Goal-setting journal prompts that end in a next step

Prompts for choosing a goal

• Talk about a goal you keep coming back to and why it won't leave you alone.
• Say whose goal this really is, yours or someone else's, and how you can tell.
• Describe what you'd stop doing to make room for this goal.
• Talk about a goal you dropped and whether you'd pick it up again.
• Explain your goal in a sentence a ten-year-old would understand.
• Describe how you'll know you've done it, in a way you could see or count.

Prompts for making a plan

• Break the goal into three stages and describe what finished looks like for each.
• Name the person who could help most and say what you'd ask them.
• Describe the time of day and the place where this work will actually happen.
• Talk through what you'll do on a day when you have only ten minutes.
• Say honestly what this goal will cost you in time, money or comfort.

Prompts for checking progress

• Describe what you did toward the goal since your last check-in, even if it was nothing.
• Talk about a moment this week when you chose the goal over something easier.
• Say what's working that you should keep doing.
• Describe the obstacle that showed up and what it tells you about the plan.
• Talk about whether the goal still fits, or needs to shrink, grow or change.
• Tell the story of the week as if you were coaching a friend through it.

Prompts for when a goal stalls

• Say out loud what you're afraid might happen if you succeed.
• Describe the version of this goal that would feel easy, and whether it's enough.
• Talk about who you'd tell if you quit, and what you'd say to them.
• Describe one thing to restart with, so small it feels silly.

How to use these prompts

Use the first two sections once when you set a goal, then the check-in prompts once a week. Say the goal's name in each entry so the entries are easy to find together. A month of check-ins shows patterns that a single entry can't. In Dawn Light, a tag for the goal lets the Journal calendar show only those days.