The Complete Guide to Journaling for Men (With Examples)

In This Guide

• What Is Journaling?

• The Benefits of Journaling for Men

• Successful Men Who Journal

• How to Start Journaling

• Journaling for Self-Improvement and Mental Health

• Journal Prompts for Men

  • Self-Exploration Prompts

  • Confidence Prompts

  • Goals & Vision Prompts

  • Gratitude Prompts

  • Self-Improvement Prompts

What Is Journaling?

A practice used by countless powerful historical figures, journaling is one of the best tools to grow. To become introspective, self-aware, reflective, and build emotional intelligence.

Journaling can take many forms—daily gratitude, the end-of-day recap, or specific writing exercises.

We dive into all of that and more in this tailored guide on journaling for men.

The Benefits of Journaling for Men

I’ve been journaling for nearly four years now, and I can attest to the life-changing impacts it’s had.

Why Journaling Is A Must For Men

Journaling offers a structured way for men to channel their energy into personal growth and emotional well-being without feeling judged.

It’s not about being “soft” or overly introspective—it’s about equipping yourself with a tool to process life’s challenges and become a stronger, more self-assured version of yourself.

A Top Tool For Growth

It’s no secret that as men, we often suppress and avoid our emotions.

Pent-up emotions lead to resentment, passive aggression, aggression in the wrong context, and even physical health problems.

Journaling is a massive step for men to begin to heal, grow, and level up in their masculinity.

The Science—Proven Benefits of Journaling:

• Emotional processing:
  

  Writing down thoughts and feelings can help us men process complex emotions, release pent-up stress, and gain clarity on our experiences. This creates better physical, mental, and emotional health.
  

• Self-awareness:
  

  Journaling creates an introspective man, allowing him to better understand his behaviors, patterns, and motivations. Ultimately, he better understands himself. A man who knows himself and what he wants is unstoppable (not to mention highly attractive to others).
  

• Improved coping mechanisms:
  

  Regularly expressing thoughts and emotions in a journal can help men develop healthier coping strategies. We all cope—healthily and unhealthily—when dealing with uncomfortable emotions and the inevitable hardships of life.
  

• Goal achievement:
  

  By writing down goals and tracking progress, journaling can provide a sense of accountability and motivation to reach desired outcomes. I’ve experienced this countless times—I wrote the goal down, it gets done.
  

• Cognitive benefits:
  

  Studies suggest journaling may improve cognitive and memory function by actively recalling and reflecting on experiences. Journaling is a workout for the mind—training us to have sharper thinking and recall.
  

• Creative expression:
  

  Free writing in a journal can stimulate creativity and help men with new ideas and perspectives. I can’t tell you how many ideas, new perspectives, and connections I’ve had while writing.

Not always clear at first, the benefits slowly emerge in powerful ways.

A benefit itself—we begin to recognize patterns and see the progress we’ve made.

I can now look back to my mindset, worries, and goals from years ago, and see the growth I’ve done.

I can see clearly that I’m no longer worried about traveling solo, I’ve achieved my goal of training Muay Thai for a year, and I’m no longer in a scarcity mindset.

The Many Successful Businessmen, Athletes, Actors, Navy SEALs, and World Leaders That Journal

Many leaders, creators, and interesting people throughout history have jotted down their thoughts.

A famous example is Marcus Aurelias, who wrote Meditations. A collection of his daily diaries formed one of our greatest bodies of Stoic knowledge.

I was inspired by Matthew McConoughey’s habit of journaling, which he’s maintained for decades. “The ability to look back, when you’re in a slump, to a time when you were winning in life is key—’What was I doing? How much sleep was I getting? Who was I hanging out with?’”

Other well-known journalers include Ben Franklin, Kobe Bryant, Leonardo da Vinci, Theodore Roosevelt, Michael Phelps, Richard Branson, David Goggins… and tons more.

From da Vinci to Phelps… journaling seems to be a common thread in the success of many of the greats.

How to Start Journaling

1. Paper vs Digital

Some prefer the old-school pen-and-paper route, finding it more cathartic. Some studies suggest there are benefits of physical writing.

However, for the on-the-go traveler or paperless man, whipping out the Notes app can be a convenient solution.

For me, I like both. Traveling lightly sometimes means using my phone to journal. Plus, I like the searchability it brings. For example, if I wanted to see my progress around quitting porn or recall a supplement I used to take, I can do a quick search. However, I do find putting pen to the page to be incredibly therapeutic as well.

Every man is different. Try both and decide which one serves you.

2. Free Flow vs Prompts

In my early days of journaling, I didn’t know what the hell to write about. It’s pretty funny to look back on them and see how short and basic the entries are.

“Felt good today. Eating salmon and high-protein diet. Got a workout in.”

And that’s it. However, your journaling practice will evolve. My average entry today has much greater depth, emotional exploration, and value.

I chose to freely flow, letting whatever came to mind appear on the page. I’d sometimes use prompts too, if I wanted to explore a specific topic.

I recommend trying both. Guided prompts to give you ideas, but also allowing your mind to clear and form connections via unguided writing.

3. What to Write About

So, what are we supposed to write, anyway?

If you’re not using prompts, this is your opportunity to freestyle. Allow the mind to go where it goes.

In the beginning, I had a bias toward tracking physical things like my health, weight, fitness protocols, and diet.

That evolved into greater emotional depth, exploring any shifts or extremes from the day, or digging into negative feelings.

As a base, I’d recommend asking yourself:

• How do I feel today?

• Did I have any intense emotions?

• How am I going about my life right now?

• What are my biggest opportunities to improve?

Don’t sweat it too much in the beginning. Like anything else, you’ll learn and become more efficient, and evolve as a practitioner.

4. Reflection

Often missed, the opportunity to look back on what you’ve written is ripe with self-discovery, progress, and hindsight.

As you journal more, you’ll have more information about yourself. Within this are the keys to growth.

You’ll find perspective: “So that’s why I was feeling so low at that point in my life…”

You’ll find progress: “Damn, I’ve come a long way from a year ago…”

You’ll find clarity: “I set that vision for myself, and almost effortlessly grew into it…”

And… you’ll find patterns.

We humans tend to operate on unconscious scripts, that come to life in the form of patterns. We are entirely unaware of these.

How do we become aware? Journaling is a great way to spot patterns and recurring themes in your life. Whether you sabotage relationships after a certain point, the ways you cope with emotions, or recurring thoughts about yourself.

What you are doing is writing the book of your life. Reflecting on the past, being present, and deciding how you want the future to look.

Journaling for Self-Improvement and Mental Health

If we look across the countless mental health benefits and the practices of highly successful people, journaling becomes a no-brainer.

Here are a few journaling practices with clear self-improvement and positive mental health outcomes.

Journaling Ideas for Men

• Gratitude Journaling: Write three things you’re grateful for each day to shift your mind toward what you have, rather than what you don’t. Gratitude has been shown to improve mental health and increase overall happiness. Over time, you’ll notice gratitude becomes your default. You catch yourself giving thanks to simple things naturally, without trying.
  

• Stream-of-Consciousness Writing: Let your thoughts flow freely onto the page. This technique is great for clearing mental clutter and uncovering hidden feelings or ideas.
  

• Problem-Solving Journals: Use journaling to brainstorm solutions to problems or challenges you’re facing. Break down the issue, explore potential outcomes, and commit to actionable steps. You can use this approach to tackle internal beliefs as well—low self-esteem? Challenge it. Become a lawyer and tease out the facts, deciding what’s real and what you’ve been conditioned to believe.
  

• Reflective Prompts: Answer questions like, “What went well today?” “What can I improve tomorrow?” or “What am I avoiding that I need to confront?” A famously Stoic practice is to end each day by asking the questions: “What went well, and where did I not live up to my values?” This helps close the gaps between your current self and your ideal (value-based) self.
  

• Exploration of extremes: If you experienced an extreme shift in mood or emotions that day, reflect on it. Often big shifts in emotion are keys to our triggers, fears, and beliefs. If you had an anger outburst, use it as information to learn about what triggered you and why—explore it, judgement-free, on the page. Over time, you may come to use this approach when you’re feeling triggered and normally would reach for a vice to cope (porn, alcohol, weed).

Journal Prompts for Men: Overcoming Challenges and Building Confidence

So you’ve got a set of strategies to help you get started journaling. Let’s dive into specific prompts that modern men can use to level up.

For an in-depth list covering topics from self-discovery, to taking action, to breaking free from limiting beliefs, download our free eBook.

Here’s a taste to get you started:

Journal Prompts for Men: Self-exploration

1. What are your top five values? Feel free to browse this list for ideas. Tons of good ones, only five can remain.
   

2. If you could live any life without limitations, what would it look like? Describe it in vivid detail.

Journal Prompts for Men: Self-Assuredness and Confidence

1. Take inventory of your internal voice. Is it critical or harsh? Do you call yourself names? Do you talk to yourself the way you talk to friends?
   

2. List a few recent times you’ve found yourself seeking approval from others. If you’re not sure, be aware of this as you go about life and take note when you do. Why were you looking to gain the approval of that person, and what did you use to get their validation?

Journal Prompts for Men: Goals and Vision

1. What’s one decision you’ve been avoiding? Why, and what’s stopping you?
   

2. What are your goals? Write a list of three big goals you have. Now, remove all constraints and rewrite the goals.

Journal Prompts for Men: Gratitude

1. Do you have an abundance mindset or a scarcity mindset? That is, do you believe there is enough success, love, money, etc. to go around?
   

2. Write about a failure, loss, or negative experience that turned out to be for the best, or a powerful lesson.

Journal Prompts for Men: Self-Improvement

1. Brainstorm a list of skills you’d like to have. Maybe your ideal, future self is this badass person that speaks Portuguese, cooks a mean steak, and hikes on the weekends. Set a timeline for trying each skill, and list how you’ll go about trying each one.
   

2. List three qualities you admire in others. Maybe it’s their ability to connect with others, being adventurous, or being confident and always building you up. How can you develop these in yourself?

Conclusion

Journaling is one of the most powerful tools for self-discovery, self-awareness, and growth. Without question, it ranks as a must-do for any man looking to improve.

Start small. You don’t need to write pages every day—just a few sentences to start unpacking your thoughts and building the habit. Over time, you’ll find that journaling becomes a cornerstone of both your personal growth and mental resilience.

My two-sentence entries grew into long, detailed, and insightful writings.

Marcus Aurelius, one of history’s great leaders and thinkers, famously kept a journal to reflect on his actions and principles. If journaling worked for a Roman emperor, imagine what it can do for you.

Whether you start lightly and dive deeper with time, or plunge straight into the depths of the eBook filled with prompts, just know you’re on the right path.

Ready to get after it? Let us know how your journey is going, here or on Instagram.

Godspeed.

To your growth and travels,