Living intentionally… Such a dream to most of us these days, isn’t it? But what does it mean, and most importantly – how do you live intentionally?
Well, let me be honest and tell you that there are way too many ways to live your days intentionally, but one stands out the most: Setting your intentions for each day and doing your best to be in control of yourself.
Yes, we cannot control the environment around us, but that doesn’t mean we have to float through life and ignore even what we can control.
And having positive intentions, choosing the good habit over the bad one, smiling instead of frowning, expressing gratitude for everything we have (or do not have), being kind instead of ignoring people around us is living intentionally.
How to plan your days intentionally?
And we got to the interesting part here – planning your days intentionally. And I am not talking about planning your work tasks or zoom calls.
Planning to live intentionally means taking the time to be mindful, asking yourself questions that matter to you, noting down whatever made you happy, and expressing gratitude for everything in between.
To do all that, you might need an empty notebook or any of the guided journals below. Today, I will show you the 10 best personal development journals for living intentionally.
I cannot start a list of journals and not mention my favorite one – Inside Of My Happiness. It is designed to give you everything you need in less than five minutes daily.
Each page is divided into two parts – morning and evening. You have space to list your gratitudes, your focus for the day, choose an affirmation and a quote of the day. It is the shortest way to live intentionally and keep a record of it.
Inside Of My Happiness is a printable journal you could get instant access to by clicking here. You will also get bonuses with it and inspiring quotes, reflection pages, and a personal message from me to you!
Next is one of the most popular self-help journals out there; the BestSelf SELF Journal has certainly made a name for itself. Its simplistic yet robust design neatly outlines the important things you should ask yourself and areas you should focus on. You can use it as a daily planner, which can help you be more productive in your personal and professional life.
Inside the journal, you will find several sections – days, weeks, and months. The pages aren’t dated, so you can start filling them any time you like. Some of the things you can find on the sheets are spaces where you can scribble your to-dos, goals, what you learned and what you’re grateful for.
One thing I didn’t particularly like about this journal is that it consists only of 13 weeks, which is a bit over 3 months. However, I may be biased as I prefer big yearly journals rather than smaller ones like this one. See the journal here!
This is the best personal development journal I ever used, probably because it was the first one I ever bought, which is why I can’t keep it off the list. And I am not saying that just because I have good memories with it – this small guy is incredible!
The basic concept is that you get a question for every day of the year, along with space to write your answer. There is enough space to answer the same question for 5 years into the future, so all you have to do is simply record the year you are answering for in the designated place and move forth with the following days.
Some of the questions are thought-provoking, while others are very quirky. It doesn’t take more than 2 minutes to answer the questions, and I find it wonderful looking back on my answers through the years. Some of them are as old as 2016!
The best part is that even if you forget to be consistent with your entries, you can still pick up the journal at any point in time and continue answering. See inside this journal.
1 Page at a Time is for all the people out there that are craving a creative spark to their lives. It’s a journal but also a scrapbook that invites its owner to draw, list, write, reflect and do everything that’s in between. The journal consists of 365 prompts (yes, one for each day of the year), which can be subtle or crazy.
What’s important is not to give up and keep going with the prompts. That way, you will have a lovely keepsake of the year you spent together with this journal to look back on.
I find this journal particularly helpful for people who struggle with or simply don’t want to write down their thoughts via the traditional way of journaling.
Filling out the prompts can feel very liberating and is a good way to relieve tension and even discover your inner artist. I recommend this journal for anyone who doesn’t want to get too deep into journaling and instead prefers to go with the quick and fun way. See inside the journal here.
As someone who has struggled with anxiety for far too long, this notebook has done wonders in managing my stress and anxiety levels. It is designed by therapists and relies on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques, which have been evidence-proven to help relieve stress in both the short and long term.
The journal offers 100 entries, allowing the reader to reflect on their emotions and thought patterns through insightful questions.
Alongside giving you a space to gather your thoughts, this notebook also offers an abundance of tips and notes from therapists, together with useful further reading on things such as mindfulness and positive relationships. In the appendix, you will find a list of CBT techniques, which makes this entry a resource worthy of opening long after you fill it all out.
If you always wanted to invite mindfulness in your life but didn’t really know how, then this journal is just what you need.
I Am Here Now is a guided journal, which is heavily supported by empirically supported mindfulness methods that really do change human lives. The journal takes only about 10-15 minutes per day to attend to and offers intriguing mindfulness exercises you can accumulate in your life.
The guide also includes a visual history of mindfulness, which is presented in a neat timeline and offers a constellation of resources for further reading.
Even if you are further down the mindfulness journey, I am certain you can still find something useful to implement in your life from this book. See inside the journal here.
Are you a morning person? I know I wasn’t, and it was seriously hard for me to build the routine I have now. I was so used to sleeping in late that I didn’t really see a point in waking up early. All those things people say that mornings are the most productive time of the day simply didn’t apply to me.
If you are the type of person that despises mornings and doesn’t see any value in them, like I once did, this is the perfect journal for you. It spans over 66 days, divided into 3 distinct sections.
Even though the journey starts off easy, don’t be fooled by the first week of prompts – after that you need to begin analyzing your lifestyle more closely to determine what needs to change. Again, this journal also doesn’t take long to complete daily, but the impact it can have on your mornings can be tremendous. See inside this journal here.
Starting to journal can be a difficult task. Many people don’t know where to begin and that initial stage can overwhelm them irreversibly.
This is where Wreck This Journal comes into play. You might have heard of the acclaimed journal series by writer Keri Smith, but in case you aren’t familiar with Wreck This Journal, here’s the short summary.
Wreck This Journal is an illustrated journal that features plenty of prompts, which urge the readers to create the best mess they are capable of.
Many pages ask to have things spilled over them, stomped on or even ripped apart. While this may sound sceptical to some, there is something very relaxing and stress-relieving about destruction. If you invest just 5 minutes of your day for this journal, you will soon discover a whole new part of the creative process you probably never even considered before. See inside this journal here.
Creativity and productivity expert Kara Cutruzzula is the genius behind the Do It for Yourself Journal. It offers an amazing resource to utilize your creative goals and bring you the inspiration needed to achieve them.
The journal is organized in five distinct sections – getting going, building momentum, overcoming setbacks, following through, and seeking closure. Each section has a certain set of prompts, which add up to a total of 75. All of them aim to have you reconnect with yourself and boost your creative juices.
The best part of this book is how many relatable quotes are scattered through the pages. As you know, I am a sucker for a good motivational quote, which is why this book was a delight to go through. The thoughtful design of the whole journal only adds to its inspirational qualities and makes it even harder to put down. See inside this journal here.
The Mastery Journal Daily Planner is a scientifically proven guide, which spans over 100 days. It is my go-to journal when it comes to daily productivity planners and can be used for a whole myriad of activities. From daily task tracking, through crushing weekly checkpoints, all the way to staying on track for each quarter, there is little that this guy can’t do.
This journal divides each day into four distinct focus sessions to further help you achieve lasting results.
During these sessions, you have to time a certain task you want to focus on and track your overall productivity. After all the sessions for the day are completed, you have to review your progress and put a realistic grade on your performance.
At the end of every 10-day cycle, you can neatly reflect on your overall productivity growth and easily come up with ways to improve further. If lack of focus is the thing you’re struggling with the most, then this journal is the right tool to get you on the right track. See inside this journal here.
Final Thoughts on Best Personal Development Journals
Did you pic your new most favorite personal development journal to live intentionally? Whichever one you go for (even if it’s just an empty notebook), the one thing you will need to do is to trust the process and stick to it.
Yes, if I have to summarise, most journals don’t work because we forget to write in them. And the real reason they do work is that… yes, you guessed it, because we make it a habit to turn the pages every day and make the most out of the mess in our head. Live intentionally. Write intentionally.
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10 Best Personal Development Journals To Live Intentionally
Blogger, dreamer, procrastinator, and lover of everything soul-touching. My mission is to make you laugh, provoke your thoughts, light up your day and inspire you to fall in love with life and yourself.
