1. What went well this year?
2. What didn’t go so well this year?
3. What surprised you most about your creative work this year?
4. Who did you connect with through your creative work this year?
5. What helped you most in your creative work this year? (This might be a person, place, tool, service, software experience… if it helped, it counts!)
6. What was the biggest hindrance to your creative work this year?
7. What hard skills did you improve this year? (Craft, business, etc.)
8. What soft skills did you improve this year? (Networking, customer service, etc.)
9. As you look back to the beginning of this year, how has your creative work changed since January? And how is it the same or similar?
10. What is the one thing that, if you could create it next year, would make you proud?

If you enjoyed these prompts, I invite you to check out my book The Year of You for Creatives: 365 Journal-Writing Prompts for Doing Your Best Creative Work. Inside, you’ll find 365 daily journaling prompts that guide you through different elements of your creative work so you can build a strong foundation, improve your craft, and develop a practice that works for you. Every month, you’ll explore an important aspect of your creativity, from mindset and growth, to your working environment, community and support, money, self-care, and much more. Find out more and get your copy here.

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At this point in the year, you might be reflecting on the year that’s almost over and looking ahead to the next 12 months. With this in mind, I want to share 10 end-of-year journaling prompts for parents from my book The Year of You for Mothers: 365 Journal-Writing Prompts for Self-Reflection, Self-Care and Self-Discovery. I hope the next year is your most fulfilling year of parenting yet

1. What are you most looking forward to next year?
2. What are your top 5 goals or intentions for your family next year?
3. What experiences would you love to have with your family next year?
4. What experiences would you personally love to have next year?
5. What memories do you want to create next year?
6. What would you like to do as a family in the next five years?
7. What do you imagine your kid(s) will be like in five years time? What do you think will be the same? What will be different? What are your hopes and dreams for them?
8. How would you like to feel over the next month? What can you do to make that happen?
9. What do you feel most optimistic about when it comes to the future?
10. What is one thing you would like to be different about your life on this day next year?

Further reading: 8 (helpful!) books for parents

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1. Are you using writing as a substitute for action?

Most of the things we journal about can be divided into things we can control (or influence) and things we can’t. We can’t control the weather but we can choose to dress appropriately. Writing about certain situations can be useful for events beyond our control (for example, grieving the loss of a loved one), but when it comes to things we can control, sometimes the most helpful thing is to take action and make a change. Journaling can help us identify what this action or change might be, but writing about them can also lull us into a sense of feeling like we’re doing the work when we’re not. A question I like to ask myself (that comes from Lynda Monk of the IAJW) is “Based on what I’ve written about today, what is one action I want to take or one thing I want to do differently going forward?”

2. Is it an intellectual rather than a reflective exercise?

Does your journaling read more like an academic essay than a personal account? Is it full of the ideas of other people rather than reflections about yourself? If so, you might find that getting more personal helps you take your journaling deeper. If you notice you’re writing a lot about what happened over how you felt, what other people did over what you did and your reflections about that, or similar, try to refocus on your thoughts, feelings, behaviours, and role in the situations. On a similar note…

3. Are you using your writing for uncensored complaining?

Writing ideally helps us organise, structure, and make meaning out of the events of our lives. When someone does or says something that hurts our feelings or angers us, our writing can become about them, what they’ve done, and how they treat us. Unfortunately, venting doesn’t work as well as we think it does; studies have shown it might actually make us feel worse. Instead, it’s helpful to ask things like: why has this hurt me so badly? Why do I think these feelings are so intense right now? As you notice if your writing is focusing on what other people did more than how you are feeling and any self-reflection, you can also ask: Why am I writing this way? How do I feel about what I’m writing? Why does this person bother me in the way they do?

I hope you found those questions as helpful as I did! If you’d like more journaling-related suggestions I invite you to check out my book The Ultimate Guide to Journaling, as well as The Year of You series of guided journals.

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1. Practice creating a habit 

If we want to create a body of work, improve, explore our creative identity and evolve, we need to show up and make things on repeat. We need to make creating a habit. It’s much easier to fall out of habits than it is to create or restart new ones, but the act of creating new habits is something we can practise. When we journal regularly, we are doing just that. Even if journaling doesn’t feel related to your creative work, you are practising habits, consistency, and overcoming resistance. That all makes a difference.

2. Explore helpful and unhelpful beliefs 

Journaling is invaluable for unpacking beliefs you might have around your creative work, helpful and unhelpful. By making time to explore these beliefs, you get to know them, can reinforce those that are constructive and challenge those that aren’t. Sometimes we spend so long in the work, we forget to take a step back and zoom out to look at how we’re approaching the work, and the bigger picture overall. Journaling helps us do that, and it can help us gain and invaluable perspective on what we’re doing.

3. Plan and explore new projects and ideas

Journaling offers us the opportunity to go wild and dream and scheme for the future. It gives us the chance to explore what a new project would look like, to try out different versions, to ask “what if?” without the pressure of committing. 

Have you ever been tempted by a shiny new project idea when you’re already working on something else? Me too! We can also use journaling to get these ideas out of our heads and onto paper (or screen), making room to finish what we’ve already started while also capturing them for later.

4. Get comfortable with expressing yourself

Self-expression doesn’t come naturally to everyone. If you feel self-conscious or even critical about what you create and find that this gets in the way of your creativity, journaling can help. Just like practising creating a habit, journaling is good practice for self-expression. There’s no pressure—you’re not going to show your writing to anyone—but you do get used to sharing what you write with the person who might be your toughest critic: you. Even if writing is a far cry from the type of creative work you do, the more you produce, the more normal it will feel. Starting a regular journaling practice will normalise producing some kind of output and create a solid foundation for the other things you want to create.

5. Explore topics you don’t usually like to think about (but still matter)

We all have aspects of our creative work and life we overlook, either because it feels uncomfortable to face them head on, or because we aren’t aware of their importance and how they affect us. These areas might include money, our creative network, mindset, self-care, and more. Journaling helps bring these things to our awareness so we can face them head on and give them the attention they might need. 

If you would like a year’s worth of journaling prompts for creatives, I invite you to look at The Year of You for Creatives: 365 Journal Writing Prompts for Doing Your Best Work. Inside, you’ll find 365 daily journaling prompts that guide you through different elements of your creative work so you can build a strong foundation, improve your craft, and develop a practice that works for you. Every month, you’ll explore an important aspect of your creativity, from mindset and growth, to your working environment, community and support, money, self-care, and much more. Find out more and get your copy here.

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The Calendar is a set of 25 daily journaling prompts delivered to your inbox in the lead up to December 25th. It’s a review of the year that has been and an opportunity to dream and scheme for the year to come. It’s a chance for you to add some reflective time to a busy period and create space to review 2022 while exploring what you want from 2023.

The calendar series starts on 1st December. It’s free to register and much better for you than chocolate, so I hope you’ll join us in saying farewell to 2022 and exploring possibilities for the next 12 months.

Click here to register.

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But books offer me something else, because (based on my very limited experience) I don’t think the most important part of being a parent is so much what you do, but how you do it. And that’s the really hard part. In her book Raising Good Humans (which I’ve only just started so it didn’t make the list below), Hunter Clarke-Fields writes “Want some major personal growth? Six months with a preschooler can be more effective than years alone on a mountaintop.” Cheers to that. What I appreciate about all the books below is they have changed my perspective of my kids and/or myself in some way.

Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, I get a small commission. It’s a great way to help me keep this site going at no extra cost to you, and I appreciate your support. 

No Bad Kids by Janet Lansbury

This book (and Janet’s podcast, Unruffled) radically changed my perspective of little kids for the better. While I don’t follow all her advice (I think reading parenting books is a lot like reading personal growth books—cherry pick the stuff that resonates and leave what doesn’t!), she has had a huge influence on the way I view my children and I often hear her voice in my head when I’m thinking through a parenting challenge.

The Power of Showing Up by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

Daniel J. Siegel books appear twice on this list because they are a helpful blend of science, personal experience, and actionable advice (I’ve also heard excellent things about The Whole Brain Child, which is on my ‘to read’ list). The Power of Showing Up is no exception: it takes a big, nebulous topic like “showing up for your kids” and breaks it down into four easy-to-understand categories: making them feel safe, seen, soothed, and secure. It has a lot of useful information about attachment and is one I think I’ll get more out of each time I read it.

Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself by Lisa Marchiano

Unlike the other books on this list, this isn’t a book about interacting with kids, but it is a book about parenthood, specifically the experience of becoming a mother. Lisa is a Jungian analyst who explores the hero’s journey of motherhood through myths, stories and fables. It’s unlike any other book on this topic I’ve read and one that probably deserves several re-reads to take everything in.

How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber and Julie King

Aimed at parents of children aged 2-7, How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen is all about communication. It takes common parenting challenges that can easily become power battles and offers advice for effective (and peaceful) ways to deal with them. I really like the scripts this book offers and the ways you can tailor them to reflect your personal style and values.

The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart

This book is technically about home education, so I wasn’t sure whether to include it. But I love it, so I will If you’re home educating, considering it, or just want a few ideas for how to create a rich home environment for your kids, this book is great. I really like Julie’s philosophy of enchantment and the mix of practical advice and encouragement.

Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell

One of the hardest parts of parenting is that our kids’ behaviour holds a magnifying glass over all our… stuff. That’s what Parenting from the Inside Out is about: addressing the things that parenting small people dredges up in us so we can stop repeating generational cycles and (hopefully) build secure attachments with our kids.

Daily Greatness Parents’ Journal

Full disclosure: I got this journal a few years ago and, like a lot of things, it has increased in price since then. I’m still including it on this list because it ticks multiple boxes and I really like it. It’s a blend of quotes, worksheets, daily pages, planners, weekly check-ins, and an annual reflection, and the focus of this journal is on becoming more conscious and intentional in your parenting.

You can get 10% off any Daily Greatness journal with this link.

The Year of You for Mothers by Hannah Braime

Yep, I’m going to be cheeky and include my own book on this list! This is a daily guided journal that will help you reflect on your parenting experience and maintain (or regain) that important connection with the areas of your life that can get pushed aside by the daily whirlwind of parenting. Inside, you’ll find 365 daily journaling prompts that will make you think about a specific aspect of your life and your parenting experience, including identity, purpose and meaning, community, money, health, and more.

Have you read a great book for parents? Leave a comment and share your recommendations!

The post 8 Books for Parents (That Are Actually Helpful!) appeared first on Becoming Who You Are.

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

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In this post, I’m sharing an excerpt from my book The Year of You for Creatives: 365 Journal-Writing Prompts for Doing Your Best Creative Work. This template is from a bonus section at the back of the book. I hope it’s helpful! If you’d like to use journaling to explore your creative work in more depth, you can check out the book here.

How do you start a new creative project? Dive right in or take time to map out the initial steps first? Whatever your approach, if it works for you, then keep going! If you’re like me, and fall into the latter category, below you’ll find a new project deep dive template you can use in your journal. This will help you get clear on a few key points before starting and provide you with a few guideposts to keep you on the path towards completion.

I’ve deliberately kept the template below general so you can build on it for your particular creative endeavour. As with the other journaling tools and templates in this book, adapt it so that it works for you. Here is the outline:

• Aim of project: What are you hoping to create?

• Deadline (if relevant): When do you need to (or would you like to) complete this project by? Then 1.5x your estimate.


• Audience: Who is this project for? How does that influence the outcome of the project?

• 30-second pitch/blurb: Imagine you’re explaining this project to someone you’ve just met at a party. What is the 30-second summary?

• Master list of tasks: Get everything out of your head in one giant list first, then you can organise tasks into a linear process. You can add to this list as you think of more tasks along the way.


• Timeline: Week by week. If timeline isn’t relevant, you can also group tasks by area in a way that makes sense to you so that it’s easier to tackle them in a logical order.

• Research: What questions need to be answered for this project? What do you need to learn more about?

• Materials: What do you need to make this project happen? What do you already have and what will you need to acquire?

• Estimated cost: What specific costs does this project involve? What do you estimate they will be?

• Help needed: Contractors, freelancers, or employees you will work with directly.

• Waiting for: Are you waiting for any information, graphics, or other assets before you can begin?


• Miscellaneous: Notes, sketches, and anything else you can think of that would be helpful in this planning stage.

• Fun Extras: Playlists, vision boards/mood boards (visual representations of the project from social media, magazines, etc.). places to visit for inspiration, and more. What would add an element of fun inspiration to this project? Make a list under this heading.

I hope that helps as you embark on your next exciting project. Happy creating!

Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

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For example, in one study Pennebaker found over 50% of students he sampled never used a journal, 40% wrote in one once or twice a week, and only 3% of students wrote daily. Interestingly, the people who wrote daily were no healthier or happier than people who never used diaries, (although it’s hard to tell what their health would be if they weren’t writing in a diary!). This could be down to personality differences, but it could also be attributed to what they were using the diary for.

Among the people they interviewed who kept “intimate and emotional” journals, these fell into one of two groups. One group wrote only during periods of stress or unhappiness. The second group (which was less than half the size of the first) wrote daily until they experienced some kind of trauma or hardship, at which point they would stop until the emotions around that situation eased, then picked up their practice again.

The researchers surmised these different approaches reflected people’s different motivations for writing. People who only write during stressful times potentially use writing as a way to cope with these stressors (perhaps as a substitute for talking with others), while people who refrain from writing during times of trauma might do so because it’s too painful and the feelings associated with the situation are too intense in writing. As I wrote about in How to Be Kind to Yourself, it’s OK to take a break from “feeling our feelings” if they are too overwhelming and we need to be a functioning person in the world. Compartmentalising is a valid strategy for getting through tough times. Either way, for me these findings add further weight to the idea that there isn’t a “right” or “wrong” way to journal—different approaches serve different purposes.

So, how do you think you use your journaling practice? If you’re someone who writes about the more personal side of things, do either of the approaches above resonate for you? What about if you write a few times a week versus daily? I know I’ve found it interesting to reflect on how I journal and why I do it the way I do right now, and I hope it’s interesting for you too!

P.S. If you’d like more journaling tips, techniques and prompts, I invite you to take a look at my books.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

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This post on JOMO is adapted from my new book “How to Be Kind to Yourself: A Guide to Navigating Life’s Daily Challenges with Self-Compassion, Self-Acceptance, and Ease,” which is available now! Find out more and get your copy here.

You’ve probably heard of FOMO: the fear of missing out. It’s that pang we feel whenever we get a sense that others might be doing or experiencing something that we are not part of. But that’s not what this post is about. Today, I want to talk about JOMO!

“JOMO”, aka the Joy of Missing Out, is FOMO’s much underrated counterpart. As a dyed-in-the-wool introvert, this has been one of my favorite aspects of addressing how FOMO shows up in my own life. Rather than feeling anxious about missing out on an opportunity, event, or social gathering, we can remember: sometimes it feels good to say no. In our hyper-connected YOLO world, there can be immense joy and satisfaction in deciding to slow down and focus on what’s going on right here, right now, instead.

Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. We live in a world with more choices, opportunities, and connections than ever before, which is amazing but can also be a minefield. Just because we can watch our email inbox from waking until sleeping, put the latest and greatest smartphone on our credit card, or attend every social event we’re invited to, it doesn’t mean doing these things is a good idea.

This is where having a clear sense of our values can anchor us to what matters. A useful question to ask is: “Is this going to bring me closer to, or take me further away from, what I want and who I want to be?” One way I embrace JOMO is I take frequent social media breaks. Rather than being bombarded by other people’s wishes, preferences, and choices, I can focus on my own.

Connection is important, getting involved in something meaningful is important, seizing opportunities that matter is important, growth is important—but only when these things are motivated by joy, not fear.

Photo by Meritt Thomas on Unsplash

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