The first step toward building self-respect is self-awareness. Awareness around behaviors you have to stop tolerating, patterns that need to end, and boundaries you want to set. And what better way to develop self-awareness than going inward? With today’s journal prompts for self-respect, that’s exactly where we’re heading.
You don’t need to ask your friends for advice, hoping they’ll give you clarity on what to change. No one knows you better than yourself because no one has ever even stepped foot into your life. You were there from the beginning. That’s why you can never get it wrong.
For today, pick as many journal prompts as you have the capacity to explore. It can be one, ten, or this entire list. This is not an exam, and no one is timing you. Go where the question leads you. If you’ve spent your entire life people-pleasing and letting people walk all over you, reflecting on these journal prompts will feel uncomfortable at first. That’s the whole point. Leave what’s familiar (seeking approval, being nice and accommodating to everyone but yourself) so you can build a life centered on respecting yourself first. No matter what other people think.
Notice what emotions come up, what stories come to mind, and what parts of you get activated. Move toward what feels liberating and away from what wants to keep you small. Make your own truth louder than outside expectations.
Let’s dive in.
22 Journal Prompts for Self-Respect
“You get to have completely different standards than you did your entire life. It’s never too late to start treating yourself with the respect you desire from others.”
― Ivana Skoric, She’s Intense
1. Which behaviors from others am I done tolerating, even if it means losing people?
2. What boundary have I been afraid to set, and what would change if I set it today?
3. Where have I been giving unlimited access to people who don’t deserve it?
4. When do I silence myself to keep the peace? What does that silence cost me?
5. What would I do differently if I stopped seeking approval from others?
6. What parts of myself have I abandoned to be accepted? What if I were ready to reclaim them?
7. When was the last time I ignored my intuition to be liked by others? What was the outcome?
Read next:
3 Habits That Are Costing You Your Self-Respect
How to Know If Your Standards Are Too Low
8. What does self-respect look like in the smallest, everyday choices?
9. Whose opinion have I been putting on a pedestal? What if I stopped basing my decisions on their opinion?
10. Where have I accepted the bare minimum, hoping it would turn into the respect I desire?
11. Whose validation am I chasing, and what would change if I validated myself first?
12. How have I been over-giving to prove my worth? What am I afraid will happen if I stop?
13. What relationship dynamic drains me the most? What would change if I stopped allowing it?
14. What higher standard am I ready to set, even if it feels uncomfortable?
Read next:
What Happens When You Raise Your Standards
9 Ways to Hold Yourself to a High Standard
15. What decision have I been postponing because it demands courage and standing up for myself?
16. What does being the leader of my own life mean to me?
17. Who would I become if I stopped negotiating with my potential?
18. What belief about myself feels outdated, and what belief feels more aligned with who I’m becoming?
19. What parts of me feel “too much”? Why am I still trying to dim them?
20. What would my life look like if I expressed my desires without apologizing, justifying, and defending them?
21. What do I truly want (not what I think I should want)?
22. What is one bold, self-respecting action I can take in the next 24 hours?
If you want to build self-respect deeper than today’s journal prompts, read my book She’s Intense. She’s Intense is for you if you’re realizing how detrimental it is to live your life as a designated nice and accommodating one in every situation. It guides you toward personal autonomy and self-respect that honors who you are and what you want, rather than living your life as if your desires don’t matter. Get She’s Intense on Amazon.
Until the next time,
Ivana
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