Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as 4 Practical Journaling Exercises to Activate Your Confidence | by Lynda Monk, MSW, RSW, CPCC
You can change your beliefs through journaling—and as the saying goes, when we can change our thoughts, we can change our life.
How can journaling help build your confidence?
Journaling is all about writing down our thoughts and feelings. And the more aware of our thoughts and feelings in each moment, the more self-aware we become over time.
Journal writing can be a form of self-coaching, especially when you use your personal writing practice with the intention to know, grow and care for yourself more fully. You can think of each journal entry as a conversation with your inner wise self, or with your inner coach. Ideally, your journaling time helps to strengthen YOU.
In your journal, you can write about your strengths, insights, fears and beliefs. You can uncover limiting beliefs or thinking patterns, and you can ask yourself: “How are these thoughts serving me?” Then:
- If they are thoughts that make you feel more confident, happier, stronger or at peace, they are thoughts worth cultivating.
- If they are thoughts that are making you feel small, unworthy or lacking in confidence, then these thoughts are not serving you and you can journal your way to more empowering and confidence-boosting thoughts with the help of affirmations and other mindset and thought shifting tools.
Here are 4 Confidence-Boosting Journaling Activities
Consider focusing your journal writing by using it to explore these four proven strategies for building confidence.
1. Identify and focus on your strengths
Explore your strengths using the following journaling prompts:
- What are you good at?
- What do other people say you’re good at?
- What do you enjoy doing even if you aren’t an expert at it?
- What people do you surround yourself with who reflect your strengths and greatness back to you? List these people.
We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? Marianne Williamson
2. Take more risks—and appreciate the value of failing
Moving past your comfort zone by taking more risks will help you build (or rebuild) your confidence. Use the following journal prompts to explore the role that risk has—or could!—play in enhancing your confidence:
- Think of a time you have gone outside of your comfort zone. What was that like?
- Don’t allow past mistakes to dictate your future! Think of a time you failed at something you tried. What did you learn from that experience?
- What is one risk you would like to take (or thing you would like to do outside of your comfort zone) as a coach at this time?
Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong. Peter T. McIntyre
3. Recognize your achievements
All too often we complete or achieve something and then move straight onto the next task or goal. But it’s important to accept and acknowledge your accomplishments as this fuels your self-confidence! Use the following journal prompts to recognize your achievements:
- List a minimum of five accomplishments you’ve achieved in your life.
- List at least one accomplishment from the past week.
- How do you celebrate your accomplishments?
- What is a recent goal you achieved?
- How does accepting and acknowledging your accomplishments make you feel?
It is confidence in our bodies, minds, and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures. Oprah Winfrey
4. Focus on solutions and gratitude, not problems
Focusing on problems can weaken our confidence. So as you strive to build your confidence level in everything you do, remember to focus on solutions.
- Think of a challenge or problem you’re dealing with at the moment. Quickly switch your focus to possible solutions: Make a list of possible solutions, actions and decisions you can make to turn this problem or situation around onto a positive path.
- Create an ’empowerment list’ of 10 pieces of evidence that help you remember and deeply know within yourself that you can overcome any problem or adversity in life. Then use your ’empowerment list’ whenever you need a boost or reminder that you can do it.
- Focus on gratitude for all aspects of your life, including the challenging things. A solution-focused, grateful mindset strengthens our confidence and resilience.
With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world. The Dalai Lama
Wrap-up
Confidence, kindness and compassion are at the heart of transformational coaching.
Our confidence helps us “build a better world” and make a difference as coaches. And journaling can help you stay connected to yourself, your confidence and kindness (with yourself and others).
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