Journal Prompts: Deep, Real Life, Thought Provoking Questions

Are you looking for journal prompts after learning how to journal?

Do you want to be a consistent journaler, but you don’t know what to write about?

Well then, you’re lucky again, since you’re at the right place to find those more in depth, thought provoking questions.

Because, not only do I really like journaling, but one of my other biggest hobbies is collecting MINDSET ideas and metaphors. I use them as inspiration to ask myself real life questions in my journal. This helps me reach my goals.

On this page I’ll share them with you by showing you what I am journaling about right now. That way you can also use them as inspiration…

I share these questions mainly for beginners like my younger self.

For what purpose?

To help them become better at it faster and to give them a fighting chance to achieve their dreams.

Maybe save them a part of the struggle. Because I know it was rough for me to achieve my dreams, but it’s also totally worth it.

(Hey you, yeah you, younger me. I know you’re a scaredy cat, especially after reading that it’s going to be rough. But I also know you have those pure CHILDHOOD DREAMS hidden inside of you that you actually care about a lot. So keep reading. It’s okay to be scared and it’s all going to be fine.)

One of My First Journal Prompts

I remember one the first questions I started to ask myself a lot when I was a kid:

“Does this advice come from someone whose life I actually want to live?”

It was simple 1+1=2 logic for me:

1. People’s advice depends on a person’s experience and knowledge about that specific subject.

2. If you follow someone’s advice, you will probably become more like them in that specific subject. That is, unless they advise you to do the opposite of what they did or tell you what they heard from others.

So if these 2 things are true. Why would I listen to someone’s advice who doesn’t know or even care about how to get the results I want? Why wouldn’t I listen to someone who has and cares about the RESULTS I want to get?

(Trust me, I am not scared of a fun karaoke sing off night after a nice dinner, but you really don’t want me to advise you on how to sing.)

Why Did I Start Asking Myself This Question?

I don’t remember how I found it anymore or why I even started to ask myself this question.

Because it’s not really a question that you would have expected from a kid like me. At the time I was this pretty shy, obedient kid who was often afraid of doing something wrong. I guess I still had a small bit of REBEL inside of me.

Maybe it was because I always thought a lot about life already. Or maybe things were just not working out for me the way I wanted them to. It’s possible that I just had enough of doing the same thing others told me to do and getting the same results.

As I mentioned in my how to journal guide, I didn’t ask this question out loud or tell anyone. I just asked it in my head or thought about it on paper.

Even though I was using this question, I still kept doing whatever others were doing or told me to do at first.

Why?

Because at that time it wasn’t easy to withstand peer pressure or pressure from those who are older than you.

And I want to emphasize that this question definitely didn’t make me think one way of living was superior to the other. Actually, I believe the opposite of that. I think everyone should be free to live the life they want to live as long as they don’t hurt others. Whatever floats their boat right…

All I did with this question was start to WONDER how I actually wanted to live my life.

Why Is It Important To Ask the Right Deep Journal Prompts?

Later in life, I came to another conclusion while using this question. The advice that I needed to get to my dreams was not only different from what I was usually advised. It often was a total 180 degrees opposite of it???

(As a big fan of TV series, movies and anime I sometimes like to think life is like a hero’s journey. But I am not going to lie, sometimes I wonder if it actually was set up to be a comedy. It sure feels like one sometimes, if you look at all the confusing advice I have gotten over the years.)

I have thought many times about why this is the case and I am still not sure why this is happening.

Maybe most people just don’t actually know how it works, because they are too busy with other things to actually find it out? Or maybe people are just not ready for the truth yet and it feels too extreme? Is it because the seemingly contradicting advice is for people with talent and they only need a simplified version?

Whether it’s one of these reasons or a whole different reason, I know it is important for me to have the right answers.

Because how else am I going to get where I want to go?

The first step for me to find those right answers was by asking the RIGHT QUESTIONS.

I had to learn this lesson the hard way, like most lessons that I learn. I often only figured out after investing a lot of time in something that I didn’t have the right answers and didn’t even have the right questions to begin with…

But it is very common, because you just don’t know what you don’t know right?

(Like, as a kid I never questioned if I should drink the nice salty hotdog water from the can or not, until someone told me not to. I just thought everyone drank it like a bonus cold soup with a kick to it.)

It’s not only important to ask the right question, but the quality of an answer is only as good and deep as the quality of the question. That is why I try to add as much context as I can to these questions, in order for you to get the most personal answer possible.

So here is my first journal prompt for you, now you have a more in depth understanding of the context:

“Am I asking myself the right questions?”

“Do I really have the right answers? Where are my current answers coming from? Who advised me to live the life I am currently living? Does this advice come from someone whose life I actually want to live?”

This is only the introduction, below you can find my recently added journal prompts:

2. Self Reflection Journal Prompts: Become Aware of Self Sabotaging Behavior With Journaling
3. Simple Writing Prompts: An Easy Way I Found My Truth With Journaling and How You Can Too
4. Self Awareness Journal Prompts: Overcome Limiting Beliefs With Journaling
5. The Journal Prompt for Today To Feel Less Rushed and Enjoy the Journey
6. Why Is Humility Important and How Can Being Humble Help You With Your Goals?
7. How To Have More Energy for Your Goals and Dreams?
8. Journal Prompts for November: Something To Write About During Thanksgiving

Thank you for reading and…

If you have dreams you want to achieve…

CREATE YOUR OWN LUCK!

P.S. Even when I find the right answers, I tend to forget them if I don’t remind myself often. That is why I have to relearn the same answer sometimes. Like I said before, this is what I am actually journaling about right now.

Besides, the right answer often has to be heard a lot of times before it actually clicks and a slightly different context or metaphor can make all the difference. Also, the same question can have a different answer depending on when you ask it in life.

So, remember, they are not just questions. If you ask yourself the right ones and use them the right way, they can change your life.