Introduction
No matter how you define it, success requires both management and leadership. It’s not just about doing things, but also about doing the right things. Where planning is more of a management behavior, journaling is seen more as a leadership move.
A morning journaling practice can stimulate rapid personal and professional growth. It fosters resilience, goal achievement, creativity, and emotional well-being. Journaling allows you to better understand yourself and learn what drives you.
This specific collection of prompts is designed to ignite an energy within yourself that compels you to act with clarity and confidence.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What are the Best Daily Morning Journal Prompts?
- 1. My Top Projects: What are they, and list the next 3 moves you need to make to move forward?
- 2. What are 2 things that I am excited about TODAY (or that I can be excited for)?
- 3. What do I have anxiety or fear about?
- 4. Who can I be today that could have the greatest positive impact on tomorrow?
- 5. Who needs me at my best today?
- 6. If something goes wrong, how would my Best Self handle it?
- 7. Be Bold: What’s something Big and Scary that I don’t want to do, but could likely lead to something that I want to have?
- 8. Be a Boss: How would a boss manage and execute your day today?
- 9. Identify the Target: How would I know if I absolutely crushed the day? How would I feel, what have I done?
- 10. What am I grateful for?
- 11. What action/decision could I make TODAY that could drastically improve tomorrow’s living experience?
- 12. What would make life better?
- 13. Dream: What are 3 incredible events that you would LOVE to have occur for you TODAY?
- Morning Journaling Practice Expanded
What are the Best Daily Morning Journal Prompts?
1. My Top Projects: What are they, and list the next 3 moves you need to make to move forward?
2. What are 2 things that I am excited about TODAY (or that I can be excited for)?
3. What do I have anxiety or fear about?
4. Who can I be today that could have the greatest positive impact on tomorrow?
5. Who needs me at my best today?
6. If something goes wrong, how would my Best Self handle it?
7. Be Bold: What’s something Big and Scary that I don’t want to do, but could likely lead to something that I want to have?
8. Be a Boss: How would a boss manage and execute your day today?
9. Identify the Target: How would I know if I absolutely crushed the day? How would I feel, what have I done?
10. What am I grateful for?
11. What action/decision could I make TODAY that could drastically improve tomorrow’s living experience?
12. What would make life better?
13. Dream: What are 3 incredible events that you would LOVE to have occur for you TODAY?
Morning Journaling Practice Expanded
Top Projects
Most of the day, we’re busy focusing on the tasks that everyone else needs us to complete. It’s important, however, to know what accomplishments we want attached to our name. It’s a form of paying yourself first. Not everyday will you get to work on your top projects. Sometimes, you’re barely getting through your day. However, even in those days by keeping them top of mind and knowing at a high level what their next steps are, can not only keep you sane but also well prepared if a sudden 30 mins becomes available. Opportunity blesses everyone, but only benefits those who are prepared.
eg. Launch Product: a)label design b)product page c)marketing
What about Today Excites me?
This is my favorite prompt, and actually the best part of my day. What excites me about today? It sets the tone for the rest of the prompts, and gets my head in the right space.
eg. I’m excited about getting my life organized.
eg. I’m excited about fasting for the 3rd day in a row.
What do I have Anxiety / Fear About?
This is more about getting honest with myself. The key here is not allowing me to put a blank here, which is always what my brain first comes up with. But, by making my brain work and list some things that I’m anxious about or even slightly afraid of, can really help me understand myself and some of the default behaviors I find myself engaging in.
eg. I’m afraid that my competition will create something better.
Who can I be Today?
I always want to take myself out of today and imagine the future. What impact will my actions today have on tomorrow, and what kind of person could I be to improve upon tomorrow? Do I need to be a CEO, or someone who’s empathetic? Do I need to be courageous? Every day offers a new opportunity to be someone unique that can have long standing benefits. This is about bringing intention to your life, and not living accidentally.
eg. I need to be confident and creative today.
Who Needs Me at My Best?
This about finding your Why? It’s a chance for me to think about the people in my life who rely on me and how I can support them. Why shouldn’t I put my day on auto-pilot, and simply cruise?
By identifying who needs me, whether it’s my family, friends, or colleagues, I can find an ounce of momentum where perhaps there was none. It’s about recognizing where I can make a positive impact and being there for others when they need me most. Often times, it’s my future self who needs me at my best today.
eg. my wife and kids are depending on the financial security my efforts bring
eg. myself, 3 years from now, completely depends on me crushing my day today.
Problem-Solving as My Best Self
I really dislike news, especially bad news. Identifying potential set backs that could present themselves today and imagining how my Best Self would handle those, gives me confidence in those moments of disappointment.
This is a chance for me to reflect on my skills and abilities, and consider how I can use them effectively when faced with challenges. By visualizing how my best self would respond to challenges, I can gain clarity and confidence in my abilities. It’s also about tapping into my inner resilience and finding creative solutions to overcome obstacles.
eg. potential vehicle breakdown. Best self: empathy, compassion, and CONFIDENCE.
Be Bold
Often times we talk about the things we want to do or not do, but really the only thing that matters are the things that we want to have. Things like financial freedom, or total wellness and pure sanity and emotional health. Focus on having, as opposed to doing, will lead you to the truth of what to do. Often times, having the things you want requires doing the things you don’t want.
This is about identifying one bold action I could take TODAY that might lead to a goal I want to achieve at some point. It’s about recognizing the one big, scary thing that could make a significant difference in my life, even if it feels uncomfortable or challenging.
One concept I learned in business, and it applies to life, is that you’re either growing or shrinking.. there is no staying the same. By forcing yourself into uncomfortable scenarios prevents you from shrinking and stimulates personal growth.
Be A Boss:
This is about perspective. When I was young learning to golf, I thought my clubs were the problem. Then a Pro drove a few balls with my driver 280 yards, and not only did I realize I was the main factor but more importantly that I DID in fact have the right tools to achieve my goals. I had all the resources available to me, but I was lacking confidence.
Change your perspective one level higher. Imagine a big time boss person was to live your life for a day. How might they behave using your resources and your situations and your network? What decisions will they make, what actions will they take? Often times, it’s a bit different than what you were about to do.
eg. cold shower in the morning, gym and sauna
eg. make a few sales calls to the companies I’ve been meaning to make
Dream:
For your morning pages, this could be about getting a little crazy, but this isn’t about manifesting crazy wishes. It’s about starting your day knowing which direction you’re facing. People struggle to achieve their dreams mostly because they’re not dreaming, they’re goal-setting. Goals are context dependent, whereas dreams are created out of nothing.
Often times in this practice I find that I experience a few of these items throughout the week. That’s because I’m setting realistic goals instead of dreaming and dreaming big is super unnatural for me. Create big dreams, and state them for today!
eg. The universe provides a powerful new insight for me that transforms my future productivity
eg. My distributor sells 200 units today.