10 journal prompts to relieve anxiety is something I created to help others who suffer from anxiety. What is anxiety? It is a persistent and excessive worry that interferes with daily activities. 

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Why is it important to journal about your anxiety? It will help you face your anxious thoughts and even embrace them. By writing them down, you can face your vulnerabilities and that can reduce your stress. Journaling is a powerful way to process difficult emotions and situations, and also to gain control over your emotions. It is also an effective way to release those emotions so that you can start to identify and process them in a much more healthy way. 

Are you struggling with anxiety? If you aren’t sure, here are some symptoms of anxiety. 

Symptoms of Anxiety 

• Feeling nervous, tense, or restless 
• Having a sense of impending danger, panic, or doom 
• Having an increased heart rate 
• Breathing rapidly or hyperventilating 
• Sweating 
• Trembling 
• Feeling weak or tired 
• Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry 
• Having trouble sleeping 
• Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems 
• Having difficulty controlling worry 
• Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety 

Risk Factors for Anxiety 

These factors may increase your risk of developing anxiety or an anxiety disorder. 

• Trauma. Both children and adults who have experienced/witnessed a traumatic event or have been abused are at a higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. 
• Stress due to an illness. Having a health condition or serious illness can cause significant worry about that, the treatment you’ll go through, and even your future. 
• Stress buildup. A big event or life situation may trigger excessive anxiety. This can include (but are not limited to) things like a death in the family, work stress/job loss/a new job, financial stress, the loss of a relationship like a breakup or a divorce. 
• Personality. People with certain personality types are more prone to anxiety disorders than others. 
• Other mental health disorders. People with other mental health issues or disorders such as depression are often prone to anxiety. 
• Having blood relatives with an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder can run in the family. 
• Drugs or alcohol. Drug and alcohol use (or misuse) or withdrawal can cause or worsen anxiety. 

10 Journal Prompts to Relieve Anxiety 

• What am I most worried about right now? How long have I been worried about this? 
• How are these worries affecting my daily life? How do they impact the quality of my life? 
• If my worries prove true, how will that change my life? 
• Where do these worries come from? Am I basing them off past experience or future expectations? 
• What do these worries say about me? What need/want am I afraid won’t be met? 
• What other ways can I meet these needs? Where do I invest my time and attention? 
• What would happen if I stopped worrying about these things? How would my life be different? 
• What actions can I take to begin releasing my concerns? 
• How will I track my progress? What would progress look and feel like? 

How to Start a Journal 

Are you struggling with how to start journaling? That’s okay! Here are my best recommendations. 

Find a journal that you like. Here is my favorite one. If you like your journal, you have more incentive to use it every day. Take the time to find one that you really like. 

Be consistent. Journaling daily can really help you get a better handle on life and stay on track toward better health, both mental and physical. Find a quiet place and time that you do go to and journal daily. You don’t need to spend forever doing it. Taking however much time feels good to you, if need be, set a timer for practice so you don’t spend more time than necessary journaling. If you’re a beginner at journaling, try setting a timer for just 15 minutes. 

Be honest in your journal. You owe it to yourself to be honest. Plus, this is for you and you alone. No one else should be reading your journal besides you, so there is no reason to be anything but honest with yourself. If you aren’t prepared to be honest with yourself, you’re not ready to journal.

Don’t judge what you write. There is a big difference between judging and observation. When you journal or go back to read it, observe what you wrote, and do not judge yourself for the things you had to say. Don’t worry if you make mistakes either. I screw up full sentences and cross them out in my journal all the time. It’s okay to be messy when you write! 

Don’t overthink it. Overthinking things causes journaling to simply be more stressful or to feel like a chore, and you don’t need added stress in your life! You need to let go of those things, and that is the point of journaling. 

You don’t need to do every prompt all at once, and you don’t have to have all of the answers all at once either. Feel free to skip around the list and answer the questions you want to, then come back to the others later on when you’re ready. This is an exercise for you, and there is no right or wrong way to do it, so do what feels right for you. 

10 Journal Prompts to Relieve Anxiety Discussion 

Journaling is a form of self-care, and can definitely help you on your path toward better mental and physical health. It is essential to take care of yourself and be healthy. 

If you are finding that this doesn’t help, you may need to seek medical attention and medication to treat your anxiety, depending on how severe it is. Please don’t be afraid to reach out to a professional about it. 

If you are enjoying my journal prompts, here are others that I have written. 

Do you suffer from anxiety? Have these journal prompts helped you to get a handle on your anxiety or take more control over your emotions? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

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14 Powerful Things to Notice This Week is a list of journal prompts that I created to increase your self awareness in regards to your emotions, your needs, and help you take better care of yourself. 

As women, it is often far too easy to ignore how we feel because we wear so many hats. Like wife, parent, caregiver, insert career name, and so much more. But how aware are you of yourself, how things and people make you feel, and if you’re taking care of yourself? Are you overlooking these things and not taking good care of yourself? 

Come on in and let’s talk about 14 Powerful Things to Notice This Week and how they can help you. As you go through your normal week, take the time to slow down and pay attention to these things and write them down. You’ll be surprised at what you learn about yourself and your life. 

14 Powerful Things to Notice This Week

How certain people and activities make you feel 

Who makes you feel good about yourself? Supports you? Inspires you? What activities bring you joy? 

Who makes you feel bad about yourself? Who drains your energy? What activities do you want to say no to instead of saying yes? 

Think about both the good and the bad, and write them all down. 

What energizes or drains you 

Referring back to how certain people and activities make you feel, think about what energizes and what drains you. But I want you to go deeper into why now. 

Think about personality traits of the people who energize and drain you and write them down. 

Think about the activities that energize and drain you, and write down why each makes you feel both ways. Write it all down, and be honest with yourself. 

What comes up for you 

What emotions do you feel when you think about the people and things that energize or drain you during your week? Give each emotion a specific name and connect it with a specific action that you described earlier. 

Think about and note both the positives and the negatives. 

When you feel your best and worst 

When you feel your best, what are you doing? Where are you? What are you wearing? Who is with you? 

When you feel your worst, what are you doing? Where are you? What are you wearing? Who is with you? 

How you look after yourself 

Are you taking care of yourself and making sure that your own needs are met? Or are you putting them on the back burner to be ignored and forgotten? 

If you are taking care of yourself, make a list of the ways you are doing so. I like to make a list of each day in the week and something I’ve done to take care of myself. Like: 

• Monday I read a book and drank 47 ounces of water 
• Tuesday Spent time with my best friend and drank 32 ounces of water 
• Wednesday I went to a coffee shop to relax and be alone and drank 16 ounces of water. 
• Thursday I put myself on the back burner due to the kids needing extra attention and dinner taking more time than I realized. 
• Friday I didn’t do anything for myself, but drank 64 ounces of water. 
• Saturday I spent time with the family and recharged through that and going to the beach. 
• Sunday I took the day off from work and slept in and forgot to drink any water. 

When you make a list like that and write it all down, you can see if you’re taking enough care of yourself or not. Not everyday will be the same, nor will each week be perfect. You know how much time you need daily to care for and look after yourself and your needs. The key here is noticing if you’re being successful or not and paying more attention to your needs. 

Who is there for you 

When you need something, who do you call? Are they there for you when you need them, or do they blow you off with excuses? Do they support you, or do they turn things around and make it about them? 

Think about who is there for you when you need it and who isn’t. How do both make you feel? Write these down. 

How you talk to yourself 

How do you talk to yourself? Are you kind or do you speak negatively about yourself? When you get mad at something or make a mistake, how do you speak to yourself? Do you call yourself names? Are you understanding and patient? 

Make another weekly list like earlier and write down things you’ve said about yourself each day. Context doesn’t matter, you don’t need a story. Just think about what you’ve said. Did you refer to yourself as sexy or fat when you tried a dress on? Did you call yourself dumb when you made a mistake? 

Once the week is over, go back and read these things, and just take notice of how often you speak negatively about yourself versus speaking positively about yourself. If you are speaking negatively more often, you need to pay more attention to that. 

What your self care looks like 

What does self-care mean and look like for you? Write down your favorite ways to take care of yourself. Are those hobbies, alone time, time with specific people, pampering yourself? It can be anything that gives you the opportunity to relax and recharge your batteries. 

Make a list of your favorite methods of self-care. 

How you set boundaries 

Are you setting boundaries with people in your life, or is this an area that you struggle with? Do you need to set boundaries with someone specific in your life? If you aren’t sure, go back to the prompt above about who drains you and why, then decide if you need to create a boundary for them in your life. 

What exactly will you do or say to set a certain boundary with someone in your life? What exactly does that look like for you? What do healthy boundaries look like to you and how do you set them? 

What you need help with 

Is there anything specific that you need help with in your life? Are you struggling? Or trying to reach a specific goal? Who can help you? 

Make a list of the things you need and who can help you with those things. 

Do you reach out when necessary? 

Do you reach out when you need help? Or is that something you struggle with? 

If you reach out, who do you reach out to and why? What makes you want their help versus anyone else in your life? 

If you struggle with reaching out for help, why is that? It is fear, past rejection, reaching out to the wrong people, past trauma? 

Do you respect yourself? 

This can be a really tough question for many, and even I have struggled with it at times. Because we all know the answer should be yes, of course you respect yourself. Duh! But reality versus what we should be doing can often be two very different things. 

If you are struggling to answer this, go back to the prompt where I asked you to make a list of things you say to yourself and about yourself. Make two columns, one for positive things you’ve said about yourself and one for negative comments you’ve made about yourself. Which one is bigger? 

That will tell you right there if you respect yourself or not, and oftentimes the answer can be surprising. If you don’t respect yourself, are there specific changes you can make to start working on this? Because if you don’t respect (or love) yourself, no one else will. It starts with you, and that is absolutely essential. 

What are you grateful for? 

Write down three things that you are grateful for every day. If this isn’t something you normally focus on, it will seem almost impossible when you start. Trust me, it isn’t easy until it really becomes a habit. My advice is to start small. Be grateful for having hot water for a shower in the morning, for example. 

Once you start doing this consistently, you’ll notice that it becomes so much easier to see positive things in your life and you’ll see more positive than negative, and realize you have quite a bit to be grateful for. 

The ebb and flow of emotions you have 

Start paying attention to your emotions and how you feel each day. Emotions tell you a lot about things going on in your life and around you. Do your emotions ebb and flow normally, or is a more extreme change? Do you feel more emotional around certain people? What makes specific emotions more extreme or stronger feeling than others? 

When you pay attention to the emotions you’re feeling and when it is happening, you’ll be more able to articulate why you feel that way and have more control over each emotion. If you want to change a certain response to things, this is the first step in doing so. You have to understand and acknowledge emotions before you can change them. 

14 Powerful Things to Notice This Week Notes 

Once your week is over, go back and read through these prompts about your week. You’ll likely be surprised by what you learn. 

Look at it all objectively. Where do you want to make changes? Are there certain people or activities you need to limit for yourself? 

Be honest as you’re writing all of these things down. It is for you and you alone. No one is judging any of it, and you shouldn’t be either. 

14 Powerful Things to Notice This Week Discussion 

I hope these 14 Powerful Things to Notice This Week have helped you to pay more attention in your life, to be more aware of how you treat yourself, how you allow yourself to be treated, and what brings you joy. 

Are there any specific areas from this list that you’re struggling with? Is there any way that I can help to support you? Please let me know in the comments! 

6 Simple Ways to Stop Self Sabotaging is a list I created because I’ve found that despite all the work I’ve put into my personal development, I still struggle with self sabotaging. Is this an issue in your life as well? Do you realize that you’re self sabotaging? Sometimes it happens and you don’t even realize it. Self sabotaging happens in every aspect of our lives, from work, goals, relationships, and more. 

My story is pretty simple. I was raised by a narcissist, and I had no identity or confidence. Plenty of dreams, but never the courage to chase them. I found comfort in staying the same, and just dreaming instead of actually doing. Because that is easy. These were self sabotaging behaviors. Finding the courage to chase my dreams and set attainable goals I could reach toward the bigger picture is something I became very passionate about, and I want to help you reach your full potential as well. 

I would dream of doing something, get started and be excited. Then somewhere along the way I get scared and uncomfortable. Instead of pushing through, I would immediately revert back to old habits of self sabotaging and give up. I always felt defeated, yet glad to be back in my comfort zone and not being forced to work so hard at something anymore. 

I was often afraid of reaching my goals and getting exactly what I wanted, because I had never done that before. Self sabotaging is like cutting the brake lines in your own car. Once I stepped outside of my comfort zone and really focused on following through with my goals, it was life changing. I found my happiness, my passion, my purpose, and I started to really evolve into exactly who I am supposed to be. 

If self sabotaging is something you struggle with, then these 6 Simple Ways to Stop Self Sabotaging are for you! Let’s dive deeper into it and get you started on a much healthier path toward your goals and dream life. 

Signs of Self Sabotaging Behaviors 

• Constantly self critical 
• Overindulgent 
• Picking arguments and fights 
• Procrastination
• Fear 
• Staying comfortable

We all have times when we do all of the above. Bad days and challenges are nothing new for any of us. 

The difference between “normal” and self sabotaging is that you do these things so much that they hold you back. If you are choosing comfort over progress, you are self sabotaging. 

6 Simple Ways to Stop Self Sabotaging 

Let go of the past 

Too many times in life we hang on to regret. Or punish ourselves for mistakes we’ve made. Somehow it feels like we deserve to be punished. But that simply isn’t true. Mistakes don’t define our lives. 

Every mistake you’ve ever made is a lesson and an opportunity for growth. Instead of punishing yourself, why not take the lesson, grow from it, and move on? 

How many times do we see some success story and applaud it? An example is a felon serving time in prison and then being released to create an amazing life or business that wouldn’t have happened without the mistakes and going to prison. We applaud those stories, right? Why can’t you do the exact same thing, without the whole going to prison part? The answer is, you can! You should be thinking about how far you’ve come since a mistake and applauding your own progress instead of beating yourself up for the mistake. 

I often have to recreate a recipe several times over before I’ve perfected it and can write about it. Rarely do I create what I deem perfect on the first try. But I get going on it again and start over without even thinking about it. The question is, why is it harder to do that in other areas of my life? It shouldn’t be. 

We should be normalizing starting over, making mistakes, learning along the way, and growing each time we fall down and get back up. Yet instead we often self sabotage and keep ourselves down instead of getting back up. 

To create the future life you desire, you have to leave your past in the past. You can’t change it, that’s for sure. So there is no use dwelling on it. Learn, grow, move forward. 

See the big picture 

What does your big picture look like? Envision your home, your job, your family. What do you want these things to look like? Be specific. Write these things down so you can see your dreams for yourself. 

Don’t be afraid to think big here. This is everything you want in your life to look like. 

Avoid negative self talk 

Think about the things you say to yourself every single day, and start writing them down. Then stop and notice how much negativity there is. When you write these down, you will likely be amazed at the things you say and think about yourself. 

One of my favorite phrases is, if you can’t be kind then be quiet. Because our brains believe what we tell them. If you’re saying negative things about yourself constantly, you’ll start to believe that and they will become your truth. 

Negative self talk gives you an incorrect opinion of yourself and your abilities. It is time to start ensuring that your self talk is both positive and supportive. If you need to, start writing down positive affirmations and saying them to yourself every day to help transition from negative self talk to positive self talk. 

Notice the habits that sabotage your success 

Think about your goals and the habits that stand in the way. Here are some examples: 

• I want to write 8 blog posts per week, but I only work 2 days a week for an hour each day. 
• I want to lose weight, but every time I’m stressed I eat a bag of potato chips and spend an entire day binge watching tv. 
• I want to save money, but I’m ordering something new on Amazon at least twice a week. 

Start being more aware of damaging habits that are part of self sabotaging. When you realize there is a problem and identify it, you can start to change that. Examples of changes are, I want to write my 8 blog posts, so I need to be working more than 2 days a week. Identify when you’re stressed and eat something healthier than a bag of potato chips, like crunchy vegetables. Make it a point to only order things on Amazon once a month instead of twice a week. 

Define your fear 

All self sabotaging is rooted in fear. The question is, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of failure? Are you afraid of success? Are you afraid of how others will view you? 

Understanding the basic fear that is causing you to sabotage yourself is key. Because you have two choices at this point. You can either get over that fear and move past it, or you can continue to get in your own way and be unhappy. The choice is yours. 

Set small goals 

Big goals can be scary. I totally understand that one, and this is especially true for someone who self sabotages. But goals should be both exciting and scary. If they aren’t a combination of both, you haven’t set the right goals for yourself. 

Start small though. Set smart, realistic goals that are actually attainable. Make a plan of action to follow through with your goals, because this will make you feel empowered, stronger, and more confident when you start making progress. You’ll learn that you are absolutely capable of reaching your goals. 

Once you do that, you can start setting bigger goals that take more time to reach. But start small in the beginning, and celebrate your success when you reach those goals. It doesn’t matter how big or small a goal is, always celebrate reaching it. 

Why Are You Self Sabotaging? 

Now that we’ve talked about how to change your self sabotaging habits, let’s talk about what to pay attention to so you’ll understand your own why. Part of changing behaviors within yourself is understanding why it happens and when it happens. But that is different for everyone, so you need to answer these for yourself. 

Know your ceiling 

When I say to know your ceiling, that means how far you can go before you begin to self sabotage yourself. 

If you’re trying to lose weight, how far do you get before something happens and you give up or end up eating an entire bag of potato chips 3 times in a week? 

If you’re trying to save money, how much do you save before you go on a shopping spree? 

Identify and change your beliefs 

What are specific beliefs that stand in your way of reaching your goals and further your self sabotaging behaviors and patterns? 

Examples of this would be failing high school English, so you can’t be a writer. Or believing you’re naturally chunky or chubby, so you aren’t meant to go below a certain weight. Or that you’ll always be poor because you don’t have a college degree. 

Look at all the beliefs related to your failed goals, where you want to become successful, and self sabotaging behaviors. Which of these beliefs are getting in your way? 

Notice the people that get in your way 

Sadly not everyone in our lives wants to see us succeed. They are just around to help us fail or hold us back. This can be a really tough lesson to learn and accept. I’ve struggled with this lately myself and it makes me angry. 

My husband and I sat down recently and made a list of the people who do want the absolute best for us, that we trust talking about our goals with, and sharing our success. We were wrong about two of them, and we made the choice to remove them from our lives. 

Sometimes when people become obstacles in your life and your path to success, you may need to consider removing them from your life. It sucks, trust me. But sometimes silence is the best way to handle that. They don’t need your attention, no dramatic goodbye, just silence. 

Step into your own lane, as I say, and stay there handling your business, your life, and your goals. You don’t need an audience or applause. If you do, become your own audience and applaud your success. 

6 Simple Ways to Stop Self Sabotaging Notes 

The best part about self sabotaging is that you have the power to eliminate these behaviors and choices in your life. You can’t control how other people act, we all know this. But you are the source of your self sabotaging patterns, and therefore you absolutely have the power to eliminate them! 

If you are realizing how much you’re holding yourself back, first take a moment and smile. Be proud of the fact you can see these behavior patterns and notice that there is a problem that you want to change. 

Now it is time to step outside of your comfort zone, take control of your life, and reach your full potential. Because not only do you deserve it, you are totally capable of making it happen. You are actually more than capable of making it happen! 

6 Simple Ways to Stop Self Sabotaging Discussion 

Do you struggle with self sabotaging behaviors? Have these 6 Simple Ways to Stop Self Sabotaging helped you? Is there any way I can support you in your journey to stop self sabotaging? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

10 Easy Questions to Find Your Passion are a list of journal prompts that I’ve created to help you find what you want to do, what makes you happy, and are passionate about. 

Recently I was talking to some family about my blogs, and they aren’t always the most supportive people on the planet. Which is fine. That tells me more about their character than it does the quality of my writing. But the thing I learned from their negativity was to articulate that writing is my passion, it is my purpose, and it is what makes me happy. I allowed myself to become really comfortable saying those things to anyone who would ask. 

This inspired me to create this list to help you find your passion, what makes you excited, and what makes you happy. I want to see you find that same excitement in whatever you’re passionate about and make that your work. 

A wise person once said that if you are passionate about something, you’ll never work a day in your life. That is something I completely agree with, and I want you to find that passion in your life! 

10 Easy Questions to Find Your Passion 

What was your favorite thing to do growing up? 

Think back to your childhood and the thing that brought you the most joy. Was it a hobby, something related to learning? 

Write these things down, no matter if they seem insignificant or stupid now. Just write it down and then move on. 

When you were a child, what did you dream about doing when you grew up? 

We’ve all been asked as children what we wanted to be when we grew up. Did you have one specific goal in mind? Did that change as you grew older? Why did that goal change?

Write it all down. 

What is your favorite topic to talk about? 

What is the one thing you could talk about forever if you had a listening ear? I would love to talk about my blogs. Being a homemaker, being a prepper, my love of reading, and new recipes I’ve been working on. In fact, I do talk about these things with my husband and friends. 

I’m sure that I bore them with certain aspects of it, but I really could talk about all of it all day long, because my blogs are the things I love. 

Think about what you love and constantly want to talk about. Write it down. 

What do you enjoy doing so much that you lose track of time? 

We all get lost in some kind of project, hobby, or the things we absolutely love doing, because time goes by much quicker when we are having fun. 

Think about what that specific thing is for you and write it down. 

Whose life do you envy the most and why? 

Who do you look up to? Want to be like? Why? Think about their work or profession, their personality traits you value, or anything else you envy about them. Why do you want to be like them? 

Be honest with yourself on this one, because you’ll learn a lot about your own values when you go back and read this later on, and that will be really helpful to learning more about yourself. 

What would you do differently with your education if you had the chance to start over? 

Did you drop out of high school or college? Or barely make it through with passing grades? Skip going to college out of high school to work and simply never tried to go to college again? Did you pick the wrong path to a degree you don’t use? 

Why did you make these choices originally, and what would you change or do differently if you had the chance? Write it all down and let it out. 

If you had 5 minutes and the entire world was forced to listen, what would you say? 

Think about what you would tell everyone, that you could easily fill up that five minutes of time with, without struggling or thinking about the time limit. 

Write these things down. Whatever you would tell the world, write it down here. 

What would you do with your life if you had no fear? 

What would life look like for you without fear? What would you be doing? Working, traveling, pursuing a hobby and turning it into a business? Going to (or back) to school to make a career change? The possibilities are endless, and I’m sure you have specific things already going through your mind. 

Think about life and what it would look like if fear wasn’t holding you back from anything. Write these things all down, and be detailed with it. 

What would you do with your life if you had a guarantee of success? 

If failure didn’t exist, what would you be doing? Would you stay where you are, or do something completely different? If it is different, why would you make that choice? Is it fun? Exciting? Challenging? What would make you feel successful? 

What would you do with your life if money wasn’t an issue? 

Where would you live? What kind of car would you drive? How much money would you be making? Would you be married, in a relationship, or staying single? Where would you go on vacation? How often would you go on vacation? 

10 Easy Questions to Find Your Passion Notes 

My best advice when answering questions in a journal is to not overthink it. Don’t stress because you don’t have the perfect answer. No one is reading this but you, so be honest with yourself. 

When you go back to read it later, do so with an open mind. You don’t need to be your own critic. If you go into it from an objective perspective, you’ll learn more about yourself than you expected. 

You don’t have to answer all of these questions at once, or write an entire essay about each one. Keep it simple, unless you want to write more. Writing comes naturally to me, so I can go on forever on all of these questions. But I know that isn’t the case with everyone, and it can become stressful trying to answer questions. If that happens, walk away for a day, and come back to it another time. 

Sometimes the best advice is to set a timer. Give yourself 15 minutes to answer one question. Then leave it alone until the next day, and repeat, until you’ve made it through all ten questions. 

I’ve gone through all of these questions myself and answered them. The thing I realized is that I was meant to be a writer. I have wanted to do that since I was about fourteen years old. The problem was I had no confidence and lived in survival mode because I was raised by a textbook narcissist. I was always afraid to vocalize anything like that, and I was so good at hiding my truths, that I hid them even from myself for many years. 

I always feel like when I develop these journal prompts and go through them myself, I learn more about myself. Or realize that my truths were simply hiding and it is time to let them out and make choices based on that, not what is expected of me anymore. Because doing what is expected isn’t what makes me happy, and I owe it to myself to be happy. You also owe it to yourself to be happy, and live the life you want, and that is exactly what I hope you find through these journal prompts! 

10 Easy Questions to Find Your Passion Discussion 

Have these 10 Easy Questions to Find Your Passion helped you? Did you struggle with answering any of these questions for yourself? Is there any way that I can support you and help you find your passion? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

7 Journal Prompts to Boost Self Esteem. Do you struggle with your own self image? Do you speak negatively about yourself? If you find yourself struggling with your self esteem, then these journal prompts are exactly what you need to point you in the right direction to building yourself back up! 

What is self esteem? It is how we value and perceive ourselves. It is our opinion of ourselves. It is important to have a healthy self esteem that is real, true, accurate, and balanced. 

There are three ranges of self esteem. Overly high, which means you feel superior to others, and come off as arrogant or entitled. Low, meaning you feel inferior to others. Healthy, meaning you have an accurate and balanced view of yourself. 

In this post, my focus is having low self esteem and feeling inferior to other people. Because it is simply not true. You are not inferior to anyone else in the world, and I want to help you boost your self esteem to a healthy level. 

What is a healthy level of self esteem? Having a healthy level of self esteem means that you are comfortable in your own skin, you are open to criticism, can acknowledge mistakes, and are comfortable both giving and receiving compliments. You aren’t perfect, no one is. That is impossible. But having a healthy level of self esteem means you can see both your strengths and weaknesses. 

Everyone has struggled with self esteem and building confidence at some point in their lives. But for some, this can truly be a lifelong struggle and fight. Breaking this cycle and building your self esteem can be very difficult for some.

I have long suffered from limiting beliefs and speaking negatively about myself because I didn’t know how to say no to things that didn’t serve me. These issues did nothing but destroy my self esteem, and I allowed this to happen for far too long. Longer than I’d like to admit, if we’re being honest here. 

But once I started to really focus on myself, changing my negative thoughts and views, finding my purpose, and what made me happy, my self esteem started to increase. I found it much easier to say no to things that didn’t serve me, were unhealthy, and simply didn’t make me happy.

I want you to be able to do the same thing. To develop healthy boundaries, say no, love yourself, break the cycle of negative thoughts, and find your purpose and what makes you happy. Because you deserve that just as much as anyone else. You deserve to be happy, healthy, and confident. 

That is why I created these 7 journal prompts to boost self esteem. Are you ready to get started? Let’s go! 

Benefits of Journaling 

If you aren’t too sure about journaling, here are ten reasons that journaling can help you. 

• Improves mental health
• Encourages self confidence
• Boosts emotional intelligence 
• Helps with achieving goals
• Inspires creativity 
• Boosts memory
• Enhances critical thinking skills
• Heightens academic/work performance 
• Improves physical health
• Strengthens communication and writing skills 

Journaling helps to reduce stress, reduce anxiety and depression, focus your mind, and organize your life. Journaling is an excellent tool for opening up about things that bother you, things you need to work on, things you’re grateful for, and any other emotions you may be feeling, in a productive way. 

Journaling is also an effective way to manage overthinking, and track your own progress as you work through issues and stress within your life. 

Journaling is a very private thing. It is just for you, so when you’re writing in your journal, be open and honest with yourself. You can’t change anything or work on yourself if you aren’t completely honest with yourself. 

Don’t stress about perfection when journaling either. It isn’t something anyone else is going to judge you for. It is for you and you alone. Take as little or as much time as you need for each prompt, and just focus on letting your thoughts out and being honest. Don’t overthink what you write, or criticize yourself for your thoughts either. Be kind, be accepting, and let your thoughts out. 

7 Journal Prompts to Boost Self Esteem 

Three things I admire about myself 

What do you admire about yourself? This can be anything from looks like your smile or eye color, to work ethic, to any other abilities you have. Are you a great friend? Kind to others? 

Take a moment to think about what you admire about yourself and list these off, then write about why you admire these things about yourself. Is it a trait or look that makes you feel confident? Or something you’ve admired about someone else that you try to emulate in yourself? 

What is my greatest achievement? 

I guarantee that you’ve achieved more than you think you have! Take the time to write these things down, think about them, and remember how you felt when you were successful. 

What did that achievement bring you in your life? How did it make you feel? What is your next goal from there? Write it all down. 

What is the most difficult thing I have overcome? 

Think about difficult times in your life and how you overcame them. Chances are you’ve overcome a lot more than you realize, and you are stronger than you know. Writing these things down is a great reminder of just how far you’ve come from your own struggles in life. Those should boost your self esteem and confidence, knowing just how strong you really are. 

Think about how overcoming difficult obstacles has made you feel as well. Do you feel strong? Confident? Accomplished? Satisfied? Make a list of how overcoming obstacles makes you feel, and give those emotions names. 

How would my family and friends describe me to a stranger? 

If you aren’t sure about this, feel free to ask the people closest to you how they would describe you. Then make a note of it and write them down. Pick the people you truly trust to ask this question to. Random “friends” don’t really matter, in my opinion, therefore I would skip those kind of people in your life. 

A wise person once said that if you could see yourself the way other people see you, that you would be unstoppable. Which I believe is true. I have a friend, he is my favorite person on the planet, and he often tells me how smart, hardworking, and talented that I am. This used to be embarrassing to me, and I never actually believed him for many years. It took me a very long time to see myself the same way, and to realize that it was essential that I start believing in myself the same way he believes in me. 

When do I feel the most confident? 

Think about when you feel the most confident. What are you wearing? What are you doing? Who is with you? Why do you feel more confident than usual? 

Make a list of all of these things and write them down. It is important to notice what you’re wearing, doing, who is with you, and why you feel like your most confident self. 

What advice would I give to my seven year old self? 

If you could go back in time and share advice with yourself as a child, what would you say? Would you tell yourself to do something? Feel differently? Explain something? 

Hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back there are a lot of things I would go back and tell myself when I was 7, and it would start with believing in myself. Think about what you would say to your seven year old self and write those things down. 

What do I need to forgive myself for? 

Forgiveness is an absolute necessity in life, and I find that especially true when it comes to forgiving ourselves. One of my favorite phrases is, “I forgive myself for the versions of myself I had to create to survive.” Because they were not always the best versions of myself. They were the necessary ones though. 

What forgiveness does is release feelings of regret, because the past cannot be changed. The only option is to move forward and try to be better. Forgiveness means that you no longer allow negative feelings toward yourself (or others) to continue to poison your life. That you’ve moved past it, and moved on to bigger and better things that deserve your time, energy, and attention. 

What do you need to forgive yourself for? Make a list of the things you are holding on to and need to start forgiving yourself for, so that you can heal and keep moving forward. 

7 Journal Prompts to Boost Self Esteem Notes 

I really hope these 7 journal prompts to boost self esteem have helped you start moving forward to becoming the best version of yourself. 

This list of journal prompts may feel overwhelming if you’re struggling with self esteem. The best part of journaling is that you don’t have to do it all at once. You can break this list down into daily prompts, spread out of a week if you want. Or do them all at once. It is totally up to you. 

When should you journal? That is completely up to you. I like to take the time both at night and in the mornings to spend a few minutes journaling. Morning helps me to get a good start on my day in a positive way, and evenings allow a brain dump so that I can sleep better. But it really is up to you as to what time of the day works the best for you. Take as much time or as little time as you need. 

Once you are finished with these journal prompts, I recommend walking away and ignoring them for a day or two. Then come back and read what you had to say with an open and objective mind. When you come back to read them over again, you will start to see yourself from a different perspective, and that is where you’ll start growing and building your self esteem. 

7 Journal Prompts to Boost Self Esteem Discussion 

Have these journal prompts helped you work on boosting your self esteem? Is that something you struggle with? Is there any way that I can help to support you in your journey to boosting your self esteem and becoming the best version of yourself? Let me know your thoughts in the comments so that I can help support you along the way! 

5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Emotions. If you’ve been through any kind of abuse or trauma, especially during childhood, you may find it difficult to deal with emotions in a healthy way. 

You’ve likely been conditioned to ignore, avoid, deny, minimize, dismiss, or to think of your emotions as a burden. When this happens, emotions can feel overwhelming and make you feel out of control if you’re not trying to suppress the emotions. 

Experiencing these struggles as a result of abuse is completely normal. Do not feel bad because you are having to work on yourself. Life is a journey, and working toward becoming the best version of yourself is a process. You are a survivor and you should be proud of yourself for surviving the abuse and being ready to start the process of healing. 

Part of healing from that abuse and breaking out of the cycle is to learn to manage your emotions appropriately and in a healthy and productive way. This is an essential step to a happy and healthy life, which is something everyone deserves. You owe it to yourself to start taking these steps! 

I’ve struggled with this myself for many years, and that is what inspired me to develop this set of journal prompts. 

Why are these 5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Emotions important? 

Emotions play a significant role in how we react or respond to a situation. When you manage your emotions appropriately and can express them in a productive way, you are able to form more meaningful relationships with people. It also allows you to be more objective about your emotions in any situation. 

This allows you to be more in control of a situation because you can take a step back to observe and process what is happening, what you’re feeling, and thinking. This helps you to learn more about yourself and have more understanding and control over your life. 

When emotions are not under control, it can cause relationship issues, trouble at work, trouble at school. You may be prone to use unhealthy coping mechanisms, or have physical or emotional outbursts. 

When I am really struggling, I find I like to go through these questions in my journal to answer them, and then I can take a break and come back to it and read the answers from an objective place. 

5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Emotions 

What am I feeling? 

Asking yourself what you’re feeling helps you to identify your feelings. This gives you the opportunity to accept them as well. 

It is also important to realize that you can feel both positive and negative emotions at the same time. Emotions are a complex thing, and not always black and white. This is often why taking control of them and managing them can be more difficult. 

Don’t ignore, deny, or dismiss any of your emotions. This is counterproductive, and causes these emotions to be more intense and overwhelming. Notice them and put a label on them instead of being reactive to them. This allows you to approach emotions in a much more objective way. 

Ask yourself: 

• What are all the emotions I’m feeling right now? Make a list. 
• Which emotion is the overpowering one? 
• What is it important for me to control this overpowering emotion? What will happen if I don’t? 

Once you’ve identified and labeled your emotions, it is time to work on accepting them. Emotions are always there, it isn’t something you can flip on and off like a light switch. That is a good thing, by the way. But what that means is you’re always going to be experiencing some kind of emotion. They serve as a form of feedback about what is going on around you and help provide information to help you understand a situation and if you need to make changes. 

Do not tell yourself not to feel a certain way. That invalidates your experiences. If you’ve been through trauma, I know you’ve had plenty of experience with others invalidating your experience. Do not do it to yourself! 

Accepting your emotions when they happen will teach you to be more comfortable with them. When this happens, accepting them starts to become easier. It also will decrease the intensity of emotions and allows you to feel them without being overwhelmed and reacting in a negative and unhealthy way. 

The more you practice being mindful of your emotions and labeling them, the easier it will become, and the better you will be at managing them. Keep in mind that practice makes perfect. It really does take practice and patience because you are learning about yourself. 

What caused these feelings? 

Once you’re able to identify and accept your emotions, the next step is to figure out what caused these feelings. 

It is important to identify what causes both positive and negative emotions. Don’t just focus on the negative ones in this step. Being able to recognize the negative emotions can help you remove them or cut down on them. Being able to recognize positive emotions can help you implement more of those in your life. 

This helps balance things and create more positive experiences in life instead of just expecting negative ones, and is a shift in mindset. It helps you to say no to things that are not healthy in your life. 

What do I want to do about these feelings? 

When you have certain feelings, you may feel compelled to behave in a certain way or say specific things. For example, I feel like punching anyone who makes me cry in the face. You may be tempted to raise your voice and call someone less than stellar names when they make you angry or hurt your feelings. 

It is perfectly normal to feel these things and think about saying or doing something as a result of your feelings. But just because you think it doesn’t mean you need to act on it. 

Now while punching someone in the face, calling them a jerk, or any other impulsive and counterproductive responses man seem like a good idea, and are often tempting to give in to, they are not a good idea. My favorite phrase here is, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” 

Ask yourself why it is important to control an overpowering emotion. What will happen if you don’t control it? 

Think about all the negative consequences that can happen if you allow yourself to react impulsively. What are the negative consequences of suppressing your emotions? Make a list, and then use that list to remind yourself why it is important to maintain control over your emotions and express them appropriately. 

Expressing your emotions isn’t always an easy thing to do. Because there is a balance between overwhelming emotions and feeling nothing at all. Expressing emotions often feels more difficult than simply pretending that everything is fine. But in the end, pretending that nothing is wrong is distressing and counterproductive. 

When you suppress your emotions, not only do they feel more overwhelming every time they surface, suppressing emotions can cause physical and mental health issues. These can include but are certainly not limited to anxiety, depression, insomnia, muscle tension, body aches, increased heart rate, eating disorders, and even substance abuse. 

Knowing when to express yourself is also important. Emotions happen in every situation, but that situation may not be the time or place to express them. For example, I wanted to punch my father in-law because he made me cry the other day, and we were in the middle of a bookstore. I had to walk away and give myself a moment so I didn’t have a full blown meltdown complete with ugly crying in the middle of a store. 

It is perfectly okay to excuse yourself from a situation and take a breather when you feel overwhelmed. I came back to those emotions that I felt in the bookstore and what caused them later that night when I was at home, and allowed it all to happen so I could start exploring it and working through it. That is how I was mindful of my surroundings, and knowing I wasn’t able to express my emotions in a healthy way at that moment. 

But that isn’t an excuse for avoiding those emotions. Think of it like a fight with your husband, and you need a break to settle before you come back to it with a different mindset. You still have to come back to the fight to resolve it and not let it get swept under the rug to fester. Emotions and dealing with them are the exact same thing. If you need to take a breather, make absolutely certain that you still come back and return to those emotions to process them instead of avoiding them. Healthy space is only a temporary solution. 

Is there another way to view the situation? 

I’m going to go back to the example I used a moment ago about my hostile response to my father in-law. He has the attention span of a squirrel on crack at a rave. It irritates me because no discussion is ever finished with him, nor does it always make sense. I texted my favorite person on the planet when I walked away in the bookstore because I was upset and needed a distraction at that moment. 

His response to me was suggesting that issue may be a sign of the early onset of dementia. Nobody knows if that is the case, but the suggestion certainly made me stop and think about the situation from a different perspective. Maybe there is something going on that is influencing his behavior and he isn’t just being a jerk with the intent to be hurtful. 

Thinking about alternative reasons for someone’s behavior or realizing there may be outside circumstances you don’t know about doesn’t mean you are condoning their behavior or accepting how you’re being treated. What this does is allow you to take the situation less personally and you may feel less angry as a result. 

Reframing your thoughts through considering possible alternatives can help you change your initial extreme reaction to something healthier and more appropriate. This type of change takes practice, so be patient with yourself. You are literally changing your entire thought process with this. 

It is also important to remember that your feelings are valid. The purpose of reframing your thoughts is not to invalidate your experience and feelings. This simply allows you to look at a situation in a more objective way, and think about the entire situation versus just how you are feeling in that moment. 

How can I cope with these emotions in a healthy way? 

When your emotions are intense and overwhelming, it is difficult to approach any situation without allowing your emotions to run and control your behavior. 

Listen to your emotions and what they are trying to tell you. Then focus on healthy coping methods. 

Write them all down. I love writing and answering these questions in a journal, as I can go back and read it later on from a different place. It becomes easier to observe my thoughts and emotions, and therefore start working with them. 

Coping with these emotions can include but are not limited to: 

• Writing in your journal 
• Going for a walk or another form of exercise 
• Crying
• Venting to someone you trust 
• Meditation 
• Deep breathing 

When you discover how to cope with your emotions in a healthy way, you will find it easier to resolve conflicts, have more confidence and be able to move past setbacks easier, and feel less overwhelmed by your emotions. 

The best part about having healthier coping mechanisms is the fact it frees up a lot of your energy! You will likely notice that once you start handling your emotions using these 5 healthy ways to deal with emotions, you have so much more energy to devote to things that make you happy, including relationships. I have found that my personal relationships flourish when I’m in a healthy place because I’m not focused on the negatives and I can express myself when negative emotions do come up. 

5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Emotions Notes 

I will be the first one to admit that these are things that I’ve struggled with for many years because my mother was a textbook narcissist and was abusive. When I cut her out and started to heal, I realized that I owed it to myself to break that cycle and be better. Because my health and happiness absolutely depended on that. That is why these 5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Emotions are so important to me.

Breaking the cycle of abuse and dealing with emotions in a healthy way is a struggle. This kind of self-improvement is hard work. Be prepared for challenges, setbacks, speed bumps, and just bad days. Because they will happen. You aren’t perfect. But it is so important because it absolutely can affect your quality of life. 

The thing I love about journal prompts that help me work on myself is that once I can identify a problem and understand that it is a problem, that is when steps can be taken to start fixing it. That is where growth happens. 

You also owe it to yourself to work on that through these 5 healthy ways to deal with emotions. You deserve to be both healthy and happy, and this is an excellent place to start. 

These 5 healthy ways to deal with emotions are not always easy, especially if you are just starting this journey. Be patient and kind to yourself. You didn’t win a marathon the first time, right? Or bench press two hundred pounds the first time you walked into a gym. How did you get there? Practice. Constantly practicing and improving. Working on yourself, healing, and changing isn’t any different. It takes practice and lots of it. 

Keep practicing and be proud of yourself. Forward is forward, no matter what the speed is. You can do this, and become the happy healthy person you are meant to be! Celebrate the wins, and keep track of your progress, and be proud of the fact you’re taking these positive steps. You’ll likely be amazed at how well you are doing! 

5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Emotions Discussion 

Do you deal with your emotions in a healthy way? Or is this a struggle for you too? What steps are you taking to work on this? Do you have any suggestions I missed in this post? Is there any way I can help support you on your journey? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

4 Powerful Ways to Handle Regret. What is regret? It is defined as feeling sad, repentant, or disappointed over something that has happened or been done, especially a loss or missed opportunity. 

Regret is a very common negative emotion that we’ve all felt at some point in our lives, and probably on many occasions. This is usually driven by the “what if” question. What if I had done this (or didn’t do something) instead, would things be different? 

One of the most typical feelings that come with regret is blame. We blame ourselves for making the “wrong” choice or by not doing something that you now think you should have. This is often the focus, is to blame ourselves for screwing something up and causing the regret. 

The biggest problem with regret is that it can often be a way to hold a grudge against ourselves and beat ourselves up over choices we’ve made in the past. That isn’t healthy, and my goal is to help you start working to process that regret and take actionable steps to move past it. 

While feelings of regret are not avoidable, as no one is perfect, there are ways to deal with these feelings and overcome them. Are you ready to take control of your life and handle your feelings of regret? Let’s go! Here are my 4 powerful ways to handle regret. 

4 Powerful Ways to Handle Regret 

Try to understand where your regret is coming from 

Where do your feelings of regret come from? Is it from something you did? Something you didn’t do? A specific way you treated someone else? Where is your source of regret coming from? 

Don’t avoid your regret. Feel it, but don’t let it consume you. When we avoid, demy, or minimize negative emotional experiences like regret, they tend to come back with a vengeance. And that isn’t a pleasant experience. Because that can easily become overwhelming. Allow yourself to experience your feelings, and then start to handle them instead of avoiding them. Avoidance just makes things worse and prolongs the negative feelings. 

Write these things down. If you’re feeling regret, you likely know exactly why you feel this way and everything you perceive that you did wrong in that specific situation because you are your own worst critic. Let’s explore these feelings. 

Also think about how your body reacts when you are feeling regret. Do you feel a tightness in your throat, nausea, a rapid heart rate, for example? Make a list of the physical reactions you experience when you start feeling regret. If you’ve been avoiding the feelings of regret, this is even more important, because those reactions will be more extreme. 

After you do this, walk away from your journal for a little bit. Maybe a day or two. Then come back and read it. Read it without judgment or criticism. You’ve already spent too much time judging yourself as it is. Try to look at it like a learning experience from an objective mind. See where you can learn from your feelings. If you were to go through the exact same situation that caused the regret tomorrow, what would you do differently? 

Think about how you would change your behavior or decisions and write those down as well. Focus on a self-compassionate stance here, because that will not only make you feel better, it will help encourage self-improvement. Criticism will not help you to change your behavior, it actually makes you less likely to change. Think about teaching a child. Does yelling at them actually teach them, or does compassion and explanation do it? You aren’t any different as an adult! 

When you turn those feelings into a learning experience and strive to make other choices if it happens again, you are growing! You can’t change the past. It is just that simple, and dwelling on something you can’t change is not productive or healthy. But you can certainly change the future by not repeating the behaviors you regret, and that is growth. Which is a very powerful thing. The only way you can learn from regret is to fully experience it first, explore it, and then grow from it. 

Realize that things may not have worked out anyway 

Oftentimes we play the “what if” game in our heads when it comes to regret. It is easy to think that everything would be better, and that we missed the golden opportunity of a lifetime by not doing something. 

But what if the grass wasn’t as green on the other side as we think it may have been? Maybe things would be far worse than where you are right now. Don’t overestimate the benefit of not-chosen paths. Sometimes we idolize what could have been or imagine that everything would have worked out for the best if we had simply made a different choice. But you can’t predict the future. I don’t have a crystal ball that shows me the future. Do you? Because unless you do, you are simply romanticizing the idea of something and not reality. 

This is why living in the past and living with regret is completely pointless. What ifs are just wishful thinking, and that isn’t productive. You are better than that, and it is time to realize that and move forward from living in the past. 

Think about the negatives that may have come from a choice you regret, and what could have gone wrong. Make a list of those things. Then realize that life may have worked out exactly how it should have. This puts things in perspective, and it also helps you be able to appreciate where you are right now and the things you have. 

Think about the things you are grateful for right now. It doesn’t matter how big or small they are. Write these things down. Then realize that if you had followed through with the choice you’re busy regretting, you wouldn’t have the things you are grateful for. 

Take action to let go of regret 

Now that you understand your regret and what is causing it, it is time to take action and let go of it. Don’t continue to live in the past and let that regret cause you to suffer. It is time to actively start moving on to bigger and better things. You owe it to yourself to take the steps toward letting go of regret. Your health, happiness, and peace depend on that. 

Make a commitment to yourself to let go of regret. Write it down, with the date, and commit to taking action to let go. You don’t need to show this to anyone else. This is for you, and you alone. 

Write down a list of ways you can take action to let go of regret. This could be a support group, apologizing to someone, writing a letter you don’t send, and so much more. That is up to you to decide what options you have and how you want to go about letting go of your regret. 

Put your regret into perspective. Regret will lose power over time. Will this regret change anything? Will it matter next month? A year from now? Five years? Is anyone going to even remember the situation besides you? 

How much time are you spending per day, week, or month focusing on your feelings of regret? Is there a more productive way to spend your time? Is that time you spend on regret taking you away from your husband, kids, job, or anything else that is important in your life? 

When you can put your feelings of regret in perspective and context, it can be much easier to let go of. 

Forgive yourself for the things you regret 

Forgiving yourself is the most important step! Because if you are dealing with regret, this is likely over something you feel you did wrong. But you need to stop holding it against yourself. What does holding it against yourself do to help the situation? The answer is, absolutely nothing. Holding a grudge against yourself is not a healthy or productive way to handle your feelings and emotions. 

Remind yourself that everyone has regrets, everyone has made mistakes, done or said the wrong thing. We are all human. Humans are messy, they screw up, they are emotional, imperfect, the list goes on. Living life is just a messy thing. 

The only healthy and productive thing to do is learn from what we did wrong and strive to be better everyday. If you’re learning from your mistakes instead of making them repeatedly, you are growing and it is time to forgive yourself because you can’t change the past. You can only learn from it and keep growing. 

The fact that you feel regret shows that you care, and that is a good thing. Sometimes that is all we can do. Forgive yourself and start moving forward. 

Ways to start forgiving yourself

• Name the self-critic. Pay attention to when you start criticizing yourself and how it sounds. Give that inner voice a name. Being mindful of your own thought patterns can help you recognize it and put a stop it before it spirals out of control in your head. 
• Channel a caring person from your childhood. Think of someone you knew who was empathetic, caring, compassionate, understanding, and forgiving. Maybe it was your grandmother, or a teacher? Try to think about how they would treat you when you made a mistake. Then treat yourself with that same love and compassion. 
• Let go of all or nothing thinking. Life isn’t black and white. There are a lot of gray areas! Regret doesn’t make you a bad person. One bad decision doesn’t make you a bad person, nor will you always be this way. That regret does not define who you are as a person. Oftentimes we think in very black and white terms. You didn’t go visit grandma enough before she died. Therefore you are a bad granddaughter. Being a bad granddaughter makes you a bad person. But that isn’t the case, and that is a thinking trap that is easy to fall into. Let go of that black and white all or nothing mentality. 
• Put your actions in context. Did you make a decision based on anger, fear, or even ignorance? Many times we have to make decisions under imperfect circumstances, and that can be where we end up regretting those choices. A wise person once said that hindsight is 20/20. Don’t focus on the choice you made without understanding the context in which you made that choice. 

Write all of these things down! Write down the name you’ve given to your inner self-critic. List off what happens when that voice makes an appearance and the emotions you feel. Next, write down who your caring person is from your childhood. Make a list of all their characteristics that you appreciate about them and what makes them such a great person. Write down what happens when you fall into the trap of all or nothing thinking. Next, think about the context of when you made a choice. What were the circumstances? Were you grieving, fearful, angry, stressed, panicking? Make a list of the extenuating circumstances going on around you that may have influenced your decisions. 

When you write these things down, it makes it easier to understand what is happening from an impersonal or detached perspective. Think of it like your best friend explaining how they feel to you. You take a different approach to reacting or giving advice to them. When you can do that with yourself, and observe your thoughts without judgment, you can start to make progress. 

4 Powerful Ways to Handle Regret Notes 

Let’s reflect on these 4 powerful ways to handle regret. One of the best things about regret is that you can use it to clarify what you value. This is an amazing opportunity to learn more about yourself. If your regret is based on how you treat your employees, you value compassion and support. If your regret is missing out on time spent with your kids, you value being a hands-on and available parent. If you regret not going to medical school, you value helping people. The list goes on and on. 

Think about and clarify your values when you think about your regret. You can learn a lot about yourself this way as you go through the 4 powerful ways to handle regret, and knowing and understanding your values will help you in the future with reaching your goals and potentially making different decisions because you have better information. 

Regret hurts. It is a painful experience and feels awful because it implies that you could have done something different and been happier or had a better outcome. Be prepared for this to be difficult and painful. But also remember that just because it is difficult doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Instead focus on facing it head-on so that you can work toward resolving it and learning from it. That is why these 4 powerful ways to handle regret are so important.

By writing all of this down and going through the 4 powerful ways to handle regret, you are making a huge stride to be better than yesterday and continue growing. This allows you to fully experience the regret so you can move past it and not focus on it constantly. Moving on builds confidence and allows you to love yourself. This is a form of self-care, in my opinion. 

You deserve to become the best version of yourself. Through these 4 powerful ways to handle regret, you are heading in the right direction to become the best version of yourself. 

My goal for you with these 4 powerful ways to handle regret is that you write them in your journal, and it helps you to put an end to living in the past and gets you started on the path to a much brighter future! Because you absolutely deserve that. Regrets don’t need to stop you from achieving your goals and living the best life that you can. You are deserving of all the happiness in the world. Those regrets you’re experiencing do not mean you are unworthy of happiness. 

4 Powerful Ways to Handle Regret Discussion 

Are you feeling regret for something in your life? How long have you been experiencing this regret? Are you ready for a change and to move forward from that regret? Have these 4 powerful ways to handle regret helped you? Are you running into any speed bumps or difficulties in this journey? If you are taking this journey, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! 

11 Ways to Challenge Anxious Thoughts is a series of questions or journal prompts meant to help you! I created this to help you not only manage anxious thoughts, but to overcome them as well. 

When you overcome anxiety and negative thinking, it is a game changer. You deserve to be the confident and amazing woman that you were meant to be! 

What is anxiety? It is defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease. These are normal feelings when things are uncertain because life throws all of us curveballs. When it becomes excessive it leads to physical symptoms like an increased heart rate, muscle tension, and so much more. 

These issues can make it difficult to make it through a normal day. There are times when anxiety can make you feel paralyzed. But there are ways to challenge these anxious thoughts and not let them stop you! 

Here are my 11 ways to challenge anxious thoughts. 

11 Ways to Challenge Anxious Thoughts 

Are your thoughts helpful? 

I ask myself this all the time when I start feeling anxious. Because my brain often likes to run off in a million different, and often negative, directions. It’s like a black hole that never ends when I allow it to be. 

I ask this in a yes or no format in my head. Is this a helpful thought? Yes or no? Nothing else. Don’t let your brain say, “no, but” and then come up with reasons to validate it. 

If the answer is no, then it is time to remind yourself of that. If it isn’t a helpful thought, it doesn’t belong in your mind. You deserve helpful thoughts instead of negative ones that are causing you harm. I think of harm as the increased heart rate, the muscle tension, and the panic attacks that happen when I’m anxious. 

Think of your own negative results of anxious thoughts and what that does to you, the harm that it causes. Then tell yourself no. You deserve better than that, and this thought needs to stop. 

Are you completely (100%) sure that X will happen? 

How likely is it that the thing causing you anxiety will actually happen? I break this down on a scale from 1-10. You know when you go to the doctor and they ask you your pain level on a scale of 1-10? I like that format, and use the same thing in this. 1 is very unlikely, and 10 is the most likely. 

You can also use a percentage scale, of 0-100%. Pick whatever works the best for you. The goal here is to give whatever is causing you anxious thoughts a specific number on how likely it is to happen. 

When you give a value to the likelihood of something actually happening, it can really put things in perspective. I like to say that anything is possible, but the likelihood of it happening may be far different. Because the likelihood of something happening may be significantly less than the level of anxiety you are experiencing. 

This serves as a gentle reminder that it may not be the end of the world as it feels to you in that moment. When things are put in perspective, it is much easier to move past the anxiety. 

How many times has X happened before? 

Has whatever is causing you anxious thoughts happened in the past? If so, how many times? 

How did you handle that situation? Are there other more productive ways you can handle the situation if it happens again? 

If this thing has happened before, treat it as a learning experience. If it happens again, you don’t want to react the same way again, right? There are always ways to improve the response to any situation and handle it differently. 

When you formulate a plan of how to handle a situation differently the next time it happens, you are better prepared because you have a plan, and that can reduce the anxious thoughts and feelings. 

Are you confusing possibilities with certainty? 

It may be possible, as anything is. But how likely is it to actually happen? It is really easy to confuse possibilities and certainly if you are struggling with anxious thoughts. 

When you break down the likelihood of something actually happening, it is much easier to see if you are confusing possibilities with certainty, and put it in perspective. 

What is the evidence for and against this thought? 

When you are thinking about these thoughts and how useful they are, it may seem overwhelming. Like that thought is the most important thing and has value. 

It may help to make a list of pros and cons to think about the actual value of that thought and if you have more evidence or more pros or cons for that thought. 

If you end up with more cons against that thought, it is a clear indication that it is time to change those and really challenge the anxious thoughts you are experiencing. 

Are you falling into a thinking trap? 

Are you falling into the trap of being a perfectionist? Or are you overthinking and taking yourself out of the present? Are these anxious thoughts limiting you and your goals? 

There are several thinking traps that are easy to fall into, and it can be hard to break out of them. Because they are all cycles that happen when you have anxious thoughts. 

What is the worst that can happen? 

Now that you’ve thought about the worst that can happen, it is time to ask what is the best that can happen? Think about the flip side. Then ask what is the most realistic thing that is likely to actually happen? 

I highly recommend writing these things down. Make a list of the worst things that can happen, then another of the best things that can happen, and a third with what is most likely to happen. This really puts things in perspective about the problem and the actual severity. It also helps shift your mindset to remind you that positive things can happen just as much as negative things.

Is X so important that your future depends on it? 

Do your anxious thoughts have enough value in your life to change your future? Is it that important? 

I go back to the yes or no answer here. It is a yes or no question, nothing else. Then ask yourself the question of why. Why is it so important that your future depends on it? Why isn’t it that important? 

This question allows you more perspective on if something is truly important, essential, or necessary in your life. 

If X did happen, what could you do to cope with it and handle it? 

Here are my favorite coping mechanisms. You can pick and choose whatever works the best for you! 

Distractions 

• Clean and organize a space 
• Dance
• Doodle or draw on paper 
• Gardening 
• Go for a drive 
• Go for a walk 
• Go shopping 
• Hug a stuffed animal 
• Listen to music 
• Paint 
• Photography 
• Play a game 
• Play an instrument 
• Put a puzzle together 
• Read a book 
• Sing 
• Take a break 
• Take a shower or bath 
• Watch cute pet videos on YouTube 
• Watch a movie

Cognitive Coping 

• Act opposite to negative feelings 
• Brainstorm solutions 
• Make a gratitude list 
• Read an inspirational quote 
• Reward yourself when successful 
• Slowly count to ten, then count backwards from ten
• Take a class 
• Think about someone you love 
• Think of something funny 
• Use positive self-talk 
• Visualize your favorite place 
• Write a list of goals 
• Write a pro and con list for decisions 
• Write a list of your strengths 
• Write a positive note 

Tension Release 

• Chew gum 
• Cry 
• Exercise or play sports 
• Laugh 
• Stretch 
• Use a stress ball 

Sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves is to find a more productive coping skill and focus our attention there until the anxious thoughts have settled down a little bit. Then go back and reevaluate what has happened or is happening and how to approach the situation. 

That way you are not allowing the negative and anxious thoughts to take over. It is a much healthier approach to any situation. 

What advice would you give someone else in this same situation? 

I don’t know why but it is significantly easier to give others advice on a situation than to see it for ourselves and take our own advice. 

This question gives you that opportunity though. Think about what you would say to your best friend or a co-worker if they came to you with the same problem. How would you suggest they handle it? Any super-specific tips to help them be better prepared? 

Write these things down. Because you just wrote down the roadmap of how to handle a situation! Then do yourself a favor and take your own advice. 

Things to remember if you have anxious thoughts 

• Thoughts are just thoughts, and not based on reality or facts. You don’t need to give meaning to them. 
• Understand why you’re feeling this way, and don’t just accept the anxiety. 
• You absolutely can change the way you think. 
• Don’t feed your fears. 
• Remember your strengths. They are much stronger than your fears. 
• Your physical health is completely linked to your mental health. 
• Managing anxiety is a skill like any other and it takes practice. You can do this! 
• Everyone makes mistakes. 
• Don’t take life too seriously. 
• You deserve to be happy. 

11 Ways to Challenge Anxious Thoughts Notes 

Challenging anxious thoughts isn’t an easy thing to do. It really does take practice! So if this is something you are working on, please be patient and kind to yourself as you go through the process. 

These habits or journal prompts aren’t an overnight process. It is like creating a new habit and breaking old bad ones, it takes time and patience. You will likely have setbacks along the way. But remember that forward is forward, no matter what the speed. Don’t ever forget how far you have come already and are still working toward being so much better. 

You got this! 

One of the things I love the most about challenging anxious thoughts is that in this process you really get to know yourself on a deeper level. It is not only the ability to get to know yourself, it is the opportunity to break some negative cycles within you. 

When you take care of your mental health, you are taking care of your physical health at the same time. 

11 Ways to Challenge Anxious Thoughts Discussion 

Have these 11 ways to challenge anxious thoughts helped you in your journey toward overcoming these obstacles and breaking the cycle? Where are you on your journey? Do you need any kind of support? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

25 Powerful Mindset Journal Prompts to overcome limiting beliefs is something that I feel passionate about writing for you. Because limiting beliefs are an issue that I’ve struggled with for many years. 

I will tell you that when I started my blog, The Prepping Wife, it was legitimately the first time that I had done something not only outside of my comfort zone, but something for me. It was my dream, and I followed through with it. It didn’t matter if I was a failure or a success. What mattered was I pushed past my limiting beliefs and did it. 

Coming from an abusive home and being told exactly what to do and how to do it meant that I was either terrified to try new things, or my dreams were shot down by my mother and I just gave up trying to do things or looking for the support to do so. 

Beliefs rule most of our lives, and this is especially true when it comes to limiting beliefs. The majority of the time, these roadblocks are things we’ve made up in our own minds and not actually a real and valid problem. 

I’m sure that you can remember times when your own limiting beliefs prevented you from achieving a goal, or even trying to set the goal to achieve. That is why I created these 25 powerful mindset journal prompts to help you as well.

What are Limiting Beliefs? 

Limiting beliefs are the thoughts we believe in our mind. They have been formed since childhood thought 

• Parents
• Society
• School 
• Our inner circle 

Have you ever heard a parent or teacher tell you that you would never be successful or you can’t do something? 

When we hear things like that, our brain picks those to focus on and we continue to believe them to be true. They often follow us for years. This is why when we try to do something and be successful, that is the opposite of what we’re told, fear and anxiety take over. 

The reality though is that those beliefs do not exist. They are limiting beliefs because they stop us from living our dream lives, of being the best version of ourselves, and truly being happy. Those limiting beliefs stop us from taking action because we are afraid. 

Top 10 Limiting Beliefs 

These are the most common limiting beliefs that we all struggle with. 

• I am too old or young to do something. 
• I am not good enough. 
• I am not capable of doing this. 
• I am not talented enough. 
• I will never be successful. 
• I don’t have enough money. 
• I am a failure. 
• I can’t do this. 
• I don’t deserve this. 
• I am not ready. 

How many of these phrases have you said to yourself in the past? More than your fair share, as I have too. 

Journaling is a very powerful tool to help you not only identify your limiting beliefs, but then to challenge them. How exciting is that?! When you identify a problem, you can begin to take control and make necessary changes to better yourself. 

You have the power to change your mindset and overcome these limiting beliefs! Yes, you absolutely can, and that’s exactly what I want to see you do. These 25 powerful mindset journal prompts are here to help you.

25 Powerful Mindset Journal Prompts 

What would you do if you were not afraid of anything? 

Imagine a scenario where there was nothing in life that you were afraid of. Make a list of the things you would do if that were the case. 

Would you start a business? Follow a passion? Travel? Go back to college? What does your heart tell you that you would want to do? Write all of these things down. 

How are your emotions or thoughts limiting your growth? 

When you think about setting a new goal or doing something new, how do you feel? What emotions are you experiencing? Write these down. How do you think these emotions limit your personal growth? 

A great example is wanting to start a business, but you have a fear of failure, and the thought of failure just makes you feel anxious and stressed, so you just don’t even try to start that business. Now you feel stuck in a job that you aren’t happy with. 

How can you grow and learn from negative past experiences? 

Do your beliefs come from a mistake you made in the past or a terrible experience that has since become a limiting belief? 

Go back to that experience and think about how you can grow from it. What lessons did you learn? 

Are you afraid of failure? What makes you afraid? 

Fear of failure stops many people from doing what they want and reaching their goals. Is that something you struggle with as well? 

If you have a fear of failure, write down exactly what makes you afraid. 

Think about this, when you were a baby and learning to walk (or watching your own child learn to walk), how many times did you fall down and get back up? Now you can not only walk, but you can run as well. 

If you never failed, how can you succeed? Is failure really a bad thing? Or is it that when you failed, you simply gave up and stopped trying to succeed? 

What changes are you currently resisting in your life? 

Humans are creatures of habit and we love to be in our comfort zone. When we go through changes that make us uncomfortable, we tend to want to resist those changes. 

Look around and see what changes are happening in your life and if/how you are resisting them or if you’re welcoming those changes. If you are resisting them, are you doing so because they make you uncomfortable and take you outside of your comfort zone? 

Name one thing you’ve done in the past that was an example of growth 

I am quite sure there was a time in your past that you did something outside of your comfort zone. It can be something small, it doesn’t have to be big, something you thought was impossible but you went ahead and did it. 

Take a moment to think about that and write it down. 

What kind of messages about success did you hear growing up? How have they shaped you today? 

What kinds of things have you heard about success at home, at school, in your circle of friends? Were they all the same or were they different? 

Examples of success could be more money, a highly respected job, or maybe success isn’t important to some people. Some people prioritize happiness over success. 

What stops you from believing in yourself? 

If you are struggling to believe in yourself, it is important that you know exactly what is stopping you from believing in yourself. 

Is it the opinions of others, a mistake from the past, or something else. Write it in detail. 

What does your support network/system look like? 

Our support system plays a huge role in our mindset. A wise person once said that we are the sum of the 5 people closest to us. The question is, are we surrounded by the right people or not? 

When we are constantly surrounded by people that are negative or create fear in our brains, we tend to think more about those things. When we are surrounded by highly supportive, positive, and optimistic people, we tend to feel encouraged and supported to try new things and step outside of our comfort zone. 

Are you underestimating yourself? 

If you are underestimating yourself, where is that coming from? You want to ask yourself where that is coming from if you are unable to achieve your goals and dreams because you have a low opinion or view of yourself. 

When you can identify why you’re underestimating yourself, you can start to shift that mindset and take control. 

Where do your fears come from? 

One of the best ways to overcome your limiting beliefs and fears is to dive deep into your past and understand the origins of these fears. 

I know that mine come from family, specifically my mother, who was a textbook narcissist. Where do yours come from? 

In what ways do your fears, insecurities, and negative beliefs limit you? 

Write about all the ways that these things have limited you in the past, and now as well. How has this affected you? 

Examples of how these affected you could be that you didn’t follow a dream, you remained stuck in a job you hated, or anything else you settled for because of these fears, insecurities, and negative beliefs. 

What limiting beliefs are you already aware you have? 

We all carry limiting beliefs with us, but they only come to the surface when we are faced with a situation that opposes that belief system. That is why we aren’t always aware of all the limiting beliefs that we may be carrying around with us. 

However you may be aware of some of your limiting beliefs as well, because the same ones make an appearance in multiple situations. What are they? Which ones are you aware of? Write them all down. 

How do your limiting beliefs make you feel? 

Do your limiting beliefs make you feel good, relaxed, or confident? Or do they trigger fear and anxiety in you? 

It is important to identify what thoughts you have that make you feel good, and which ones make you feel bad. 

What steps can you take to conquer your limiting beliefs? 

Think about ways that you can conquer and change your limiting beliefs by challenging them. Write these ways down. 

How do you challenge something like this? My favorite way is to try something new. It doesn’t have to be anything big. But try something small. A great example is, if you don’t believe you can bake, try it! Find a simple dessert recipe that you can bake. You may fail, and you may succeed. Neither of which matter. What matters is that you tried it. 

Find something you want to try and go for it. Write down things you want to try, and give it a go. 

How do limiting beliefs affect your life? 

How do limiting beliefs affect your life right now? Describe these in detail. 

This could be that you’re unhappy with something, a relationship, a job, just suffering from general anxiety or depression. It can be anything that is directly causing problems in your life. 

What are your core values? 

When you focus on growing and shifting your mindset to overcome negative thoughts and limiting beliefs, it is important to remember your values. 

What are your values you hold dear in life? What is important to you? Write these down, and be detailed with it. Your values should be very important, so details are essential. 

How do your core values contradict your limiting beliefs? 

You’ve previously described your core values in the last prompt. Now let’s talk about how those conflict with your limiting beliefs. 

Is this an issue for you? Do your values and limiting beliefs contradict or conflict with each other? 

How can you actively work toward proving limiting beliefs wrong? 

Write down the steps you can consistently take to prove to yourself that your limiting beliefs are incorrect and holding you back. 

You deserve to prove them wrong and win at life by becoming your best self! How can you do that? That is what you want to be thinking about here. 

What is a positive affirmation I can repeat to replace a limiting belief? 

Affirmations are positive phrases that you can repeat to yourself throughout the day, each and every day. 

Instead of saying I can’t do this, replace that with, I can do this and I will do this. I will be successful and accomplish my goal. 

Name a time when a limiting belief made you give up 

Was there a time when your limiting beliefs took over and you gave up doing what you wanted to do? 

For me personally, everything in my recipe blog is an example of where I gave up when I was younger. I always wanted to cook and make things from scratch, but I remember my mother telling me she had already tried it and it was too hard, so just shut up and buy it in the store. I finally found the courage to do these things when I married my husband, and that is what started my true love of cooking. 

What if you had tried back then instead of giving up? 

If you had tried, how different would things be? Looking back at that time, think about what kind of a difference that trying would have made in your life. 

What would your life look like now if you had done those things? 

Do you have a habit of staying in your comfort zone? 

Why do you think that is? Are you comfortable where you are and change is something that scares you? Is this stopping you from growth? 

If yes, why do you think that is a problem? Why do you stay in your comfort zone instead of venturing outside of it? 

What is your purpose? 

Knowing your purpose is an amazing way to take control of your life, your limiting beliefs, and even haters who help push negative thoughts into your head. Your purpose is something no one, and I mean absolutely no one can take away from you. 

Write down what your purpose is and why you want to do it. 

For example, my purpose is to be a writer and a blogger, and encourage other women to become the best version of themselves, and it is something I am very passionate about. I want my story, my trauma, my abuse, to become the survival guide for another woman out there struggling. My passion for that is not something anyone can silence or take away from me. 

Think about your purpose and what drives you. Is it a job, being a parent, telling your own story to help others? Your purpose is your very own, so be honest with yourself about it. 

What do you understand about your mindset and beliefs? 

After answering all of these 25 powerful mindset journal prompts honestly and completely, what do you now understand about your mindset and beliefs? Did you find clarity? Do you feel better simply by identifying and vocalizing or writing down your fears and negative thoughts? 

Write down how you feel after going through this process. 

25 Powerful Mindset Journal Prompts Discussion 

I really hope these 25 powerful mindset journal prompts have helped you find your own inner strength! Because you deserve to be both happy and successful instead of just settling for the easy way and living a mediocre life. 

You are amazing, and if you’ve taken this journey through the 25 powerful mindset journal prompts with me, I am so, so very proud of you! I hope you are equally as proud of yourself. Because tackling limiting beliefs isn’t easy, but it is absolutely worth the time and effort to do so. It can be a life changing experience, and that is exactly what I hope happens for you. 

Have these 25 Powerful Mindset Journal Prompts helped you? Where are you in your journey toward shifting from limiting beliefs to more positive ones? If you’ve completed the 25 powerful mindset journal prompts, how did you feel when you finished? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!