From Coping to Thriving: Journaling Prompts
Last time, I shared a series of questions you can use to discuss From Coping to Thriving: How to Turn Self-Care Into a Way of Life in a book club setting. This week, I want to bring it back to the personal and share some journaling prompts you can use privately to explore the main themes of the book in more depth.
With a couple of exceptions, you do not need to have read the book to be able to use these prompts (Although it’s currently on sale at $0.99 for the month of May, so I hope you will! :)) Either way, I hope these are useful and get you thinking about your relationship with self-care in a slightly different way.
1. The book recommends a regular check-in with two simple questions: "How am I feeling right now?" and "What do I need right now?" Set aside five minutes today to answer both honestly. What comes up when you slow down enough to ask?
2. To begin identifying your coping mechanisms, complete this sentence as honestly as you can: "When I'm being totally honest with myself, I acknowledge that I feel compelled to do {behaviour} when I feel {emotion}." Write as many versions as you need. What patterns do you notice?
3. Reflect on your personal "sanity must-haves" by completing the sentence: "Without __________, I would be lost." Write down everything that comes to mind, then circle the three that feel the most important. What do those choices tell you about your needs?
4. Map out your "Ideal Now" week. This isn’t some future, aspirational version of your life, but what your current week would look like if you spent your time in a way that met your needs, and aligned with your values. What differences do you notice between what you’ve written and your actual week?
5. Can you identify your “inner taskmaster?” This is the voice that dictates what you should be doing, achieving, or improving. Write down what it's currently saying about your self-care practice. Then write a response from a warm, nurturing internal voice. What differences do you notice? (And, bonus prompt: Which one is typically loudest?)
6. Since self-care is 80–90% an inside job, how are you currently handling your internal conflicts? How do you talk to yourself when you struggle, make mistakes, or fall short? How does your personal history shape the relationship you have with yourself today?
7. List the self-care activities you feel you "should" be doing. For each one, ask yourself: does this come from a genuine desire to meet my needs, or from a sense of social obligation or self-judgement? What would your list look like if any "shoulds" were removed? Try to be as honest as possible.
8. Write a detailed description of what your "best self" looks like (not your perfect, idealised, self, but the version of you that is genuinely thriving). Then, identify one small, doable step you could take today to move a little closer to that version of yourself.
9. Try the unstructured time activity, even for 10 minutes. Afterwards, write about your thoughts and feelings during this exercise. What were you drawn towards? What did you actually want to do when there was no agenda? What kind of internal chatter came up?
10. Explore your beliefs about deserving self-care. Do you find yourself waiting to feel worthy before you allow yourself rest, pleasure, or support, or feeling the need to “earn” these things? Where might that belief have come from? What do you think would shift if you treated self-care as a priority rather than something to be earned?
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