Looking for some journal prompts for the new year? I’ve got you! Keep reading for my list of 100 Best New Year Journal Prompts for an amazing 2025. These writing prompts can help you get clarity so you can set your New Year goals, write your New Year’s Resolutions, deepen your relationship with yourself, gain self-awareness, and overall plan your best year yet.
Grab your favorite journal, and let’s go!
100 Best New Year Journal Prompts
The start of a new year is the perfect time to do some journaling. Journaling is one of the best ways to gain mental clarity on yourself so you can best set intentions, make powerful vision boards, plan soul-aligned habits / goals / new resolutions, and become your most aligned ideal you. And new year is a great time to set yourself up for success in the year ahead.
These New Year Journal Prompts are grouped by the following categories:
- Letting Go
- Health
- Relationships
- Self-Reflection
- Goal Setting
- New Year Themes
- Self Care
- Personal Development
While these are great for your January journal prompts, feel free to use these any time of year.
Note: the numbers below are suggestions for general guidance. But if I suggest to write 3-5 of something and you have more or less, do you. 😉
New Year Journal Prompts for Letting Go and Clearing Mental Clutter
Let’s talk about what we want to leave in the previous year. Clear the mental clutter and make space for new things in the upcoming year with these new year writing prompts.
- What do I most need to let go of now?
- What do I want to leave behind in the past year?
- Who do I want to I leave in the past year?
- What am I struggling to let go of but need to for my highest good in the new year?
- What do I need to do to be able to finally let this go this year?
- What causes me the most stress? How can I better manage them and/or release them?
- What negative thoughts do I say and/or think all the time?
- Scratch through each negative thought and write a positive thought instead.
- What limiting beliefs would I like to overcome this year?
- What are new beliefs that I can work towards adopting instead?
Want to reflect on last year more? Click here for my end-of-year reflection journal prompts.
***
New Year Journaling Prompts for Health & Healthy Living
Let’s talk about what your ideal healthy lifestyle would look like. What bad habits would you drop and what good habits would you start doing? Journaling about your health goals is a great way to create positive change and plan a healthy lifestyle that you love.
- How do I feel about my body / physical health right now?
- What are some things I could do to improve my physical health this year?
- How do I feel about my mind / mental health right now?
- What are some things I could do to improve my mental health this year?
- How do I feel about my soul / spiritual health right now?
- What are some things I could do to improve my spiritual health this year?
- Am I satisfied with the way I handle my emotions? If yes, what do I do well? If no, what could I do better? If both, answer both the yes and no questions.
- What are three not-so-healthy habits that I’d like to *stop* doing?
- What are three healthy habits that I’d like to *start* doing?
- What are my favorite ways to move my body? Do I prioritize them? If not, how can I make more space for joyful movement in my life?
- What are 3-5 new recipes I’d like to try this year?
- How can I better manage my energy levels this year?
- What re-charges me when I feel depleted?
- What raises my vibration?
- How can I keep my frequency high and stay in positive energy this year?
***
New Year Writing Prompts for Relationships
- Who re-charges my energy and encourages me to be my best self? What can I learn from this?
- Who depletes my energy and makes me play small and/or feel like I’m not enough? What can I learn from this?
- How do I want to make others feel this year?
- Who inspires me and why?
- Who would I like to get to know better in the new year? Why?
- If we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with, who would I like to spend the most time with / bring into my inner circle?
- What authors, speakers, and content creators do I want to bring into my inner circle this year?
- Am I a giver or a taker? How does this impact my relationships?
- How can I cultivate being a better listener?
- Who do I need to call and why?
- Who do I need to forgive and why?
- Who do I need to send a thank you email / call / letter to? What do I want to thank them for?
***
Self-Reflection Journal Writing Prompts for the New Year
Journaling can offer a fresh perspective to our inner world that we may not achieve otherwise. Use this list of questions to gain more self-awareness. This will help you plan a new year that feels good and is more achievable because it’s aligned to your true self.
- What do I love about myself?
- What would I like to learn to love about myself?
- What am I most proud of myself for currently?
- What areas of my life need more focus this year?
- What will my life look like this time next year ideally?
- What lesson do I seem to keep encountering over and over again?
- What do I need to do this year to finally learn the lesson so I can move past it?
- What is one fear I’d like to face this year?
- What does success look like to me? How will I know when I’ve reached my definition of success?
- Do I think I deserve love? Why?
- Do I think I deserve rest? Why?
- Do I think I deserve joy? Why?
- What do I need to forgive myself for?
- How can I be more kind to myself?
- How can I banish my inner critic?
- How can I become more aligned to my true self?
***
New Year Journal Prompts for Goal Setting
Set some new goals in the year ahead. May these writing prompts help you with your goal setting in the new year.
- What are the goals from last year that I didn’t achieve that I would still like to achieve one day? Are there any I want to tackle this year?
- Why didn’t I achieve my goals last year? What can I do to learn from this to manage my goals better this year?
- What are my goals (or New Year Resolutions) for this year?
- What are my 5 year goals?
- What are my 10 year goals?
- What do I need to *stop* doing to achieve my goals?
- What do I need to *start* doing to achieve my goals?
- How can I stay disciplined and on path to achieving my goals when I’m feeling unmotivated?
- What are my top priorities for each quarter this year?
- What rewards can I gift myself for achieving my goals this year. Tip: consider setting up a goal reward system like the one I use here.
***
New Year Themes Writing Prompts
Embrace new beginnings by planning some new things to try this year and creating some themes for the year ahead.
- What’s my word of the year? Why did I choose this word? What does it mean to me?
- What’s my quote of the year? Why did I choose this quote? What does it mean to me?
- What are my top 3 intentions for the new year?
- How do I want to feel this year?
- What is one hobby I’d like to try this year?
- What is one thing I’d like to learn this year?
- What books would I like to read this year?
- Where do I want to visit / travel to this year?
- What are my top 5-10 positive affirmations for the year?
- What are my top 5-10 positive quotes for the year?
***
New Year Journaling Prompts for Self Care / Routines
May these new year journal prompts help you create space for more self care this year while also helping you get clarity on what self care looks like for you.
- What is my ideal morning routine?
- What is my ideal night routine?
- What are my daily non-negotiables?
- Describe an ideal day of my dream life. How can I start to live this as soon as possible?
- What are my favorite forms of self care?
- Make a list of things to put in your self care basket. Schedule a day you can put your self care basket together.
- Am I satisfied with how much time I spend doing self care now? If not, how can I make more time for self care?
- When can I schedule some time to take a break from my devices / go offline?
- How do I feel about meditating? How can I make more space for meditation this year?
- Plan a spa day for yourself. Make a list of what you’d do and schedule a day you can do it.
- Plan a do-nothing day for yourself. Make a list of what you’d do (and maybe even what you would NOT do). Schedule a day you can take your do-nothing day.
***
New Year Journal Prompts for Personal Development
- Who do I want to be by the end of this year? How would I be different from who I am at the start?
- In what areas of my life do I feel dissatisfied? What would I like to do about this in the new year?
- In what areas of my life do I feel satisfied? How can I honor these areas and show gratitude for them?
- What are my personal values?
- How can I live more by my values this year?
- In what ways do I have a fixed mindset?
- How can I adopt more of a growth mindset this year?
- How do I feel about my confidence? What do I want to do with my confidence this year?
- What brings me joy? How can I do more of these things?
- How can I make more space for play in my life?
- How do I feel about my time management currently? How can I better manage my time this year?
- Make a bucket list for things you want to do in the new year.
- If I had a genie in a bottle, what three wishes would I make?
- If I could wave a magic wand and create my dream life, what would it look like?
- Do I trust that the Universe / God / my Higher Power is working for my highest good? How can I deepen my trust that everything will work out for my highest good this year?
- Of everything I want to do this year, what is my number 1 priority?
***
New Year Journal Prompts FAQ
Do I Need to Use All of These Journal Prompts?
The reason I have so many journal prompts is so you have options. Not so you spend a month journaling. Unless that’s your thing. My suggestion is to review the list below and pull your favorite journal prompts. See which ones resonate with you, and use those in your journal.
If you’d like to focus on ending your year well and starting the new year strong, you may like my New Year Reset Journal Prompts here.
Are These Journal Prompts for Adults, Students, or Anyone?
These prompts were designed as New Year Journal Prompts for adults. While I’m no children’s / young adult development expert, my guess is that many would work well for almost anyone wanting to do some new year journaling. My recommendation is that if you’re a teacher, parent, caretaker, etc. to read through this list of new year writing prompts and pull the ones you deem appropriate for your kids and students.
Summary
Some mindful journaling at the start of the year can help you with your personal growth in the year ahead.
By gaining clarity through these new year journaling prompts, you can evolve towards your ideal future self. And not just towards any ole new you. You can evolve in a way that feels good and is aligned to your personal values and most aligned & true self.
So set aside some time for a journaling session, grab your favorite snacks and drinks, get cozy, and get to writing! Make sure to make your journaling journey fun to infuse your time with positive, high vibe energy and have a better time overall. Vibes matter!
Get Your Free New Year Journal Prompts Printable Here
Want a free copy of these inspirational New Year writing prompts? Get your copy here:
Enjoy!
More New Year Posts to Love
End-of-Year Reflection Journal Prompts: Before you launch into these new year journal prompts, you may want to go through these end-of-year reflection journal prompts.
Ultimate Vision Board Guide: These journal prompts will help you get into an optimal state of mind to make your new year vision board. Click the link in this section for my Ultimate Vision Board Guide to learn how to make a vision board that works beautifully!
***
Thank you for stopping by and checking out my post on 100 Best New Year Journal Prompts for an Amazing 2025.
Comment below: Which journal writing prompts are your favorite?
Happy New Year!