Personal Experience with Self-Reflection and the Benefits of Journaling
FREE PRINTABLE SELF REFLECTION JOURNAL
Do you ever feel stuck in your head? Constantly over thinking and second guessing every decision you make? Criticizing yourself in the worst ways? I have been bullying myself for as long as I can remember. “You’re not doing enough.” “Why can’t you do anything right?” “When are you gonna change?” My mindset was clearly more “Negative Nancy” than “Positive Polly.” It has been wreaking havoc on me mentally and physically, purely EXHAUSTING. Not to mention the pressure I put on my husband to reassure me all the damn time. It needed to stop. Having such a critical conscience I barely had the energy to build myself up let alone the energy to support my little ones needs. Self bullying was causing too much tension in my household and it was time to leave “Negative Nancy” in the dust. That’s exactly why I created the Soulful Self Reflection Journal!
Self-reflection has improved my thought patterns, actually forcing me to stop mid-thought when I’m criticizing myself. Doing so helps me feel more in control of my emotions and decisions which leads to feeling even more confident in all things I do.
Practice makes progress. If you don’t continue to reflect on yourself you won’t make any changes. Changing my thought process hasn’t happened overnight and I still bully myself more often than I would care to admit, BUT I have made progress. Reviewing my decisions and actions at the end of the day has helped me identify my core values. Realizing I already know what matters most to me gives me the strength to say no to the things that just don’t benefit me in any way. One of the entries in Soulful Self Reflection asks “what are some negative things you have said to yourself today?” I have to use this one often because it really helps to rethink those things. I always ask myself “Would you say this to your sisters? Your daughters? Stop saying it to yourself.”
You know that feeling when you know exactly what you want to express but can’t figure out how to express it? Self-reflection can help you strengthen your emotional intelligence and give you control of your emotions. You’ll be more aware of what you are feeling and that will improve your communication skills; especially those conversations involving your emotions. Another entry in Soulful Self Reflection asks you to describe moments you wish to remember and then to reflect on how they made you feel and why you want to remember them. Forcing yourself to address your deepest thoughts will help you build up your personal strengths and identify your weaknesses. In turn, this will build up your self-confidence. You will know what values you stand behind and your emotions will be regulated. Soon you will start to stop and think about how your next move will affect the rest of your day. Even if you feel like you are pretty great at all of these things, anyone can benefit from self-reflection. You can always grow and build yourself up.
What is your favorite self-reflection prompt? Do you prefer another method besides journaling? I would love to hear about it! Comment below or tell us on Facebook! You can also find new journal entries on Facebook every Sunday under the tag #soulfulsunday and #soulfulselfreflection You may also like 4 Major Signs of Stress and 5 Ways to Manage It
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