you think accounts for these similarities and differences in how you show up in different facets of your life?

Journal Prompts for January 12th

What time period of your life so far involved the most amount of change in a short period of time? Write about that time period. What changed? How did you feel? How did this impact you at the time? Does this impact you now? If so, how does this impact you now?

Journal Prompts for January 13th

Write out a description of any dream you remember having. Why do you think you dreamt this? If you want more tips on how to write about your dream to help you understand it, check out the posts on How to Keep a Dream Journal and A Dream Journal Example Entry.

Journal Prompts for January 14th

What item do you own that has no real monetary value but is still very valuable to you? Write about this item, when you acquired this item, and why this item is so important to you.

Journal Prompts for January 15th

What book or story has had the most impact on your thinking or your life? Write about when you first read this book or story (including how you felt at the time). Why was this book or story so impactful?

Journal Prompts for January 16th

Read Why We Tell Stories by Lisel Mueller (or choose another poem to read). What emotions do you connect to this poem? What memories do you connect to this poem? Why do you think you made those connections?

Journal Prompts for January 17th

If you could remove one memory from your life, what memory would you remove? Why would you remove this memory? How does this experience/memory impact you today?

Journal Prompts for January 18th

If you could preserve only one memory from your life, what memory would you preserve? Why would you preserve this memory? How does this experience/memory impact you today?

Photo of pine trees in the snow in January.

Journal Prompts for January 19th

Imagine the most relaxing scene you can and describe it in detail (sights, sounds, smells, textures, tastes, etc.). What makes this scene so relaxing? Why do you think you imagined this scene? What does this imaginary scene tell you about what relaxing means to you? Are there ways you can incorporate more relaxation into your life?

Journal Prompts for January 20th

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about your life, what would you change? Is it possible to change this thing?

If yes: Why is this something you haven’t changed already? Is this something you’re working towards changing? If so, how? If not, why not?

If no: How does this unchangable thing make you feel? How does it impact your life? How can you work towards making peace with this unchangeable thing in your life?

Journal Prompts for January 21st

If you had to come back to earth as an animal, what animal would you come back as? Describe this animal in detail? Why do you think you chose this animal?

Journal Prompts for January 22nd

If you could ensure that one thing in your life never changed, what would you choose to make unchangeable? Why is this what you chose?

Journal Prompts for January 23rd

What is one personality trait you have that has helped you in your life? How has this personality trait helped you in life? Is there a “flip side” to this personality trait that holds you back in other ways? What is one personality trait that has been challenging for you in life? How has this personality trait made life difficult? Is there a “flip side” to this personality trait that helps you?

Journal Prompts for January 24th

Take the Big 5 personality test. Do you think the personality test that you took accurately reflects something about your personality? What about the results of the personality test didn’t surprise you? What surprised you? If the personality test resulted in any new insights for you about who you are, what can you do with this information in your daily life?

Journal Prompts for January 25th

If you could send a message to everyone in the world that you knew everyone would read, what message would you send? (Your message can be a maximum of 15 words.)

Photo of journal and pen with coffee on wood table.

Journal Prompts for January 26th

Thinking about the message you wrote for yesterday’s journal entry, imagine a note with this message addressed to you suddenly shows up and you don’t know where it came from. How does this message make you feel? What about this message resonates with you? Why do you think this is the message you chose to send out yesterday?

Journal Prompts for January 27th

What quote, phrase, or common saying do you find most meaningful or inspirational? Do you remember when/where you first heard these words? How does hearing these words make you feel? Why do you think these words are particularly meaningful or inspirational to you?

Journal Prompts for January 28th

Visualize an older version of yourself. What do you look like? What do you feel like? How do you behave? Ask the older version of yourself for advice. What does older, wiser you have to tell you?

Journal Prompts for January 29th

What is one positive experience you’ve had in your life so far that you could never have imagined would be part of your life experience? Write about your memory of this experience. Why didn’t you think this would be something you would experience in your life? How does recalling the memory make you feel?

Journal Prompts for January 30th

What’s something you don’t understand about the world that you think other people might understand? What gives you the impression that other people understand this more? Do you think your impression that other people understand this more is accurate? What would it mean for you if you had a better understanding of this?

Journal Prompts for January 31st

What’s the most important thing you learned this month? What was the most meaningful moment of this month? What did you do this month that you’re proud of?

Go to Journal Prompts for February

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