Get your printable journal
This is a real downloadable workbook — not an empty page. Save the PDF, print it, and write by hand (or fill the prompts on-screen below).
Download the Next Chapter Journal (PDF) →
Also free: Purpose Playbook · Ready-to-Retire Workbook · All guides
There is no right way to use this journal. Skip what doesn't fit. Write a sentence or a page. Come back weeks later and add more. The point is not perfection — it is noticing what matters, so your days can start to match it. Pair this with our free Purpose Playbook when you are ready to turn reflection into action.
How to use these pages
- Print the journal, or write answers in a notebook using these prompts.
- Try one section a day, or one a week — whatever feels kind.
- Share a page with family if you wish; keep others private.
Section 1 · Looking back with kindness
A chapter I'm proud of
Describe a season of your life when you felt most useful, alive, or at home in yourself. What made it so?
Hard-won lessons
What did work, family, or life teach you that younger people rarely hear?
People who shaped me
Name three people who changed your path. What would you thank them for today?
Section 2 · Values that still hold
What I will not compromise
List five values that still guide you (for example: honesty, faith, curiosity, family, independence, service, beauty, humour).
- _______________
- _______________
- _______________
- _______________
- _______________
Where my days already match my values
What are you already doing that feels true to those values?
Where the gap is
What feels missing or out of balance right now — without judging yourself for it?
Section 3 · What these years can hold
A good ordinary day
Describe an ideal weekday five years from now — morning to evening. Be specific and ordinary.
Energy and health
How do you want to feel in your body? What small habits would support that?
People and place
Who do you want nearby? What kind of home, neighbourhood, or community feels right?
Contribution and joy
What do you want to give? What do you want purely for pleasure?
Section 4 · Turning longing into a plan
Three wishes for this year
Not resolutions — wishes you are willing to take one step toward.
- Wish: _______________
First step this month: _______________ - Wish: _______________
First step this month: _______________ - Wish: _______________
First step this month: _______________
What I will stop carrying
Obligations, guilt, or “shoulds” that no longer earn their place:
A note to my future self
Write a short letter to yourself one year from today. Be encouraging and honest.
For the family record (optional)
Stories, recipes, sayings, or advice you hope someone will remember:
Meaning is built the same way a good life always was — one deliberate, ordinary choice at a time.