How to Improve Self-Esteem?

How to Improve Self-Esteem?

In simple terms, self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves. We all go through our ups and downs when it comes to believing in ourselves. In the long-term, the downs happen more often and this needs to change. It can create more problems and nobody wants to be in depression or have amplified anxiety.

Understanding it

Many believe that self-esteem is the inner voice that’s telling you all your negative thoughts. Self-esteem is how we value ourselves and the perception of what we can and cannot do. It’s not rare that somebody who is great at something can have low self-esteem. On the opposite side, somebody who struggles with different tasks can have high self-esteem. People with high self-esteem have a more positive mindset about themselves. This gives them more advantage with an ability to adapt to life’s greatest challenges.

Why does low self-esteem happen?

There isn’t just one reason here. Still, most of the time it starts in childhood. It can also appear from adult experiences like difficult relationships or other bad experiences we’ve faced. It’s good news that we have the power to make a change. There are different steps that we can do to improve our self-esteem and here are some of the strategies that can be applied.

1. Find positive things about yourself

Take notes of positive things about yourself. There is something positive about everyone and that includes you. All you need to do is think back and remember the good things about yourself. A positive inner voice is very important if we want to improve our self-esteem.

If you hear yourself saying “I’m not good enough” or “I’m letting everyone down,” you have the power to change this. Apply a more positive strategy in your thinking, “I will face these challenges and come up with solutions that I’ll be happy with.” Start changing your thoughts with more positive happy thinking.

2. Challenge negative beliefs

Once you identify negative beliefs you can start challenging them. The principle is simple, once a negative belief appears find the evidence that contradicts it. Write down the negative belief and compare with your positive notes about yourself. The positive will eventually outweigh the negative in comparison and that helps build your self esteem.

3. Surround yourself with positive people

You know that certain people can make you feel better than others. If you have people in your life who make you feel bad about yourself, stop trying to please them. Toxic people have a way of sending negative vibes that you owe them something. If the company you keep is keeping you down, it’s time to switch to better company that rises you up. Invest in relationships that make you feel good about yourself not tear you down.

4. Say No

People who have low self-esteem find it hard to say no to others. They can quickly feel over-burdened at home or work. This leads to increased stress levels and makes it harder to manage everything or multitask.

Become more assertive and start saying no to things that you don’t feel like doing, don’t want to do or don’t have the time to do.

5. Take more challenges

High self-esteem indeed comes with accepting challenges and difficult situations. This doesn’t mean that we need to do everything by ourselves. A part of the challenge can be asking for help or doing something that we have never done before.

What now?

In conclusion, high self-esteem doesn’t happen overnight. Keep a close eye and you’ll see improvements happen over time. Pay attention and don’t lose sight of your strategy. Set goals so you don’t lose your momentum during therapy.

When you do something good congratulate yourself! When things don’t go as planned don’t feel negative. It’s normal to not be on top every single time. Don’t let the lows prevent you from enjoying the highs of your achievements. Bad times come, don’t resent them but ask what you can learn from that experience to make you better.

Best always

Bev