Journaling Prompts for Anxiety About the Future
Anxiety about the future is the mind's attempt to solve problems that haven't happened yet—which sounds almost reasonable until you realize it never actually solves them, it just rehearses them. The worry feels productive because it feels like preparation. But there's a meaningful difference between making a real plan and spinning through worst-case scenarios until 2am. Writing can help you make that distinction. It can help you separate what is a genuine concern requiring action from what is your nervous system running on threat-detection mode when there's no actual threat to handle.
Journaling Prompts
Write out the specific future scenario your mind keeps returning to. Get it all the way out—the whole catastrophic sequence. Now ask yourself: what is the probability this exact sequence happens, and what is one thing you could do today to address the real underlying concern?
What is the best realistic outcome for this situation—not a fantasy, but a genuinely plausible good outcome? Have you spent as much time thinking about that as you have about the bad one?
When you picture the future clearly, what are you most afraid of losing? Is it safety, love, status, control, belonging? Name the specific thing underneath the worry.
Think of a previous future you were anxious about that has already happened. How accurate were your predictions? What did you handle that you didn't think you could?
What would you do with your present moment if you genuinely couldn't think about the future for one hour? What would you notice, enjoy, or attend to that the anxiety is currently blocking?