Your self-esteem is vital in every aspect of your life because not only will it reflect who you are as a person, but it will also reflect who you can be as a person. By knowing your self-worth, you are defining who you are, your abilities and your limitations.
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is your overall opinion of yourself. When you have healthy self-esteem, you feel positive about yourself and see yourself as deserving the respect of others. When you have low self-worth, you see yourself in a negative light and put little value on yourself, your opinions and ideas.
What is low self-esteem?
Low self-esteem is a debilitating condition that can keep you from realizing your full potential. A person with low self-esteem feels unworthy, incapable, and incompetent.
In fact, because the person with low self-esteem feels so poorly about him or herself, these feelings may actually cause the person harm and eventually lead to problems such as depression and anxiety.
How to improve your self-esteem
Feelings of low self-confidence often build up over a lifetime, and letting go of ingrained feelings and behaviors is not an easy task. It may take time, hard work, and it may require professional counseling. So let’s start the process of boosting your self-esteem with these steps!
The first and most important thing you can do to improve your self-confidence is to accept who you are.
You are human and you have flaws! No one is perfect. Your flaws makes you unique just like every other person’s. Your flaws are a part of you, and not accepting your flaws is the same as not accepting yourself. You should always accept yourself and strive to be the best version of you.
Using affirmations to stop negative self-talk is a simple, positive way to help increase self-esteem. Affirmations are encouraging messages we can give ourselves every day until they become part of our feelings and beliefs.
Affirmations work best when a person is relaxed. But since people are often upset when they are giving themselves negative self-messages, they may need to counter negative messages with positive ones.
“Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone to tell you who you are.”
– Beyoncé
For example, instead of saying “I made a stupid mistake, and I am no good at this job,” you can rather say “Yes, I made a mistake but I have learned from it, and now I can do a better job.” This very example is how many successful people of the world got to where they are now.
- Stop comparing yourself
Many people make the mistake of comparing themselves with others, and that just doesn’t make any sense. This is because there will always be that one person who appears better and more capable than you.
Researchers have found that majority of people who compare themselves with others are more likely to suffer from low self confidence.
“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”
– Marilyn Monroe
From a logical standpoint, you and whoever it is you are comparing yourself to aren’t the same.
You don’t have the same goals or challenges that comes with reaching those goals, and you definitely don’t have the same opportunities that life has to offer, so comparing yourself would be basically pointless. Try to focus on your own goals and achievements, rather than measuring them against someone else’s.
People with low self-confidence often feel they have to say yes to other people, even when they do not really want to. You should always say no if you aren’t comfortable with the other person’s idea.
It wouldn’t hurt to say no if whatever it is that’s presented to you doesn’t sit right with you. Think of how many times you have been told no. Aren’t you still in one piece? By saying no, you gradually gain confidence and confidence improves your self-esteem.
