Find Your 2023 Mantra with These 7 Journal Prompts

Tomorrow is the first day of 2023 and it’s a new year, full of possibilities. As a recovering productivity addict, I used to hate-write my resolutions, getting high off the idea of “self-improvement” by crossing things off a list but knowing deep down I was likely to give up by February or March. The whole process of writing resolutions began to feel hollow over the years.

So after a few failed years of resolution keeping, I stopped writing them and simply tried to see Jan 1 as the start of any old month. As the Grinch of New Year’s Eve, I would pout around mumbling how silly all the hype was. Time is just a construct anyway and you can start a new habit any time you want, and you don’t need the start of a new year to do it, RIGHT?

I stand by those points by the way, but I realized that as a society, we really crave this ritual to wipe the slate clean. It sparks hope to imagine a blank canvas and deciding what picture we want to paint gives us clarity of what’s important to us.

So this year, I’m trying a third way. Instead of making resolutions, I’m focusing on the feelings I want to create and allowing more space for those goals to materialize. My goal is a simple mantra that can manifest itself in any avenue I choose to take next year.

So without further ado, here are my 7 Journal Prompts to Find Your 2023 Mantra:

1. As 2022 comes to a close, what was my blessing this year? What should I be celebrating?
2. What am I leaving behind in 2022?
3. In 2023, How do I want to feel in my relationships?
4. In 2023, How do I want to feel when I’m at work and making money?
5. In 2023, How do I want to feel while I’m investing in my health (emotional, physical, spiritual)?
6. In 2023, How do I want to feel in my hobbies or creative pursuits?
7. Underline the key “feeling words” from each of the journal entries above and use those to create your 2023 mantra. You can use the phrase “I am [insert word], [insert word], etc. or you can come up with your own mantra. Examples include “I am powerful.” “I am light, free, and open.” “I am meeting the woman of my dreams.”

Remember: once you are done, take the extra step to ensure you keep your mantra top-of-mind. A few ways you can do this: 1/ You can use Canva to create an image of it and set it as your phone background. You can add it as a note on your phone to look at, add it to your alarm as a daily reminder, write it down and put it on your nightstand. The important thing is to revisit your mantra at least once a month, perhaps on the New Moon when inspiration is high.

Cheers to a new year full of potential. I sincerely hope your mantra brings you peace and inspiration for the year ahead. If you have a mantra, please share below as I’d love to read all of your powerful statements.