From Small Wins to Lasting Confidence: The Power of a Daily Journal

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Confidence isn’t something you earn at the finish line; it’s something you remember you already have—and one line a day can bring it back into view. We’re celebrating the launch of our Confidence Journals and diving into the simple, science-backed practice that helped us shift from waiting to feel “ready” to building real self-belief in the middle of real life.

We break down why small wins matter more than highlight reels, how expressive writing reduces self-doubt and boosts emotional clarity, and what the reticular activating system (RAS) has to do with noticing more moments of courage. You’ll hear exactly how a 60-second nightly prompt—“Today I felt confident when…”—trains your attention to look for strength, even on hard days. We talk about the hidden power of handwriting for memory and emotion, plus practical ways to keep the habit flexible so it fits into busy seasons without guilt.

Motherhood gets honest space here: shifting identity, changing bodies, and the tug-of-war between caring for others and remembering yourself. We share a personal move from people-pleasing to quiet self-trust, and how capturing tiny acts of courage—setting a boundary, speaking up, choosing rest—creates a paper trail of growth. If you’re craving a grounded, sustainable way to grow confidence without perfection or pressure, this is your roadmap.

Want to try the rainbow collection journals? Grab yours at confidentexpression.com and use promo code podcast for 10% off. If this helped, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and tell us your first entry: “Today I felt confident when…”

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Episode Transcript

Ciera (00:03):
You're listening to Confidently Beautiful with
Ciera, a podcast to help youstay confidently beautiful
because we all have confidenceinside us.
We just need to bring it out,and I'm here to show you how.
Body image, dreams, parentingstyle, personality, and more.
Here we cover it all.
Get ready to stay confidentlybeautiful.
Welcome back to anotherepisode.

(00:27):
This is a bonus episode becausetoday that this podcast is
airing is a very special day.
Today is the day that myconfidence journals have
officially launched.
So I am so excited to sharethese with you and get them in
your hands because I know for methey have made a huge shift in
my confidence and helped meimprove the way I see myself and
helped me to see patterns in mylife.

(00:49):
If you want to hear a littlebit more of exactly how the
confidence journals have helpedme, go back to episode 83.
This is going to be part two ofthat episode where we're going
to go back a little bit deeperinto how journaling can really
benefit our confidence and ourmindset.
I used to think that I wouldfeel more confident when I had

(01:10):
the right makeup, when I dressedthe way that all the other
people that I thought werereally confident dressed, when I
was achieving all these reallybig goals, then I thought I
would feel confident.
But what I have learned is thatconfidence is something that we
already all have inside us.
When I had my kids and Iwatched them grow and I watched

(01:32):
them try new things, I could seethat they already had all of
that confidence inside us.
They already had all of thatconfidence inside them.
So we all have confidenceinside us.
We are born with confidence.
We just need to train ourbrains to see the confidence and
to recognize it.
So journaling has become thetool that has helped me to do

(01:53):
that in my life.
I am not perfect at it.
There are still a lot of areaswhere I have confidence lows,
but I can see the patterns.
I can see the areas in my lifewhere I am succeeding and where
I can feel confident.
Sometimes those areas I canfeel really confident one time,
but then maybe a month later I'mnot feeling confident in that

(02:14):
area anymore.
But journaling helps me to beable to train my brain to see
the times when I am feelingconfident and to feel good about
those times and let myconfidence grow.
I created these journals as away for women, especially moms
like me, to have a daily spaceto notice their confidence just
one line a day.
So it's just today I feltconfident when, and then to say

(02:36):
what they felt confident for.
If it's just that one sentence,then that is going to have
progress.
But if you want to fill out thewhole page, then that can also
be very powerful.
And those entries that you doare going to lead to more
confidence and to you feelingbetter about yourself.
There's a big myth, like thoughI said that I believed, that

(02:57):
most of us think that confidencecomes after we achieve
something or when we feel readyto have it.
But this reframe of confidenceactually grows from noticing our
small wins, our consistentefforts, and the moments of our
self-trust.
That is when confidence trulycomes.
It's not the after, it's notthe final result.

(03:19):
It is the process throughoutlife.
You can be confident.
Confidence isn't something youearn, it's something that you
remember, something that youremember that you already have
inside you.
You just need to bring it out.
Journaling helps you to seeevidence of your strength every
day.
As you reflect on your day, youcan see actual moments where

(03:41):
you had a confident, shiningmoment.
A 2023 study from theUniversity of Texas found that
expressive writing can reduceself-doubt and improve emotional
clarity, both of which are keyparts of confidence.
So self-doubt, emotionalclarity, those are going to be
big parts of confidence.
So if you can reduce yourself-doubt and improve your

(04:02):
emotional clarity throughwriting, through journaling,
this is going to lead to moreconfidence.
Okay, we're gonna get a littlenerdy and we're gonna talk a
little science right now.
So reticular activating system,the RAS.
This is the part of your brainthat filters what you focus on.
So when you are writing dailyabout confidence, you are

(04:23):
actually training your brain tolook for more moments of
confidence through the day.
It's like the Mel Robbinsthing.
She talks about finding hearts.
And the more she's looking forhearts, the more she sees them.
She sees them in rocks, shesees them in clouds, she sees
hearts everywhere because she istraining her brain to look for
hearts.
When you're buying a car, allof a sudden you're seeing that

(04:46):
type of car that you're lookingat everywhere, right?
They were always there.
You just weren't noticing thembecause you weren't training
your brain to see it.
So when you are taking time towrite down daily confidence
moments, it's going to be hardat first.
It was hard for me at firstbecause I couldn't find those
moments.
I was having a hard time.
I was like, nope, not confidentin any area.

(05:07):
But the more and more I startto write, and the more and more
I notice and reflect on mymoments in my day, the more I
notice them because I amtraining my brain to look for
those moments of confidencethroughout the day.
It's like setting your mentalGPS for self-belief.
It's just going to get to thepoint where you can be on
autopilot and you can just becruising along and noticing

(05:31):
those moments where you feelconfident without even having to
think about it.
This is like the same thingthat you hear about like
gratitude journals.
So journaling what you'regrateful for increases your
optimism and well-being.
Confidence journaling works thesame way, it trains optimism
around yourself.
What I talked about in episode83 was the handwriting study.

(05:54):
So I for a while was just doingmy journaling in my notes app
in my phone, which was, I think,a great way to start.
But there are so many studiesabout handwriting.
Pen to paper activates moreemotional and memory centers in
your brain.
So it's going to help you toactually feel what you are
writing and to retain theinformation.

(06:16):
It's going to, it just firesmore pathways in your brain by
actually doing pen to paper.
And so it's going to make youremember it and to feel and
believe it a lot faster than ifyou were just typing in a
keyboard on your phone.
That being said, if you're justgoing to be like, nope, I can't
take the time to write on penand paper, then do the keyboard

(06:36):
in your phone.
Do the notes app in your phone.
Whatever it is, just dosomething.
Because something is going tobe better than nothing, than not
doing any journaling.
But if you can, that pen topaper, there is just so much
research that that is the way todo it.
This doesn't have to take along time.
This can take 60 seconds at theend of your day.

(06:58):
Today I felt confident whenjust finish that sentence and
then you can be done.
If you're feeling like you wantto keep writing and you want to
write more, then can continuewriting more.
But even just that one sentencethat will take less than a
minute is going to have a hugeimpact and change everything.
So some examples.
Today I felt confident when Ihandled my kids meltdown calmly.

(07:21):
Today I felt confident when Ishowed up for my workout, even
though I didn't feel like it.
Today I felt confident when Ispoke kindly to myself after a
mistake.
What happens over time is youare going to have proof in those
pages of who you are becoming,who you are.
And you are going to see that.
Or I am actually reallyconfident in my cooking skills.

(07:53):
Like I did all of those thingsthat I felt like I wasn't doing
a good job.
But I'm look at that.
Like I'm doing a and it couldbe so it could be something so,
so small like that.
So something small like cookingor a hobby, or it could be
something really big like youare a really true friend.
You are loyal.
You are an incredible mom andvery involved with your kids.

(08:16):
Over time, those pages will bethe proof that you are the
person that you want to be.
It's okay if you don't feelconfident every single day.
I know I sure don't.
I there are some days that I amsitting there trying to think
of, I don't know if I feltconfident today.
But what is really important isabout noticing even the

(08:38):
smallest spark of self-belief.
So some days your confidencemight look like I got out of bed
this morning.
That still counts because weare going to have those days.
Sometimes that's just how itis, and that is okay.
And I think that journaling isa good way to remind yourself
that it can be the small momentsor it can be the big ones, but

(08:58):
it doesn't always have to be thebig ones.
It's not always about theresult, right?
It's not always about theending to feel confident, it's
about the journey and believingin yourself along the way and
finding that proof that can helpyou see patterns and proof that
you are who you want to be.
You know, I talk a lot tomothers in this podcast.

(09:19):
Motherhood is a huge part of mylife, obviously.
It's one of the most importantthings to me.
And I think motherhood is oneway that can really shake your
sense of confidence.
It can really change the wayyou see your body, it can change
the way you see your identity,it can change the way you see

(09:39):
your time, your worth.
It changes so much about howyou view your confidence.
So journaling really, reallyhelps to rebuild that confidence
piece by piece.
We're quick to writing down ourto-do list, but what if we
started writing down our proudlists instead?
What if we started writing downthe moments that we feel proud,
the moments we feel confident,the moments we succeeded, the

(10:02):
moments where we noticed that wewere doing something good
rather than just writing anotherthing that we need to get done.
So I will share a personalstory of how I have seen my
confidence shift during thishabit.
I have always been a I wantpeople to like me kind of
person.
I have always wanted to pleasepeople.
I've wanted to do things thatwill make people happy or be the

(10:24):
peacemaker who's like, it'sokay, let's just do it that way.
And I just want everyone to bejust be happy with the
situation, but especially happywith me.
As I have journaled, one of thepersonal stories of my
confidence shift is I havenoticed how I can feel more
confident in saying what Iactually want to say or what I

(10:45):
actually believe rather thanjust being the people pleaser or
the one who is just trying tokeep the peace or just try and
make someone like me or whateverit was that I was doing before.
I have been able to see where Ihave been able to stand up for
myself.
I've been able to say actuallywhat I think.
I have actually been able toform some opinions because

(11:06):
sometimes I was just being sucha people pleaser that I wasn't
even like, I didn't evenactually really know what I
thought about that thing.
I didn't really know what Iwanted in that situation.
I was just going with the flow.
And that was eventually leadingme to not feeling confident in
knowing who I am as a person.
So as I've been taking thesemoments to write down my

(11:27):
confidence, I have felt thatconfidence shift.
This is something that I amstill continually working on
because I just deeply in me,like I was just, I think I was
just born with wanting people tolike me.
But I think, you know, I thinkthat's a normal thing.
I think a lot of people wantpeople to like them, but I think
writing it down and pushingmyself to do things like this

(11:48):
podcast or like other thingsthat are scary to me has helped
me to see the confidence shiftand feel the confidence shift
where I can know that I am aperson who can have my own
beliefs, and it is okay ifsomebody doesn't agree.
It's okay if I'm not everyone'sfavorite person, and I will
find people who are like-mindedlike me, and I can let that

(12:11):
confidence part in me continueto grow.
So that is just one littlestory of how these confidence
journals have really helped meand how writing and journaling
has been beneficial for me andmy confidence.
I encourage you to start yourown confidence journaling habit,
even if it's not in an officialjournal, even if it's just in
an old notebook, even if youfind a scrap of paper at the end

(12:32):
of the day and you want towrite something down, if it's
just a sticky note, or if it'sjust in your phone, start that
practice of writing down amoment where you felt confident.
If you do want to try one of myrainbow collection confidence
journals, they are availablenow.
They are very cute.
They are bright, they arehappy.
It is exactly what it says.
They are a rainbow collection.

(12:54):
So there are seven colors withvery fun, cute, happy designs.
And they have blank pagesinside with just lined pages.
But at the top of each page, itsays today, I felt confident
when.
So it's 365 days worth.
But if you miss a day, it's nota big deal because you're just

(13:15):
writing in the date.
They're not predated, so you'rejust going to write in the
date.
And if if it takes you threeyears to fill 365 entries,
that's fine.
That's fine.
That is still three years thatyou were noticing moments in
your life where you hadconfident moments.
So if you want to check thoseout, I will include a link in
the show notes, but they areavailable at
confidentexpression.com and makesure that you use promo code

(13:40):
podcast and you will get 10% offyour entire order.
Confidence isn't something thatjust shows up one day.
It's something you build oneline at a time.
Tag me, share your journalingmoments on Instagram.
I want to cheer you on as youare finding your confidence
moments.
So be sure to use hashtagconfidently beautiful moments or
tag me on Instagram atconfidently beautifulpodcast.

(14:04):
And I can't wait to see yourjournaling practices and have
you feel the journaling and thebenefits of writing down your
confidence wins.
Stay confidently beautiful.
Thanks for listening.
Connect with me on Instagram atconfidently beautifulpodcast
and share this episode withsomeone in your life who could
use a little reminder of justhow amazing they already are.

(14:26):
Stay confidently beautiful.