These are prompts from some other place besides a book that ask to examine certain aspects of yourself. I will not have created these prompts myself, so I want to pay respect that they came from somewhere.
This months’ prompts are going to be coming from this substack that I recently started following:
https://substack.com/@theebookclubx/p-180404522
December journal prompts
1. What did this year teach me about myself that I didn’t know before?
2. Which version of me am I leaving behind in 2025?
3. What am I proud of myself for, even if no one else noticed?
4. Which disappointments from this year still live in my body, and what permission do I need to release them?
5. What boundaries did I learn to set or wish I had set sooner?
6. Write about one person who made your year a little softer.
7. What small, mundane moments brought me unexpected joy?
8. What blessings arrived quietly, without fanfare?
9. What did I survive that I didn’t think I would?
10. What parts of my life feel like answered prayers?
11. What did love (romantic or otherwise) teach me this year?
12. How did I show up for the people I care about, and how did they show up for me?
13. What is one relationship I want to nurture more intentionally in the new year?
14. Which connections drained me, and why did I hold onto them?
15. What does a healthy, gentle love look like for the version of me I am becoming?
16. What habits helped me grow and which ones quietly held me back?
17. What fear dominated my decision-making this year, and how can I release it?
18. What is one truth about myself I can no longer ignore?
19. What did I learn about trusting my intuition?
20. How did I show resilience even when I doubted myself?
21. What do I want December-me one year from now to thank me for?
22. What kind of energy do I want to carry into the new year?
23. What is something I want to try, even if I’m afraid or unprepared?
24. What word or theme do I want to guide me in 2026?
25. What would a gentle, ease-filled life look like and what is one step I can take toward it?
26. What is one thing I forgave myself for this year, even quietly?
27. What old dream am I ready to revisit with a wiser, gentler heart?
28. What did this year reveal about what I truly value , beyond status, speed, or success?
29. Where did I experience unexpected beauty this year, and what did it teach me about paying attention?
30. What is one soft promise I want to make to myself as the new year begins?
What is something I want to try, even if I’m afraid or unprepared?
There are three things that I want to do, even if I am afraid or unprepared to do them. The first one, I want to start writing a fiction novel again. I have had an idea for years, but I keep putting it on the back burner. With the recent health scare of feeling like I will never speak again, I would like to put this as a priority. I am afraid that my book will suck, but you know what I will at least be able to say I wrote something before I died. I want to publish one mystery novel before my death. I want to know that I accomplished this task. It may not be the best novel ever written but I want to have accomplished feeling like I have done this thing that has been on my plate for over twenty years. I have always wanted to write something, including at one point a comic book. I think a novel at this point fits more in alignment with what I want to do with life. I want to accomplish this task. I would love to write a series of mystery novels and maybe a few more serious literary works that are LGBT+ focused. I have a lot of free time that I could utilize instead of watching television towards writing and doing things that would make my soul happy. Publishing even one book would do that to my soul. It would make it so happy, so lets figure out how to do that.
The next goal that I have is a much bigger goal. Loftier in terms of not just trying something, but doing something again. I want to move back to San Francisco and live there indefinitely. I have recognized that I was happiest out there. I was happy going to various places there even when it felt like I was at my worst, I was happy out there. I want to go back and finish out my social work career in a place that I want to help out. That I want to help thrive. I am scared because I know it is going to take a lot of money to get there. I need to pay for a social work license for out there, which includes taking a test. The price is almost $600. I know it is a lot, but it is worth it if I want to get to the next chapter of my own life. Then I have to figure out how to move everything I own from here to there. I know that I can do it, but it is all going to be a challenge to accomplish.
The last thing I want to try is to do something scary, be it bungee jumping or jumping from a plane, I want to do something I have not done that is bigger. Something monumental that is about trying something that I have never done. It might be scary, but I want to do it. I want to try something that is about showing that I am still alive. I might be in my midlife crisis, maybe, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do things that are scary and I want to prove that to myself.
