Journalling is a fun and relaxing activity, but if you’re writing each day, it can sometimes be tricky to think up new and exciting topics that spark your interest. But, if you take a few minutes to look around, you’ll easily be able to find a topic that is both meaningful and intriguing to you.

• A person. Journalling doesn’t have to be all about you. Look around for someone in your life, even if you don’t know them that well, who has made a big impact on your day recently. Did someone commit to a kind gesture? Did they say something that turned your day around? Did they do something that made you look twice? Write about how it affected you.

• An event. What’s going on in the world around you? Journalling is a great way to look inside and understand your thoughts and feelings, but it can also help to take a step back sometimes and write about the world and what’s happening in it. How is a big news story affecting you or your family?

• A first impression. We all judge people the second we see them. Sometime’s our “gut instincts” are right while, other times, they’re far off. Whether it’s a positive judgment or a negative judgment depends on the situation, and sometimes we’re never able to find out if we’re right or wrong. Reflect on a recent time when you’re first impression of a person was either right or wrong. How did you feel about them when you first saw them, and how did that change as you got to know them more? This could be a newfound friend, a co-worker, or just someone you regularly see on your daily commute.

• A new experience. Name something you’ve never done that you can go out and do tomorrow. This could be as big or as little as you want it to be, like signing up for a “discovery flight” at your local airport so you can sit in the seat of the co-pilot, or even just trying seafood for the first time. Journal about what it is, how you’re going to do it, and what you think will happen. Tomorrow, journal about how it all went down and then reflect on it. Has your mind changed?

• A good deed. Doing good for others makes us feel good, but with our busy schedules, it can be difficult to fit things into our day-to-day lives. Look around you for someone you can help. Even if you’re just saying “hello” or holding the door, that small gesture can snowball into something great.

There are plenty of other ways you can find inspiration in the world around you as well. If you can’t think of anything in the past week worth writing about, that in itself might be something you can put in your journal. How can you begin adding more excitement into your life? What’s something small that you wished had happened this week, or something you think could have gone differently? Figure this out and then take it a step further by using this reflection to influence your future. Remember: Journalling is about more than just writing down what has already happened, it’s also about helping you grow as a person so more good things can start to happen.