An individual’s self-esteem refers to the way they feel or what they think about themselves. We all have times when we feel low or find it hard to believe in ourselves. However, if it becomes a long-term situation, it can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. These problems can also manifest as symptoms of low self-esteem.
Many of us have low self-esteem because of our childhood experiences. Regardless of your age, you can boost your self-esteem. On this page, you will find more information about self-esteem, along with some actions you can take to improve it.
Understanding Self-Esteem
Many people think of self-esteem as their inner voice (or self-dialog) – the voice tells them whether they are good enough to succeed.
We define self-esteem as our perceptions of who we are and what we are capable of, and how much we value ourselves.
In most cases, self-esteem is not related to either your own ability or how others perceive you.
Having low self-esteem is quite possible for someone who is good at something. Those with low self-esteem might struggle with a particular task.
Self-confident people generally enjoy life and feel good about themselves. Because they are resilient, they can deal with the challenges life throws their way more easily.
However, people with low self-esteem are often much more critical of themselves. It is more difficult for them to bounce back from challenges and setbacks. The result could be that they avoid difficult situations. That, however, can further decrease their self-esteem since they feel even worse about themselves as a result.
People who lack self-esteem may behave differently, as well as achieve less in life.
Why Do People Experience Low Self-Esteem?
A variety of factors can cause low self-esteem. In reality, it is often the result of a feeling that you failed to fulfill expectations when you were young. Adult experiences, such as bad relationships, either at home or at work, can also trigger anxiety.
Low self-esteem is often a characteristic of victims of domestic violence and abuse. Their abuser may have used ridicule and low self-esteem to reduce their self-esteem by belittling them. Alternatively, it could also be that their low self-esteem made them more vulnerable to abuse since they did not feel valuable.
Seven Ways of Improving Your Self-Esteem
There are many ways you can improve your self-esteem.
Challenge Your Negative Beliefs
Identifying and challenging your negative beliefs about yourself is the first step.
Consider how you view yourself. You may think, for example, that you aren’t smart enough to do that or that you have no friends. Find evidence that contradicts those statements when you do so. Please note your information and evidence, and keep looking back at it to remind yourself that your negative beliefs about yourself aren’t true.
Identify the Positive things About Yourself
Write down things that are positive about yourself, such as what people have said about you or the things you are good at. Look back at these things when you are feeling low, and remember that you have plenty of positive qualities.
A positive internal dialogue improves self-esteem in general.
When you find yourself wanting to say things like “I’m not good enough” or “I’m a failure,” start with the statement “I can overcome this” and “I can become more confident by viewing myself more positively.”
Initially, you’ll find yourself drifting back into your old negative habits, but with determination and some effort, you’ll began feeling more positive and build your self-esteem as well.
Build Positive Relationships while avoiding Negative Ones
You’ll probably find that certain people and relationships make you feel better than others.
Don’t spend your time with people who make you feel bad about yourself.
Avoid relationships that will drag you down and build relationships that will make you feel good about yourself
Give Yourself a Break
Every minute of every day doesn’t require perfection. It’s not even necessary to feel good about yourself all the time.
A person’s self-esteem varies from situation to situation, from day to day, and even from hour to hour. Whenever you are with friends or colleagues, you feel relaxed and confident, but you are more uncomfortable and tentative with strangers. Others may have a great deal of control over their work but struggle socially (or vice versa).
Give yourself a break. There are those moments when we all feel a bit down or struggle to maintain our self-confidence. It is very important to not be hard on yourself. Take care of yourself, and don’t criticize yourself too much.
Try to not criticize yourself to others, as this can reinforce your negative views and give others (possibly false) opinions about you.
Treat yourself whenever you accomplish something difficult or manage to handle a bad day to boost your self-esteem.
Become assertive and start saying no
Many individuals with low self-esteem have difficulty asserting themselves or saying no to others.
Since they do not like to refuse anybody anything, they may be overburdened in the home or at work. It may also lead to increased stress as a result.
You can increase your self-esteem by improving your assertiveness. It can sometimes be helpful to act as you believe in yourself so that you feel more confident.
Improve Your Physical Health
Fit and healthy people can more easily feel good about themselves.
Yet, people with low self-esteem neglect themselves because they don’t consider themselves worthy of care.
Make sure you get a sufficient amount of sleep, exercise, and eat well. Also, you should schedule a time to relax and do something that you enjoy rather than something you are expected to do by someone else. It may surprise you how much of a difference a simple change like this can make to your outlook.
Take On Challenges
Low self-esteem causes people to avoid challenging situations.
You can improve your self-esteem by taking on a challenge. While this doesn’t mean that you should do everything on your own part of the challenge may be seeking help when necessary-be prepared to tackle something challenging.
When you succeed, you prove to yourself that you are capable. In turn, this will increase your self-esteem by challenging your negative beliefs.
