Journal prompts can be hard to think of by yourself, and it’s even more difficult during February for many people, since it’s commonly referred to as ‘love month’. February is so commonly associated with love, and for those who are without a companion and struggling with loneliness, it can be tough when you’re surrounded by constant reminders of love and couples. The thing is, who said the month of love had to be about loving other people?
What about learning how to love yourself?
Self-love is something we don’t journal about enough, but how are we supposed to maintain good mental health if we aren’t taking care of ourselves and remembering to love ourselves? Journaling is great for mental health. Journaling can help us discover new ways to love ourselves as we learn more about ourselves. It helps us embrace what makes us unique, and see ourselves the way others do – in a more positive light than we currently do. Together, we can make February journaling a positive experience.
Why is Journaling Good for Us?
Journaling takes many different forms, and that’s where the appeal is for most people. You can keep it like a diary, logging detailed entries about your day, experiences, or your future goals. You can transform it into a work of visual art that uses colors and images to express your emotions – joy, anxiety, and everything in between. Journaling can also be used as a healthy way to express emotions, which helps you process, let go, and move forward. It’s a medium of endless possibility.
More than that, journaling is good for us because it creates a sense of calm and order in a world that is ultimately chaotic. Try as we might, we can’t always escape the constant movement of the world around us or the days when it feels as though everything is rushing past at record speeds. With journaling, we can slow the world down and create a personal haven.
Journaling has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety, which is especially beneficial when an increasing number of us are feeling the crunch. It can enhance our sense of perspective and improve our overall well-being while creating a more positive outlook on life. It encourages a space away from negative thoughts and acceptance, leading to healthy emotional catharsis.
February Journal Prompts
‘Love month’ is difficult for many, especially since it comes so soon after Christmas, which is difficult enough when you’re alone. However, there is power in reclaiming the month of love for yourself and using it to find new ways to boost your self-worth and confidence. Journal prompts like these might be the kick-start you need to finally learn to embrace who you are.
Below are some February journal prompts to try out:
Write Down Your Dreams
While keeping a dream journal can be deeply beneficial, you might also find that logging your dreams in your regular journal can give you some perspective into your current mindset. They can help you understand how you are feeling, whether you are struggling to process certain emotions, and potentially inspire you to do something new.
If you are keeping a visual journal, dreams are a fantastic medium for art – allowing you complete freedom of expression in terms of colors, images, and scenery.
Write Down What You’re Grateful For
This is one of those journal prompts that can feel a little cliche, but when we are struggling mentally, we often forget about the good things in our lives. Dedicating a section of your journal to the things you are grateful for each day can help plant the seeds of positivity and help to slowly change your outlook on life.
For example, in my journal, I often write that I am grateful for my incredible friends, my dogs, and all the delicious snacks I enjoy on those particularly sad days.
Ideas For Improving Self-Care
Self-care is not something that comes naturally to all of us, and this is one of those journal prompts that really matter. Little things like washing your hair, moisturizing, or even taking an hour out of your day to play video games or do something you love are acts of self-care. We often forget that we need to look after ourselves, so how could you improve?
Maybe you could dedicate more time to yourself, eat healthier, or drink more water. Even the smallest things can have the biggest impact.
Your Ambitions and Goals
These two are simple journal prompts, but they are good reminders on days when you are finding it difficult to look ahead. Make a list of your ambitions and goals, even the small ones, and ensure they are on every page each day. Write and rewrite them, manifest them and work hard until they become a reality. This is how you motivate yourself to succeed.
The Things You Love Most
Remind yourself of the things you love most, but not just with regard to other people or things, what do you love most about yourself? This is the month of love, so you should take the opportunity to think about what makes you great. Everyone has at least one thing, and the more you tell yourself what’s wonderful about you, the more you will believe it. This is where self-love begins.
Your Negative Thoughts and How to Combat Them
Journaling when you’re struggling with mental health can be tough, but it’s also beneficial and can help you to combat negative thought processes that are holding you back. All of the ways in which you put yourself down, write them in your journal and look at them. Would you say any of that to your closest friends or family members? No, so why are you saying it to yourself?
Next to each negative thought, write a way in which you can try to overcome it. Think of the advice you would give someone other than yourself to work through it and apply it to yourself.
The Things You Want to Learn
Self-love is all about caring for yourself, and our minds are part of that. They are the true temples of our bodies, and learning new things keeps our brains active and helps us to expand our knowledge while also teaching us new perspectives. What are new things you would like to learn? Journal prompts such as these show us ways in which we can expand our knowledge.
With more knowledge, we gain wisdom and experience. This can help us as we move through life, but also gives us added confidence in ourselves.
Your Favorite Things at the Moment
What are the things you love to do most right now? Your favorite food, activities, books, and games? Write them all down here – a whole list of the things and people that make you happy. Next to them, write what you plan to implement so that you can do these activities and see these people again soon. Make plans for your personal happiness on the page.
Having something to look forward to is good for our morale and self-esteem, and accepting that it’s ok to be happy and to experience joy can help us learn to love ourselves more.
The Habits You Want to Change
This is one of those journal prompts that you can’t ignore. Loving yourself isn’t just about the positives, it’s also about looking at the negatives and determining what we would change to make ourselves better. What habits do you have that you would like to work on so that you can better yourself? We all have a few of them.
A habit I have been working on changing this month is becoming defensive when I am offered kind words. Sometimes, we aren’t used to that in our lives, and it can feel hard to accept. But if we are learning to love ourselves, that also means accepting love from others.
Your Definition of Love and How You Apply it to Yourself
What is your definition of love? Write it down on the page. Now, look at that definition and think about how you apply it to yourself. Do you even try to show yourself that kind of love, are you kind to yourself in the way you know you should be? On the same page as that definition, write how you are going to apply that love to yourself. How you are going to love yourself more.
The truth is, you deserve it.
To Conclude
Journal prompts for February can have a positive impact, and sometimes the person we need to love the most is ourselves. These prompts are here to help you learn a little more about the way you define love, how you see yourself, and the ways in which you can alter your personal perspective. Through that, you might even be able to start to like yourself (before the love).
To know yourself is to love yourself. Get to know yourself better by taking a DNA test from CircleDNA. The results provide detailed insight into your genetic makeup, giving you insight into your personality, behavior traits, and more.
References:
- Journaling for Mental Health – Health Encyclopedia – University of Rochester Medical Center. Rochester.edu. Published 2023. Accessed February 20, 2023. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1
- Ford BQ, Lam P, John OP, Mauss IB. The psychological health benefits of accepting negative emotions and thoughts: Laboratory, diary, and longitudinal evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2018;115(6):1075-1092. doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000157
- Thoele DG, Gunalp C, Baran D, et al. Health Care Practitioners and Families Writing Together: The Three-Minute Mental Makeover. The Permanente Journal. 2020;24(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/19.056
