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Write Away: The Top Journaling Prompts to Build Your Self Esteem

If you ask someone from another country to describe the average American, they’ll often use words like “confident” and even “arrogant” to do it. Many Americans carry themselves in a way that would indicate they have high self-esteem.

But studies have shown that up to 85 percent of people in the U.S. have low self-esteem. And low self-esteem can hurt them at work, make it hard for them to sustain healthy relationships, and more.

Do you suffer from this national issue? One way to build your self-esteem is by utilizing journaling prompts. They’ll encourage you to take a look at all the amazing things you have going on.

Here are the top journaling prompts that will help build your self-esteem.

1. What Makes You Special?

Everyone has something that makes them unique.

There are some people who are amazing artists. There are others who are great at sports. Surely, there is something that makes you special.

In fact, you probably have a long list of talents that set you apart from everyone else. List them and think about how you’re using those talents in your daily life.

2. What’s the Best Compliment You’ve Ever Received?

If you have low self-esteem, you probably cringe when someone gives you a compliment. Studies have revealed that those with low self-esteem often have a hard time accepting compliments.

But those compliments are what makes you special! They illustrate the way others see you.

Write down what you consider to be the best compliment you’ve ever received. It might be something like:

  • “You’re such an incredible basketball player!”
  • “You do math quicker than anyone I’ve ever met!”
  • “You’re so good with kids!”

Any time you’re feeling down, glance back at the compliment to raise your spirits.

3. What Do You Consider Your Proudest Moment?

What would you say has been the proudest moment of your life thus far? Was it when you:

  • Pulled your science grade up from a D to an A by cramming for your final until you knew biology like the back of your hand?
  • Spent a summer mowing your elderly neighbor’s lawn without being asked?
  • Donated your birthday money to charity?

You have, no doubt, done things in your life that made you proud. Pick your proudest moment and reflect back on how you felt during it.

4. What’s Your Favorite Thing in the World to Do?

As people get older, they lose sight of the things that are important to them. They get so caught up in going to work and raising kids and taking care of their houses that they forget to take time to do the things that make them happy.

What is your absolute favorite thing to do in the world? Write it down at the top of the page and explain what’s so great about it. It’ll remind you to do that thing more often.

5. What’s the Last Thing You Did to Help Someone?

In theory, helping someone else seems like it would help, well, them, not you. But many experts will tell you that helping other people will make you feel better about yourself.

When is the last time you lent a hand to someone? Consider how it made you feel and what you can do to recapture that feeling.

6. What Do You See in the Mirror?

Studies have shown that men look at themselves in the mirror more than 20 times every day, while women look at themselves in the mirror just under 20 times. But more often than not, both men and women are looking at their hair or their smile in the mirror and not taking time to think about what they really see.

Go check yourself out in the mirror and analyze yourself from top to bottom. Point out the things you like and don’t like and explain why in your journal. It’ll shed light on how you see yourself.

7. What Goals Do You Have?

Setting and achieving goals is one simple way to achieve higher self-esteem. So, what are your goals?

Do you want to:

List goals for yourself and detail how you plan on achieving them.

8. What Makes You Feel Confident?

Confidence and self-esteem are interconnected. When you feel confident while you’re doing something, it’ll increase your self-esteem.

Come up with some things that make you feel confident when you do them. They might be some of the same things you thought about when you were considering what your favorite things to do in the world are.

Take notes on how you feel when you’re taking part in those activities. It should serve as a good reminder to do those activities more often.

9. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?

You’ve accomplished great things in your life. It doesn’t matter if you’re 10, 50, or 100. You should be able to rattle off a long list of accomplishments from over the years.

But which one would you say is the greatest of all? It might be when you:

  • Graduated from college
  • Bought your first house
  • Gave birth to your child

List your great accomplishments and then narrow them down to your greatest. It’ll be a fun exercise that will showcase how much you’ve done.

10. What Does Happiness Mean to You?

Only about one-third of Americans consider themselves happy.

If you don’t think you’re as happy as you should be, think about what happiness means to you. You’ll find that it doesn’t have anything to do with money or success in a material sense.

By pinpointing what makes you happy, you can work towards the happiness you want to achieve.

Start Using These Journaling Prompts Today

The point of each and every one of these journaling prompts is to get you thinking about the things that differentiate you from the next person. Once you see what makes you special, you’ll feel a newfound self-confidence and be able to improve your self-esteem.

Check out our blog to read some self-esteem quotes that will make you smile.