10 Journal Prompts to Overcome Anxiety and to Help You Feel Good Enough
Our thoughts are what drive our feelings, and anxiety is just a feeling. So, when we want to change an emotion like anxiety, we start by tracing back to the thoughts that created the anxiety in the first place. Once we gain awareness of exactly what we are thinking, we can then get about the work of rewiring a new thought into our minds as a substitute.
As you learn to think thoughts on purpose, you can learn to choose thoughts that benefit you emotionally, reducing anxiety and increasing confidence, for example. And it all happens through the process of journaling.
The more you practice this, the better you will get at doing it.
Here are some journaling prompts to get you going:
- When anxiety speaks loudly in my brain, it makes me feel....
- My most recent anxious thought was ...... . Now that I look at the thought, if I look at it through a neural lens, as if I were a friend to myself, what would I say back to the thought?
- The anxious thoughts that flood my body are typically in relation to........ Now that I have recognized the category, I have more awareness to reframe my thoughts. The next time I have these anxious thoughts I will remind myself that they are just thoughts, and thoughts pass, and I will write out this encouraging phrase to myself to help me find my place of peace.......
- When anxiety presses in on me, I will choose to walk in peace by focusing on ___________, thinking about ______________ and being grateful for _______________.
- What are the things about myself that people most often compliment?
- How would I feel differently about my life today if I decided that I was enough, today as God created me to be?
- Can I accept that I am worthy of love and good things, as I am today, and also, at the same time, be growing into the next, most alive version of myself?
- What does the future me that I want to become look like and live like? What are some of the things about who I am today that are necessary for the growth of who I want to become?
- Feeling enough starts with believing that you are doing enough. I give myself permission to accept that I am doing enough today because my job today is to show up fully and be brave. This is how I will be brave today:
- Playing small and shrinking back only perpetuates the feeling of "not enoughness." Today, this is how I will show up and take up space with confidence in the world.
Remember, there is not a right or wrong way to journal. The only requirement of journaling is that you show up and write. The more consistent you are with your practice of journaling, the more breakthrough you will get.
Journaling daily or consistently doesn't have to require a lot of time. You can experience significant transformation from journaling even just 3-5 minutes per day. Explore different styles of journaling and find which one works best for you. See some of my others posts on journaling recommended below for some ideas on other journaling styles to try out for yourself.
When you journal with consistency you open your brain up to clarity in your thinking. Clarity in your thinking gives you the capacity to be confident, courageous and to go take action on what matters to you in life. In short, journaling gives you clarity that is impossible to get any other way.
Be sure to remove judgment from the process and let the pages of your journal become your new thought management system. (Meaning, don't judge your thoughts as you write them down, just get curious about them and let them flow so they get out of your brain and onto paper.)
Be patient with yourself and allow curiosity and openness to lead your journaling practice. I am confident that you will be amazed at how God speaks to you through this spiritual discipline and in the slowness of this practice.
If you're ready to take your journaling seriously, I would love to help. Click here to enroll in my 30-Day Confidence Journal Program. In just 30-days of working with my self-paced program, you'll get everything you need to create a powerful and effective journaling practice that you can actually stick to and keep doing in your life.
Click here to start the 30-Day Confidence Journal Program.
Good luck as you embark – or continue – on your journaling journey!
I'm confident it will surprise you with blessing, clarity, and peace in ways you never anticipated.
Other Posts on Journaling You Might Also Like:
Journaling for self improvement
How to Journal Daily When You Don't Have Time
How to Beat Anxiety Naturally-in Just a Few Minutes Per Day!
Weekly Journaling Prompts, delivered to Patreon Supporters of The Confidence Podcast
