There is something infinitely soothing about putting pen (or pencil) to paper, and writing down our innermost thoughts.

Sometimes we need to let loose and write the kind of rant we’d hate for anyone else to read, while other times we might just want to make a series of lists to help us find clarity on a situation.

Either way, the mental health benefits of journaling have been well documented by science. Back in 2013, a group of researchers studied the effects of expressive writing on major depressive disorder, and found those who were given the instruction to write had a steep decline in their depression scores at the end of the study. 

More recently, a 2017 study concluded that journaling could help reduce worrying, making it a brilliant way to help soothe anxiety.

Plus, millions of us turn to bullet journals as a way to boost our mental health and keep our minds organised; there are currently over 2.2million posts of the colourful writing tools on Instagram.

Tapping into this trend for journaling our way to inner peace, Katie Piper, who recently guest edited the stylist.co.uk website as part of our Kindfulness Project, has also released her own guided journal. 

Titled Confidence: The journal: your year of positive thinking, the book contains guided affirmations and prompts to help us regain confidence in ourselves through the art of writing. 

Keen to give it a go for yourself? Read on for an exclusive extract from the book…

You are: Likeable, Lovable, Intelligent, Capable, Possessed of many talents. Ask your friends what they think are the best things about you and list them.

Put on a brave face. You’ve got to fake it to make it and acting confidently can work wonders.

Aim for progress, not perfection.

Remember that wherever you are in life, you always have a choice. Nobody can take that away from you. You are the director of your own drama. Only you can decide which path to follow.

What piece of music do you associate with your happiest memories? Put together a playlist and listen to it whenever you need a positive boost.

Identify the strengths you have built up over the years. Remind yourself of all you have overcome and all you have learnt. This journey is a positive one.

Body language is a very powerful tool. Try standing tall and looking people directly in the eyes when you talk to them. You will appear calm and confident. With practice, this will become second nature.

Filter your self-image. We’re constantly filtering and editing our online personas – apply those same skills to your self-image. We all have a mental picture of ourselves and it determines how confident we are.

What’s stopping you? When you are facing some difficulty that seems insurmountable, write down a list of thoughts that are stopping you from dealing with it. They are likely to be something like this:

- This is too hard

- I’m bound to fail

- Maybe I should try to forget about it for now

- It’s too much for me

- What’s the point anyway?

Now write your own list and over the next few days, see if you can find an alternative thought for each one.

Confidence: The journal: your year of positive thinking by Katie Piper is available now

Images: Unsplash