A Self-Esteem Journal As a Tool For Tackling Low Esteem and Increasing Confidence

A Self-Esteem Journal As a Tool For Tackling Low Esteem and Increasing Confidence
As a writer and editor for a self-improvement online store, I come across all kinds of interesting methods for improving personal happiness and tackling low esteem. Some are a little kooky and out-there and some, like the self-esteem journal, are pure common sense and undeniably effective.
The philosopher and spiritual writer, James Allen, believed that an individual's personal circumstances were fully within his or her control, because those circumstances, far from being the result of external factors acting upon the individual, were actually created by that individual's own thoughts.
Thoughts, Allen tells us in his timeless classic (and highly recommended) 'As a Man Thinketh' crystallise into habits, and those habits solidify into circumstances. If we can capture our thoughts, observe them, then change them, we can alter our circumstances very much for the better. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of low esteem, a condition that has its roots firmly embedded in the thoughts of the sufferer.
This is where the self-esteem journal comes into play. Some recommend that the self-esteem journal be used for capturing and exploring those moments when the sufferer of low esteem feels at a low-ebb. While there are undeniable benefits to this, there is a danger that one is simply looking at the impact of low esteem and not at the root causes, focussing on the smoke and ignoring the fire. Instead, I would recommend using the journal before any obvious low esteem related incidents occur. Simply capture your thoughts as they emerge whenever you have the chance. Write them down in your self-esteem journal. And remember, you're not interrogating yourself, you're observing yourself. In other words, don't ask yourself 'What am I thinking?', instead, write down what you've just thought.
At the end of each day, go through all the thoughts you've jotted down in your self-esteem journal. Highlight the negative ones. You're not necessarily looking for the cause of your low esteem; you're just interested in capturing harmful thoughts. In a relatively short time, you will become very familiar with your negative thoughts and you will be able to recognise them as they emerge. You can then stop them in their tracks and choose to think something else, something more positive which won't feed your low esteem's appetite for negativity.
For example, if shortly after waking, your first nebulous thought is something along the lines of 'Oh God, another day, another dollar', block it and instead think, 'I wonder if something wonderful will happen to me today'. In your self-esteem journal, write down next to each negative thought, a corresponding positive thought. Practice, until it becomes second nature to replace one thought with another.
Of course, things are rarely as simple as that, and everyone is different. But there is something undeniably persuasive about capturing your thoughts as they emerge, writing them down in your self-esteem journal, making sense of them and then, most importantly of all, choosing to do something about them, taking control of the very seeds that can either erupt as the choking weeds of low esteem or bloom as beautiful flowers of positivity and possibility.
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A Self-Esteem Journal As a Tool For Tackling Low Esteem and Increasing Confidence

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A Self-Esteem Journal As a Tool For Tackling Low Esteem and Increasing Confidence