5 Insightful Journal Prompts to Celebrate Your Year and Prepare for What's Ahead

As the year winds down, are you giving yourself the gift of rest?

It’s more than a luxury—it’s a necessity for true growth.

Rest often gets neglected.

But it's just as important when it comes to growth. Rest gives your body and your mind time to settle. To recharge, reflect, repair and prepare.

So you can face the next challenge with your best mindset and tools.

With the year coming to a close, I want to help you make the most of this restful period.

Instead of one prompt, I’ve prepared five: three to help you reflect on the year that’s passed and two to guide you in preparing for the year ahead.

Use these 3 prompts to look back on 2024:

1. What strengths did I discover in myself this year?

Reflect on challenges you faced this year. Write about how they helped you discover or develop new strengths in yourself.

2. What are three moments from this year I’m thankful for?

Reflect on 3 moments from the previous year that you're grateful for experiencing. They don't have to be big moments. They can be small moments that had a big meaning. Why did they matter to you?

3. What was the most valuable lesson I learned this year?

Think about the year you've had and what the most valuable thing you learnt in the year. Why is this important? What has been the benefit to your life from learning this lesson? Make some notes on this.

Use these 2 prompts to look forward to 2025:

1. How do you want to feel next year?

We tend to focus our new year goals on what we can measure. But this prompt asks us to focus on how we want to feel. Take some time to focus on how you want to feel and then ask yourself what actions or habits can help you create those feelings?

2. If 2025 were your ideal year, what would it look like? What steps can you take now to begin achieving those dreams?

Take some time to visualise the year ahead. Use your vision to help you make a plan for the year. Break your plan into manageable timeframes to make it actionable.

As you carve out time to rest, use these prompts to reflect and plan.

Whether you jot down quick thoughts or dive deep into each question, this process can help you end the year with clarity and begin the next one with purpose.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Which prompt resonated with you the most?

Share your reflections or plans in the comments—or reach out directly.

Let’s inspire each other as we step into the new year.