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 did this year teach me about myself that I didn’t know before?
This year taught me that I have a lot of inner strength that can help guide me to where I want to be in my own life. That I can still go through rough things and come out the other side. I had forgotten that I am allowed to listen to the voice inside of me when it says that things need to change and that while they may hurt that it is appropriate for my future.
I would also say that this year has taught me that I know how to advocate for myself. I have often just listened to other people dictating what my life should be, but this year in almost every aspect of my life (work, medical, home life for example) I advocated for what my needs were. I listened to a part of me that I shut away in a cage somewhere in the corner of my mind. I would just smile and allow other people to have their say. This year, I said what was on my mind more than I have ever. I listened and spoke up about how I was feeling. I helped to change aspects of my job by being authentic. I stood up to medical providers that I had that were going against other providers and even the tests that they would run that showed certain things. It has been a weird year of saying, “no, if I want to be alive this life has to look different.” I understand now better than last year that I am a resilient individual. I have survived so many bad days but I can survive all the ones that are in the future as well. Life may not look like what I thought it would, but it doesn’t have to look like that. There is still hope for a life that I want to live and that is more vital than fitting into a version that was never reality. Happiness comes when I learn that I am allowed to live however I want to live. I don’t have to be the friendliest person on the planet, but I can be authentically myself. Other people are not required to love me, I am required to love me.
