Confidence Journal Prompts & Self-Esteem Building Journal Prompts — Everyone struggles with confidence from time to time, but problems with low self-esteem can be especially harmful to kids and teens who lack the perspective and experience to see past their struggles.
Low self-esteem isn’t just painful and isolating—it can also have dramatic consequences on a person’s life by affecting things like academic performance, relationships with friends and family, and vulnerability to substance abuse.
Additionally, people with low self-esteem tend to have much higher rates of depression and anxiety and may struggle to find happiness in everyday life.
Students, in particular, may be especially susceptible to problems with confidence and low self-esteem. Kids today face an inordinate amount of stresses and pressure that can make it incredibly challenging for them to retain a positive outlook on life.
That’s why it’s so important to help your students recognize all the wonderful qualities they have that make them special, unique individuals. There are a number of ways to encourage your students to see the best in themselves, but today, we’d like to focus on how journaling can be a major confidence-booster for kids of all ages.
Self Esteem & Confidence Building Journaling
Let’s examine two ways that journaling can raise a student’s self-esteem.
1. Journaling Shows Kids Their Ideas are Valuable
First and foremost, journaling is an effective way to help kids internalize the idea that their thoughts and words have inherent value.
In classrooms where a few students excel or in families where one child shines over the other, it can be tough for the other kids to feel equal and deserving of positive attention.
However, journaling acts as an equalizer in these situations by granting each student the space to freely explore his or her own ideas—and by showing all students that their thoughts are worth writing down and sharing.
This may seem like a small thing initially—but to a child who is struggling to feel heard, it makes a huge difference.
2. Students Have the Chance to Reflect Positively on Themselves
Similarly, journaling also gives students the chance to take a closer look at their own lives and see all the positivity that exists there. It’s easy for anyone who’s struggling to get caught up in dwelling on life’s negatives—but journaling gives kids the chance to stop and think about all the good things that are going on in their lives, too.
When kids stop and take time to consider the great things they’re doing and the positive qualities they have, they’ll be able to gain new perspectives on who they are and how they should feel about themselves.
By asking students to reflect on their experiences, you’ll give them the opportunity to recognize their very best qualities—and to feel more confident about all of the good things they have done. Doing so has the added benefit of increasing their self-awareness.
To truly maximize the impact journaling can have on your students, use these all-new confidence and self-esteem writing prompts that are designed especially to help kids feel better about themselves. As they reflect on their talents, hard work, and top achievements, your students will begin to see all the wonderful things they’ve done—and hopefully, they will also become more confident in how amazing they truly are.
40 Confidence Journal Prompts
- What does confidence feel like? Compare the feeling to something else, using as much detail as possible.
- Write about a time when you felt really confident. What happened to make you feel that way?
- Who is the most confident person you know? What do you think makes him or her so confident?
- Do you find it difficult to be confident? Why or why not?
- How do other people affect your confidence in yourself? Do you think this is healthy? Why or why not?
- What does it mean to have good self-esteem? Do you have it? Why or why not?
- What are some good ways a person could improve his or her self-esteem? Do you think these strategies would be effective? Why or why not?
- How do positive and negative self-talk affect a person’s self-esteem?
- Why is it important to have good self-esteem?
- What would you do if you noticed one of your friends had low self-esteem? How could you help him or her?
- What is your favorite thing about your personality? Why do you love that quality?
- What is your favorite thing about your physical appearance?
- What is the most selfless thing you’ve ever done for someone else? Why did you do it?
- How would your friends describe you? Be as generous as possible!
- How would your parents describe you? Use as many positive adjectives as you can.
- Write about a time when you did really well in school. Did you receive any recognition for your achievement?
- Write about a time when you made a sacrifice for someone else.
- What is your greatest talent? Where did you learn it from?
- What is a skill that you mastered with a lot of hard work? Describe your experience and how you felt when your work paid off.
- What are you most proud of?
- Write about a hobby or activity that you are really good at.
- If someone was just meeting you for the first time, why should they want to be your friend?
- Write about a time when someone was impressed with something you could do. How did that make you feel?
- What makes you unique? Describe a few things that set you apart as an individual.
- What are some of the qualities that make you a good daughter or son? Explain with as much detail as possible.
- Write about a time when you surprised your parents by already knowing how to do something they wanted to teach you. What happened?
- Write about something that made you feel good this week.
- Write about a time when you made a mistake—but managed to learn an important lesson from it regardless.
- Write about a time when you set a goal and achieved it.
- What is your personal superpower? Describe it in detail.
- Write about a time when you said or did something really funny that made others smile.
- Make a list of things you love about yourself. Include as many items as possible!
- Write yourself a letter of gratitude that explains just how wonderful you really are.
- What is the most interesting thing about you?
- Make a list of your top 10 achievements. Then, choose one to write about in detail.
- Write about something that you have in common with a person you admire.
- What was the highlight of your week? Describe it in as much detail as possible.
- Write about a goal you have and describe your plan for achieving it.
- What is something that you do better than anyone else?
- If someone gave you an award, which attribute of yours do you think they might choose to recognize? Why?
Here are 52 MORE Self Esteem journal prompt ideas!
10 things to boost your self-esteem
- Accept yourself. …
- Self-Appreciation. …
- Refrain from Comparing. …
- Don’t Put Yourself Down. …
- Befriend Positive People. …
- Remind Yourself of the Positive Things about You. …
- Use tools. …
- Engage in Fun Activities
- Hangout with Friends
- Seek Help
The following content first appeared on my blog in 2010
Building Confidence and Self Esteem in Kids
4 Journal Keeping Tips for Parents and Teachers— Promoting confidence and self esteem in your child is one of the most important things you can do for his or her happiness and success. Children with higher levels of confidence and self esteem are more likely to be satisfied with their abilities and to value themselves.
While there are plenty of ways to promote high self-esteem and confidence in your child, journaling is an effective strategy that will serve your child throughout the rest of his or her life.
Check out the following four reasons that journaling can raise your child’s self esteem.
1. Journaling Encourages Reflection
Children have strong feelings and emotions about the events that take place in their lives, but they don’t always stop to reflect on them. Journaling gives kids a safe place to explore their ideas and experiences.
When students journal, they are encouraged to reflect on things that have happened to them and how those events made them feel. They can also develop new ideas and come to understand the reasoning behind their opinions. This process gives children greater confidence and promotes high self-esteem, as kids begin to feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings.
2. Journal Keeping Gives Your Child Confidence
In addition to exploring their ideas and feelings, journaling also gives children the chance to reflect on their own abilities. Journal prompts that are specifically designed to help kids identify and understand their strengths are a great way to promote confidence and self esteem in your child.
Though it is important to help your child understand where he or she can improve and learn more, it’s just as essential to help your child see his or her talents. Children who are aware of their good qualities have greater confidence that can transpire across all areas of their lives.
3. Journaling Provides Stability
Journaling provides kids with a regular practice and a feeling of stability. When children journal regularly, they become accustomed to the pattern and to the outlet that writing can provide.
By itself, keeping a regular journal and maintaining the commitment to write regularly throughout the week can be a major confidence-boosting accomplishment for your child. Best of all, when your child keeps the commitment, he or she will be exposed regularly to the benefits of journaling. Through regular reflection and the processing of feelings and emotions, your child will develop greater certainty in his or her feelings.
4. Journal Keeping Promotes Creativity & Creative Expression
Finally, journaling promotes a strong sense of creativity that is difficult to find in some other types of activities. Journal prompts and the process of creative writing give your child a safe space to explore boundaries and to come up with new ideas. Imaginations run wild on the page, and through regular journaling, your child will develop a sense of deep comfort with creative expression.
When children feel comfortable expressing their ideas and coming up with new solutions, they experience higher confidence and greater self esteem. Through journaling, you can help your child see how special his or her thoughts really are.
If you enjoyed this Confidence and Self-Esteem information and the Self Esteem Journal Prompts
Until next time, journal on…
Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator
