January Journal Prompts {Free Printable}

It’s a new year. You’re full of energy. The days and months ahead hold endless promise.

Do you want to begin daily journaling this year? Looking for fresh journal writing prompts? These January journal prompts are exactly what you need to keep your creativity flowing for the entire month.  

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Benefits of Journaling

Congratulations on making the decision to begin journaling this year! It’s one of the best habits you can choose to implement.

Why?

Journaling provides you with a fantastic way to delve into your feelings. 

You can track the facts of what happens each day like a diary. 

You can dive deep into your consciousness and write reams about specific questions. 

Or — you can use journaling to spark your creativity for other pursuits.

I like to do a combination of all of the above. I always begin with journaling to spark my thought process. In the end, I’m usually surprised at the feelings and thoughts that end up on the paper. 

The formerly blank page now holds possibilities, dreams, hopes, frustrations… and solutions. 

Whether your journal turns into a diary, a work of fiction, a memoir, or a training manual, your mind will appreciate the relief of releasing the pent-up thoughts and ‘stuff.’

Allowing your thoughts to emerge from your mind and rest elsewhere is an incredibly liberating experience. First, by working through the fear you may have of simply expressing the thoughts. Second, by removing them from your internal overloaded ‘must remember’ list.  

By the way, even seemingly simple prompts will absolutely work! Your mind will naturally begin to relate the journal prompts to all sorts of things in your life. And then all you have to do is write.

Printable January Journal Prompts

The dark, cold days of January are perfect for journaling, and I’ve got a great list of single-word journal prompts that will get your mind and your pen moving every day of the month.

To have the printable writing prompts sent to your email inbox, click here or fill out the form right below the prompt list.

Exactly How to Use Daily Journal Prompts

Don’t overthink it.

Don’t worry about having the perfect writing journal, the smoothest writing instrument, or an hour of free time to meditate and write the most powerful insights man has ever known.

Journaling doesn’t have to be hard, because there’s no wrong way to do it! You do you, and it will always be okay.

Here are my no-stress steps to easily begin journaling:

1. Get up 15 minutes early or find 15 minutes before bed.
   Schedule this in your planner or set an alarm to remind yourself.
2. Grab a notebook and pen.
   Have you been collecting blank journals and you can’t decide which is the ‘right’ one to use? Close your eyes and pick one. If this is your first time journaling, it really doesn’t matter what you use!
   Is writing by hand difficult? That’s okay! Just open a word document, and you’re ready to rock!
3. Print out the journal prompt list and pick a word.
   I suggest working through the list in order. That way you can spend your time writing instead of trying to make a decision. 
4. Roll the word around in your mind for a minute or so, and then start writing. 
   I’ve found that if I use a word doc, sometimes I can close my eyes to picture the word prompt and — eyes still closed — just start writing everything I ‘see’ in my mind. Try it. You might surprise yourself. 🙂 

That’s it! You’re now a journaler!

More Journaling Tools and Resources

Frixion erasable pens in stick style and refillable — I absolutely love these and use them every day. 

Prefer to write with a non-erasable pen? I like the smooth flow of the Pilot G2 in size .7 — not too fine to skip when writing, but not too bold or messy.

I’ve come to appreciate notebooks with hard covers, thick paper, and no spiral binding. ? They really are so much easier to write in. Try this notebook with a pen loop or this journal available in several pretty cover patterns — scroll down on the Amazon page to see more cover designs.

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Don’t be afraid to try different journaling methods with these January journal prompts. Writing by hand, typing, art journaling, speech to text… whatever helps to get your mind working.

Find the journaling method you absolutely love and it could completely and positively change the way you approach your daily life.

Build Your Best Life…
You’ve got this!

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