Journal Prompts For Self-Compassion

A regular journal practice has many benefits, including heightened self-awareness and less overall stress. I have a whole post on journal benefits, including journal prompts to get you started, which you can find here.

Another benefit of a regular journal practice is nurturing self compassion.

Self-compassion is treating yourself with warmth, empathy, and understanding, especially during difficult times. It involves acknowledging your own suffering and offering kindness and care rather than self-criticism or judgment. This can lead to increased resilience, well-being, and a greater ability to cope with life's challenges.

Read on to discover 10 journal prompts for greater self-compassion. Do them in order, or pick one that calls to you.

What are you good at?

Knowing what you do well is vital to self-compassion. We so often pick apart our flaws and what we don’t do well, that it’s important to check in and remind ourselves that there are things we are good at.

Pro tip: after completing a list of what you’re good at, keep it handy - in your phone notes or on a post-it note - and read it in moments of doubt or frustration at yourself.

What is something you don’t do well?

Knowing your weaknesses is just as important as owning your strengths. Having the compassion to look at our weaknesses and accept them as they are.

This prompt is not about judging ourselves, it’s about knowing our limits and boundaries. For you, it might bring up areas you want to improve, or accept and make peace with.

What are you most proud of?

A classic job interview question, but it’s great for self-compassion and self-knowledge. to. It remind us that there are things we’ve done so well that we feel like a proud parent when we think of them. On another level, what we are most proud of shows us what we value. Whether we value academic success such as a university degree; or self-growth if what we are most proud of it a time we stepped out of our comfort zone; or family values if we are most proud of our children or relationship with our siblings.

All answers are valid. One person’s proudest moment is just as valid as someone else’s.

Write 5 things to celebrate. I celebrate myself for…

What have you done well lately? For example: I celebrate myself for leaving my soul sucking job to follow my passion. Or, I celebrate myself for getting up today when I really would rather not have.

Make this part of your nightly routine for some serious self-love and compassion prowess.

What mistake have you made or hurt that you’ve caused? Write a short note of forgiveness to yourself.

We’ve celebrate what we’re good at and what we are most proud of. Now it’s time to look at the more uncomfortable things in our lives. We will all make mistakes, and we will all hurt people when we don’t mean to.

Take a moment to write out a short note, forgiving yourself for those mistakes and hurts, and allowing yourself to move on.

When have you failed? What did you learn from that experience?

Failure is part of the journey, and it’s important to let ourselves feel our feelings about it. It’s equally important to take that failure and learn from it.

Just as every cloud has a silver lining, every failure has something to be learning.

For example, if you failed at a business venture, what would you do differently next time, and what would you keep the same?

What makes you excited to get up in the morning, even on bad days?

Hold these things close and reach for them on bad days. Whether that thing is as small as a cup of coffee or as big as love for your puppy, knowing what brings you a little bit of joy allows you to do them more often, and allowing yourself these things is an act of compassion.

What advice would you give to yourself 5 years ago?

We’re all different than we were 5 years ago. Look over what you’ve learned and done the past 5 years, and write a note as if you were giving advice to a friend.

What would you tell this younger version of you? That might be advice on how to get through bad days, or understanding in the face of a difficult situation you’ve faced. It will help put the past 5 years in perspective, and show you how far you’ve come.

Write a letter from your 80 year old self.

Imagine yourself at 80, sitting on a porch swing, thinking over your long life. That version of you has done all the things you’ve yet to do. What is it they’ve done? What lessons and experiences do you hope to have in the next few decades?

This letter is great for figuring out how you want to live your life, your hopes and dreams, and what you want your legacy to be. It will tell you what adventures you hope to have, and what will be truly important to you.

What are 5 things you LOVE about yourself?

We are so easily self-critical, forgetting that there is good in us. Write out five things you love about yourself, and dig deep. For example: I love my eyes, I love my sense of humour, I love my resilience, I love my audacity to dream, I love how good I am at my job.

Just like with your list of what you are good at, hold this list close and reread it in moments when you could so easily be self-critical.

If you liked this post you might also like this free worksheet of journal prompts. Sign up below for a gift in your inbox!