Journal Prompts For Every Enneagram Type

Journaling is a practice that is known to improve overall emotional well being. It is a gift to your soul to decompress, pull out your pen, and cultivate journaling as a consistent habit. As you sit down and write, it helps you look at life through an objective lens, name your feelings, and engage your inner world with curiosity versus judgement.

TYPE 1

At your best you are fun and spontaneous, which is no small feat with that loud inner critic. Many times your inner critic can trip you up because it is dominating and IT.IS.LOUD.  The good news is that you can lead your inner critic rather than it leading you. Engage it with compassion and curiosity engage, rather than suppressing it or responding to it’s every criticism. Remind your inner critic to err is part of the human experience. My Type 1 friend, as you lead your inner critic, remember to extend compassion and grace to yourself. 

Journal prompt: What would you experience if you led your inner critic rather than allowing it to you?

TYPE 2

At your best, you have a huge capacity to love others and simultaneously experience self care. I know, it can be challenging to get there because there are so many needs around you, and often you know exactly how to step in.  It’s easy to let the desire to rescue, as well as the craving for the appreciation and accolades from others overshadow basic self-care. Self-Care is a gift to yourself and enables you to have energy for the path God has designed for you. Think marathon versus sprint. 

Journal prompt: What do you need to say “no” to so that you can say “yes” to self-care?

TYPE 3

At your best, you know your worth apart from your achievements. You have an uncanny ability to accomplish your goals. This can be your greatest superpower. At your healthiest, you are loyal and deeply committed to others. Your achievements no longer validate you but are used on behalf of others. While goal achievement comes naturally, one of the greatest gifts to your emotional health is creating space to rest. 

Journal prompt: What fosters rest in your life and how can you create space for that?

TYPE 4

At your best, you are emotionally attuned yet objective. You are no longer ruled by the sense of lack that can be so prevalent, but confidently embrace the truth that you are wonderfully made. Rest from the search of proving to yourself that you are extraordinary. You have intrinsic worth. Give your imagination rest from fantasy and enjoy the present. 

Journal prompt: How can you embrace the present even if it’s less than you hoped? 

TYPE 5

At your best, you are warmly engaged with those around you. You live from a place that confidently recognizes sufficiency. Emotional disengagement and being the expert is your comfort zone. While these can create an appearance of security, they are not true security. God has created you for connection, one of the deepest desires of the human heart. Many people around you want to connect with you. 

Journal prompt: Who needs your affection and affirmation in your inner circle and how can you express it? 

TYPE 6

At your best, you are rested and optimistic. Despite many unknowns in life, you move confidently forward with God as your anchor. You guide your worst case scenario thinking rather than it guiding you into self doubt. You recognize you will be provided for, and you no longer need to wrestle or question. When your inner committee is unruly, confidently and compassionately guide all these voices. Most likely they protected you at one point in time. 

Journal prompt:  How would your emotional life be impacted if you gave yourself boundaries in anticipating worst case scenarios, and began to plan for best case scenarios? 

TYPE 7 

At your best, you are thoughtful and profound. You engage with your emotions rather than avoiding them. You have realized that fun experiences and finding the bright spots can serve you well as long as these are not used to avoid anxiety and pain. Truly, people love you for all the contagious energy you naturally bring to every environment. Remember that ignoring your emotional life doesn’t make it go away, it will surface in other ways. Give yourself the grace and space to authentically and transparently process all your emotions.

Journal prompt: Spend several journaling sessions in a week simply naming your emotions. Then ask “Why am I feeling this way?”

TYPE 8 

At your best you are open-hearted, authentic, and open-minded. You have shifted from being an impenetrable wall to protect yourself to a fierce warrior on behalf of others. You are able to embrace relational risk. You enjoy and celebrate small victories rather than constantly moving to the next thing. You have a deep personal power that is a rarity. 

Journal prompt: What if daily you stepped into the world decreasing self protection, while increasing authenticity and tenderness? How would you and your community be impacted? 

TYPE 9

At your best, you are dynamic, energetic, and awake to yourself. You can answer the question, “What truly matters to me?”. You recognize and embrace how God has created you with unique gifts, opinions, and preferences. Identifying and doing what matters to you impacts your emotional health and helps you move out of an ever present slumber. In this place of health, you are willing to meet resistance and persevere. 

Journal prompt: Name five life highlights when felt awake to yourself. As you consider the details of each scenario, what are the common threads?