Ten Ways You May Not Know To Improve Your Self Esteem

By Robert Gibbs

Self Esteem is an essential part of whether our life will be a success or not. Why? The way we view ourselves, our talents and skills, affect our thoughts. Our thoughts turn into actions. Our actions move us closer or further away from our dreams. Simply put, self esteem refers to how a person looks at one self. If it is in a positive way, this is high self esteem, in a negative way, low self esteem.

Here are Ten ways to improve your Self Esteem

1) Make a list of all your past accomplishments.

Start back at your childhood. Make a detailed list of everything you have done that you are proud of. What did you get praise for? What awards have you won? What are you good at? Don’t forget to include hobbies as well.

2) Do the things that you love.

When you do the things that you love you become happier and more enthusiastic. You become more interested in developing your skills, and improving yourself. This will make you more confident with your decisions and your actions.

3) Choose your friends. Try to choose friends who will help increase your self esteem by encouraging you and complimenting you when things go well. Try to avoid friends who seek to put you down. What do you do if you have friends who are always putting you down? Try to get them to change. If they are unable to change and you still need them as friends try to restrict the amount of time you spend with them.

4) Self Affirmation.

Have you heard before that you should look in a mirror and tell yourself that you are great? Well, so had I, and I always felt uncomfortable doing it, but it does work. If you feel uncomfortable with affirmations then try them in steps. Acknowledge the little achievements that you have done at the end of the day. One of my favourite affirmations is “Every day and in every way I am getting better and better”

5) Help other people.

You do not have to be rich to help other people. Many organisations need volunteer’s. Sincerely helping other people will make yourself feel good about yourself and as the saying goes “You do not give away kindness because kindness always comes back to you and usually at a time you need it the most”

6) Set clear goals.

Many people set goals, which are too vague. “I want to lose weight” is too vague for the subconscious. How much weight? Be specific. “I want to lose 10lbs” is specific and can be measured. If you have lost 2lb in 1 week then you know you have 8lb to go. This makes it easier to create the best strategies to help you reach your goal faster. If you have clear goals it’s amazing how things seem to fall into place and people come into your life to help you.

7) Improve on your weak areas.

Everyone has weaknesses. Identifying them is the first step. Then make a conscious effort to improve on them one at a time. Take it one step at a time. Every step, however small, will start you in the right direction and you’ll be amazed at how quickly this starts to change your life.

8) Have one day a week of fun with your friends.

Make this a day when you celebrate only your weeks highs with a close circle of friends. Please be careful not to go over the top. Just give each other timely and sincere praises.

9) Speak out.

Some people would prefer you not to speak your mind but it can be a wonderful experience acknowledging and accepting your thoughts and speaking out. There are still people who will appreciate and respect you for your honesty. Becoming comfortable with your thoughts helps increase your self esteem.

10) Do not focus on failures.

Focus on your achievements. This is not vanity, it is simply recognizing what you have done in the past and acknowledging your abilities.

In conclusion. Make a conscious effort to work on improving your self esteem. It does not matter if you work on building it slowly as long as you are focused on getting your self esteem back to where it belongs. Accept that you are not perfect. There is no perfect person in the world. People often develop low self esteem because they try to be perfect. Just be the best you can be.

Robert Gibbs

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