How to do a Brain Dump to Boost Self Esteem (+ Brain Dump Worksheet examples)
I’ll be sharing self-esteem prompts so you can do a brain dump to boost your self esteem on bad days! Also, I’ve included a few brain dump worksheets which you can download for free.
Many of us have a cloudy idea of what a brain dump is. I’ll share how you can do a brain dump to boost self-esteem. And, I’ve included some brain dump worksheets which you can download and use today!
I can hear some of you thinking:
“Shikah, a brain dump is just writing all our thoughts on a piece of paper! No need to guide us on that.”
Brain dumping works wonders for some of us. But some of us have tried it once and found it not useful.
Why so?
There must be a reason why brain dumping works for some of us and why it doesn’t!
The meaning of a brain dump in simple words
Brain dumping is the act of ‘dumping’ our jumbled-up, tangled-up thoughts on a piece of paper.
Not in a Word document. Not in a journaling app. But on actual pieces of paper.
Writing on paper will activate more parts of our brains and engages more of our senses.
In other words, writing on paper makes brain dumping more effective in clearing out our minds.
If you need inspiration, you can check out how this YouTuber (Elyssa Nalani) does a brain dump to set life priorities:
I am an overthinker, so a brain dump is what I need on many days.
So far, I’ve felt clearer about my direction after every brain dump exercise I’ve done. I usually go from overwhelm to calm and assured in 10 minutes!
So how do we do a brain dump the right way?
Look, it’s crucial to brain dump the right way so that it works for us.
So below are guidelines on how to make brain dumping most effective:
Brain dump at the same place, same time if you want to make it an everyday habit to cut overwhelm and have a clear direction everyday.
Have a loose template on hand so we can start writing immediately
You can brain dump with a blank piece of paper too
Set aside 5-20 minutes for this exercise
Write fast! Don’t censor your words
Don’t worry if your handwriting is untidy!
Don’t judge what you wrote. Accept it as part of you for the day
If you feel calm, assured and have crystal clear clarity after brain dumping, you are doing it absolutely right!
How do we brain dump to boost self esteem?
If you are feeling low regarding your self-worth, I have brain dump prompts for you so you can start boosting your self esteem.
Self esteem prompts for a Brain Dump session
What I did right today/yesterday
One good thing I did today/yesterday
What made me feel hopeful yesterday
What will I do today to make myself feel ‘alive’?
What have I been procrastinating on? Why am I procrastinating on this?
What are 3 things I can do today to perk myself up?
Who/what made me smile today/yesterday?
What qualities do I have which I admire on other people?
You can couple this practice with my free self esteem worksheet - which you can download below - to give you an instant boost!
Your aim is to answer each prompt with as much detail as possible. Don’t just write one sentence and leave!
You can create your own Self Esteem Brain Dump worksheet with the prompts above to print and use everyday.
You can use Word for a simple + quick layout or Canva for a full-blown piece of digital worksheet art.
You can do this self-esteem brain dump on any day you need a self esteem boost.
If you want a brain dump worksheet to make you feel better when you are facing a problem, you can look at my 5-Step Problem Brain Dump worksheet here.
If you want more brain dump worksheets to download, you can check these bloggers out:
My last thoughts on doing a brain dump…
You don’t have to do a brain dump everyday. I personally only brain dump when I feel overwhelmed, anxious or when I am overthinking.
You don’t need a brain dump worksheet or a template although it’s helpful if you are a first timer.
You can just dump your jumbled up thoughts on a piece of paper, be real and only stop when your mind is clear and you feel calm.
If you need more inspiration to boost your self esteem, you can read my blog articles below:
(Free Printable) How to Overcome Self-Critical Thoughts and Feel More Confident
How to Finally Overcome ‘All or Nothing’ - a Perfectionism Mindset
Meanwhile, have a good week!
Shikah
(Free Printable) Self Esteem Worksheets for Kids to Give Them an Instant Confidence Boost!
A 3-page self esteem worksheet for kids! It helps to give them an instant boost of self esteem on bad days.
I have created a 3-page self esteem worksheet for kids so that they can get an instant boost of confidence!
We can’t control what happens in school. Our kids may be bullied by ‘friends’. Taunted by classmates behind their teachers’ backs. Called names by school mates.
The least we can do is to instill some confidence back into our kids when they are home with us!
How to use these self esteem worksheets for kids
There are 3 pages to this worksheet.
Page 1: My gifts & talents
Page 2: My Compliments
Page 3: Small Achievements I am proud Of
You can get your child to complete 1 page per day.
To make it a more fun activity, you can print a copy for yourself and do these worksheets with your children!
Teaching the Basics of Self Esteem to Girls
If you have daughters, you will find my 5-minute video ”Are You A Woman with Low or High Self-Esteem?” useful.
It is written for adult women. However, the characteristics of girls and women with low and high self-esteem are pretty similar.
Feel free to watch this video and share your takeaway points with your daughter(s).
What you will learn from this 5-minute self-esteem video:
Several characteristics of a girl or grown woman with low self-esteem
What are the real causes our low self-esteem?
Characteristics of a self-confident woman
A totally free + reliable test to find out your daughter’s self-esteem level
You can download a self-esteem test here if you are interested. This self-esteem test is created for adults, but you can guide your daughter in answering the questions!
All in all, I hope you find these self esteem worksheets helpful in raising your kids’ confidence!
Shikah
(Free Test) Do you have low or high self-esteem? | Be Pretty Confident Masterclass Video #1
Find out if you are a woman with low or high self-esteem. A self-esteem test is included too! This is Video #1 of my Be Pretty Confident Masterclass.
If you are attracted to this blog post, chances are, you may not have high self-esteem. Don’t be offended - this is nothing to be embarrassed about!
I’ve created the Be Pretty Confident Masterclass (free!) to help you boost your self-esteem and take the first step to achieving your goals.
In Video #1 below, I’ll help you identify if you are a woman with low or high self-esteem.
What you will learn from Video #1 of the Be Pretty Confident Masterclass:
Several characteristics of a woman with low self-esteem. Do you have them?
What are the real causes our low self-esteem?
Characteristics of a self-confident woman
A totally free + reliable test to find out your self-esteem level (download below)
Want a free and reliable test to check if you have low or high self-esteem? Head to this link for a reliable test.
All the best!
Shikah
(Free Printable) How to Overcome Self Critical thoughts and Feel More Confident
Overcome your self-critical thoughts with a worksheet I’ve created! We are not doing any ‘positive thinking’ here. We’ll be creating balanced, realistic thoughts to replace our self-critical thoughts. Check it out,
I’m sure we’ve heard of many positive thinking tactics.
Jumping from “I am a failure because I never finish the projects I created” to “I’m a successful person” is a big leap.
That’s why I prefer creating balanced, believable thoughts.
Your new thoughts have to be believable to yourself.
So today, we will learn how to create balanced, believable thoughts to overcome our self-critical thoughts over time.
This will require you to download my Thought Challenging Diary action sheet. You can get it below:
If you learn better with video, you can watch me teach you how to use this action sheet to improve your self-esteem below:
Let’s get started!
How do we create a new, balanced, feel-good thought to a replace self-critical thought?
We are not going to create ‘positive thoughts’ here.
We will be creating new thoughts which are balanced and realistic based on facts.
Why? Because our minds can accept balanced thoughts backed by evidence. When I mention balanced thoughts, I'm referring to thoughts backed by actual evidence.
That is why we are going to look for evidence against our negative thoughts in today's assignment.
Looking for evidence...
If one of your negative thoughts is "I am a failure and I give up easily", we are going to look for evidence in your life which proves this thought wrong.
Changing your unworthy thought from "I’m a failure" to "I’m a success!" is like jumping the Grand Canyon. Too far and too unrealistic at this point of time.
So we’ll go one step at a time to create a new balanced thought (backed by evidence) to replace the older, faulty, negative thought we used to have.
How?
If you have read this blog post about me teaching other coaches how to do this, the 2 steps below will seem familiar
Ask yourself these 4 questions to overcome self-critical thoughts the simple way
"How will my friend (insert your best friend’s name) view this situation?"
"If I’m in a good mood and feeling happy, how will I view this situation?"
"Is there any other perspective to view this situation?"
"What advice will I give my friend Karen if she has this same unhelpful thought?"
Complete the Thought Challenging Diary to overcome self-critical thoughts in-depth
We will be challenging AND supporting our self-critical thoughts with evidence.
You may ask: Why do we look for evidence to support our self-criticism? Isn’t that ironic?
Coming face to face with our ‘bad’ habits and “weaknesses” will bring awareness. And make sure we improve on them.
Let’s say my most distressing thought is:
"I’m a failure - I give up easily and not had success with many activities I start. This project is going to be the same."
I will look for evidence against this belief AND supporting this belief.
To make it easier, I will just upload my completed action sheet below:
Again, if you want a tutorial on this, you can watch the Youtube video I uploaded above.
What should I feel after this self-critical thoughts action sheet?
You should feel good about yourself after completing this exercise. More assured. More confident. More comfortable in your own skin.
This action sheet may take 10 minutes for some of us, or it may take longer. It is good to be intentional and honest when completing this!
I still struggle with poor self-esteem and negative thoughts. What should I do?
You may find this article I wrote on all-or-nothing thinking helpful.
If you want to take one step further, my self-esteem workbook with 21 practical exercises will improve your self-esteem drastically.
Any suggestions or questions for me? Shoot me an email at shikah@shikahanuar.com!
Meanwhile, have a good week.
Shikah
(Free Coaching Tool) How to Teach Your Coaching Clients to Smash Their Self-Critical Thoughts Once and For All
Teach your clients to overcome self-critical thoughts and be confident to chase their goals. Free coaching tool included - you can use it in your coaching sessions or even as a lead magnet on your website.
I will be sharing a 2-step method and a free coaching tool to teach your clients how to overcome their self-critical thoughts. This helps them feel more assured and confident of themselves.
I created a Thought Challenging Diary action sheet which you can download and use with your clients.
It’s unbranded so you can use it
with your coaching clients
as a lead magnet to get subscribers
in your coaching workshops
during prospect meetings or discovery calls
Teaching someone to overcome self-critical thoughts is not easy. It takes months and even years for someone to change deep-rooted thoughts.
We can bring awareness to their self-critical nature. Awareness is always the start of healing.
Coaches can’t save everyone as much as we want to. We do the best that we can and even if the client improves just 10%, we can celebrate.
It is difficult for anyone to change even a small habit. So any positive change is a victory.
Coaching is a long-term process. I’ve worked as a counsellor and I have heard of ‘bosses’ who wanted counsellors to change someone’s behaviour in 6 counselling sessions.
Anyway, I digress.
Let’s get started with how you can teach your clients to balance some of their self-critical thoughts.
If you want to download my coaching tool, the Thought Challenging Diary, feel free to do so below. You are free to use it with your clients, in coaching workshops or even as a lead magnet!
How do we teach someone to overcome their self-critical thoughts?
Step 1: Get your clients to answer these 4 questions.
"How will my friend (insert best friend’s name) view this situation?"
"If I’m in a good mood and feeling happy, how will I view this situation?"
"Is there any other perspective to view this situation?"
"What advice will I give my friend Karen if she has this same unhelpful thought?"
Give them time to think through the questions. We want in-depth answers. At least 5 long sentences.
Step 2: Get your clients to complete the Thought Challenging Diary Action Sheet
This is where we will challenge their self-critical thoughts with evidence and facts.
There is a certain kind of freedom and joy that comes with it.
This is how we do it:
Let’s say your client’s most distressing thought is:
"I’m a failure - I give up easily and not had success with many activities I start. This project is going to be the same."
We will find evidence supporting that thought and evidence challenging that thought.
You can see how I completed the Thought Challenging Diary coaching tool below:
It's now their turn to complete the Thought Challenging Diary with their self-critical thoughts. They will feel more in control of their thoughts and their lives after this exercise.
You can allocate one sheet for each self-critical thought your client has.
You can download the Thought Challenging Diary tool below:
And…if you want to save time as a coach, coach clients with counsellor-approved tools or even earn more income on the side, you will be interested in my done-for-you 22 Self-Esteem Worksheets Bundle.
You can add your own logo.
Use your branding colours.
Resell in your online shop.
Add your personal touch. Save time so you can focus on coaching and not spend time researching to create good quality materials.
Use the worksheets with your online coaching clients, in coaching workshops or even sell the worksheets individually on your website (for real).
It’s a good deal for now because I just launched this Self-Esteem Worksheets Bundle.
If you have questions, you can email me at shikah@shikahanuar.com :)
Meanwhile, have a good week.
More free coaching tools for you…
How to use a Self-love Coaching Tool & Help Clients Feel Confident of Achieving Their Goals
47 Coaching Questions to Ask Your Clients When You Feel Stuck
Shikah
