Tell me (in your journal), when you think about intentional living, what comes to mind?
Now, hold that line of thought. In the last 30 days, what deliberate steps have you taken to achieve your definition of intentional living?
The truth is that the world will keep getting super busy as time goes by, and there will be more things to keep you just moving with the flow. So, if you fail to slow down and get out of the hamster wheel, you may never quite get to that point of living intentionally.
I already have a comprehensive post on practical steps to help you start living intentionally. Read it here – I promise, they work. And I’ve also created an intentional living quiz to help you navigate your way to the starting point for intentional living.
However, these journal prompts for intentional living are designed to help you slow down, reflect deeply, and realign with who God created you to be. They’ll serve as speed bumps to slow you down enough for you to be able to make the much-needed detour.
So, whether you’re craving clarity in your relationships, struggling to manage your time, or feeling disconnected from your values, these prompts will help you realign properly.
Reconnect with Who You Really Are
Intentional living is all about alignment. But can you really live aligned if you don’t know what you’re aligning with?
So, to walk your way into intentional living, you need to start from your identity. You need to lean into who you really are by original design. Intentional living demands that you reconnect with your core – your purpose, values, and vision, and anchor every single day of your life on them.
This section of journal prompts for intentional living will help you peel back the layers and return to the core of who you are.
- What do I want to be remembered for? Is my life currently reflecting that?
- What does a “life well-lived” look like for me personally?
- Do I know my core values? Which of them do I tend to compromise on? Why?
- In what areas am I trying to be someone I’m not?
- How deliberate have I been with living according to my purpose?
- Where am I still living based on old definitions of success?
- What has God said about me? Have I been aligning with that?
Audit Your Time and Energy
Another significant definition of intentional living shows up in the way you spend your time. When your time isn’t spent on the things that matter to your identity, then there’s really no living.
Furthermore, living intentionally means making peace with your limits and being ruthless about what gets your “yes.”
This section of journal prompts for intentional living will help you uncover where your time goes, if there is time or energy wastage, where it is happening, and how to reclaim your time.
- What activities drain me, even though I keep doing them?
- What do I say is important to me, but my calendar says otherwise?
- How do I currently start my mornings, and how should I be starting them to truly live intentionally?
- What do I spend time on out of obligation instead of alignment?
- What would an intentional day look like from start to finish?
- What habit do I need to break because it is keeping me small?
- How do I use “busyness” to avoid dealing with what’s really going on?
To dive further into this time and energy audit, take our Time Management Quiz. It takes only 5 minutes.
Reflect on Your Relationships
The different relationships in your life significantly impact your ability to live intentionally because they either drain you or fuel you for purpose.
These prompts for intentional living will help you take inventory of your relationships so you can make room for proper alignment.
- Who do I feel most like myself around, and why?
- Which relationships feel one-sided or draining right now?
- What boundary do I need to set in my relationships, even if it makes someone uncomfortable?
- When was the last time I said “yes” when I really meant “no”?
- How do I act when I feel the need to prove my worth to someone?
- What have I been tolerating in relationships that I know I shouldn’t?
- Where am I people-pleasing instead of living in truth?
You can also take this Quiz to know if your people-pleasing tendencies are sabotaging your chances at intentional living.
Deepen Your Faith and Inner Life
To be honest with you, all the alignment to purpose and vision you need to live intentionally cannot happen within the confines of your ability alone. Getting to your true identity can only come from spiritual alignment.
Also, any effort made towards intentional living that isn’t first focused on change from within will only yield superficial results. And that’s not what you want.
So, this section of journal prompts for intentional living will guide you to reflect on how you’ve been showing up emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, especially when no one is watching.
- What lies about myself or God do I still subconsciously believe?
- What does it really mean for me to trust God with my life?
- What do I need to surrender to God right now to experience peace that lets me live intentionally?
- What emotion have I been afraid to feel, and why?
- What’s one story I’ve been telling myself that’s keeping me stuck?
- How would I live if I believed I was fully loved and supported by God?
- What habit can I start today to keep me perpetually connected to my Source?
Envision Your Future with Intention
Intentional living isn’t just about managing today. It’s about sowing the right seed into tomorrow.
Use this section of prompts to get clear about the future you desire and the version of you that needs to rise to meet it.
- What vision keeps coming back to me, even when I try to shake it?
- What has been holding me back from rising to the demands of who I’ve been called to be?
- How can I rearrange my schedule to accommodate the demands of my vision and highest potential?
- What’s the next brave step I need to take this month?
- What do I want the next year of my life to reflect about my priorities?
- What outdated dreams and habits do I need to release to make space for better?
- How would I live if my dream self were watching me all day?
How to Use These Journal Prompts for Intentional Living
These journal prompts aren’t just for venting thoughts or filling up your journal pages. They are meant to help you get out of autopilot living so you can live up to the demands of your higher self.
So, here’s how to use them intentionally:
1. Don’t Rush Through Them
Instead of racing to complete all 35, sit with one prompt until it stirs something within you. If it feels uncomfortable or convicting, don’t stop. Lean in more. The point isn’t to simply finish. It’s to become aware and live intentionally.
2. Don’t worry about aesthetics
Remember that your goal is to get aligned with your core. So, don’t stress about having one of those cozy “dear diary” moments while using these prompts.
Just be as honest, and maybe messy as you can get. The more real you are, the more powerful the shift you will experience with these prompts.
3. Choose the prompts that speak the loudest
I haven’t written these prompts or their sections in any particular order. So, you don’t need to go in any order.
Simply read through the prompts and pause at the one that pulls at your spirit. That’s usually the area you need to pay more attention to. So, feel free to start even from the last question.
4. Respond as you go
Intentional living demands action, no matter how small. So, after answering each prompt, always take a tangible action towards intentional living based on your answers.
You can recruit your friends and family as accountability partners to help you stay true to this life of alignment you’re deciding to live.
Conclusion
I truly cannot wait to see the intentional you that will emerge from the shift that will happen to you through these journal prompts for intentional living.
