One Prompt Is Not Enough

“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means,”

- Joan Didion

There is something wonderfully democratic about a journaling prompt. A single question can open a page, interrupt an old pattern of thought or invite us to notice what the speed of the day has concealed.

But a question is not automatically an intervention. I see this in coaching all the time: you need a path, not a single stepping stone.

My 30-Day Journaling Challenge began three years ago as an invitation to my blog community. Participants’ responses encouraged me to develop it further - not merely as a daily question, but as a process with its own rhythm, weekly or monthly themes, guidance, creative practices and permission to pause. All based on my years as a coach and the learning journey I had (tools, methods, books, courses, podcasts, supervision, practice, mentoring, coaching schools of thoughts and so on)

One participant told me that, through her writing, she had rediscovered dreams she thought were long gone.

The prompt mattered. The journey around it mattered too.

Designing these journeys has taught me that people need more than inspiration. They need enough structure to begin, enough freedom to make the practice their own and enough safety to decide what remains private.

They also need to know that missing a day is not a failure. Reflection becomes less useful when it turns into another test of discipline—another area of life in which we struggle simply to keep showing up.

This distinction is especially important in light of a recent meta-analysis examining single-session expressive-writing exercises completed immediately before tests. Across 21 studies involving 1,457 participants, writing about worries had negligible, non-significant effects on anxiety. A small initial effect on performance also became non-significant when one extreme result was removed.

This does not mean that reflective writing has no value. It means that this particular approach- a one-off worry-writing exercise completed immediately before an exam - is not supported as a reliable treatment for test anxiety or a dependable way to improve performance.

That precision matters in every profession.

A professional trainer cannot place a single reflection question at the end of a workshop and conclude that learning has transferred. A coach cannot send a client home with an evocative prompt and assume that insight will become action.

A make-up artist preparing for a high-pressure shoot may find writing helpful, but it cannot replace rehearsal, technical preparation or a clear conversation with the team. A young professional facing an assessment centre needs practice, feedback and support - not a promise that five minutes of writing will remove their anxiety.

What I notice in my mentoring and coaching work with practitioners points me in the same direction. My clients often develop greater awareness and confidence when they practise reflection after each session they facilitate.

This has given me a valuable design principle: reflection benefits from a container.

That is why I create reflective journals for the coaches I work with, offering prompts that support their development over time. I bring the same tools, skills and care to the 30-Day Journaling Challenges I create for my community.

If you have read this far, you may be thinking: reflection is easy for you because you are a trained coach and supervisor with extensive journaling experience.

Perhaps that is partly true. Yet before I create any journey of prompts, I begin with my own reflective process. I consider its purpose, who will be taking the journey, how many pauses or stopping points the prompts should offer and what support is needed for the experience to have a meaningful impact.

Most importantly, I consider the freedom of the person engaging with the prompts: their freedom to decline an invitation to write, choose a lighter subject or decide how—and whether—they wish to show up each day.

A prompt may begin reflection. It cannot guarantee relief, improved performance or change if is a single act. If it becomes a ritual and a habit - things shift - in your Imposter Syndrome or Saboteur inner Dialogue, in your noticing and in your pace into daily actions.

Reach out if you want to have a conversation over this topic.

Article inspired by the following research: O’Meara and Lovett, single-session expressive writing for test anxiety (2025/2026); KurtzFavero, Wilson and Côté, structured coach reflection (2026).