Having a higher level of self-esteem is important to live a happy and fulfilling life. It helps you to cope with the challenges you face, to make decisions, and to enjoy success. It can affect your relationships, your work, and your general health and wellbeing.
Low self-esteem comes at a great cost to you and those around you. Low self-esteem means you can’t fully participate in your emotions. work or your relationships. It makes it hard to make decisions and often leads to depression. It can make you feel inadequate and powerless and can even lead to anxiety.
If you suffer from low self-esteem, you may feel you are worthless, powerless, weak, or unlovable. You may believe that you are an inferior person. You may even feel that you are not worthy of being happy.
That being said, low self-esteem doesn’t mean you can’t develop and boost it. In today’s ListPink post we will discuss all the great ways to boost your self-esteem with a little practice and a lot of determination.
So, What Exactly is Self-esteem?
Self-esteem is, in fact, a product of physical and mental well-being. It is the result of having a positive attitude and feeling of self-worth and acceptance.
Self-esteem is the sum total of the thoughts and actions we adopt and the judgments we make about ourselves. It is what we think and feel about ourselves and our abilities and characteristics and how we think and feel about the way we live and the way we relate to the world. It is the source of our self-respect.
How to Boost Self-esteem?
While genetics also has some role to play, anyone can build or boost their self-esteem with effort and some determination. From the action of rewarding yourself for accomplishing a target to practicing gratitude, there is a lot you can do to propel your self-esteem for your greater good.
Building self-esteem is about overcoming negative thinking and working on self-confidence.
1. Take One Step at a Time
Don’t try to change everything at once. If you are trying to change your personality or personality traits, step by step. For example, if you are trying to become more confident, you need to work on it every day. Every time you notice yourself acting more confident, reward yourself.
As the famous saying goes, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” This is not some cliche. It is absolutely true. You need to keep on working on it no matter how small the results are.
2. Challenge Yourself With Small Objectives
You can also boost your self-esteem by setting small goals for yourself. If you set goals that are too easy to achieve, you will not feel as accomplished as you would with goals that are more challenging.
If you set goals that are too hard to achieve, you will feel frustrated and disappointed. It is also important to break goals down into smaller and more manageable pieces.
For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, you can set a goal of losing 1 pound each week and then achieving that goal.
3. Identify Your Positive Beliefs
Also, consider what you are doing well. Think about the personal qualities you have, the things you are good at. List these things. If you can’t think of any, ask other people what they think you are good at. Or perhaps it’s the little things you do every day that make you feel good about yourself.
For example, you might feel good about the care you give to other people, or the effort you put into your work, or the way you care for your partner.
4. Identify Your Negative Beliefs
Try to identify what you believe to be negative about yourself. Don’t include things that are true, such as being overweight or being unable to do things perfectly. Instead, try to identify how you think you look, what you believe others think of you, and so on. Again, ask other people if they agree with you.
A study published in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy showed that when people asked others if they agreed with their negative beliefs, they found out that the other people did not see them in such a negative light. This helped them to feel better about themselves. They were able to realize that perhaps they were not as bad as they thought they were and that the negative thoughts they had about themselves were not true.
5. Build Healthy Relationships
Spend time with people who make you feel good about yourself. If you have a family member or friend who makes you feel bad about yourself, stop spending time with them. You do not need them in your life if they are going to lower your self-esteem.
Relationships tend to play a vital role in building or otherwise destroying your self-esteem.
A study published in the American Psychological Association (APA) found that people with positive relationships have higher levels of self-esteem.
6. Take Care of Your Health
Make sure you get enough sleep, exercise, and eat healthily. Do not beat yourself up for eating that donut or that extra serving of fries. You are human and sometimes you will eat more of something than you should. But try to make better choices when you are eating.
Taking care of yourself shows you that you are worth it. It also helps you develop self-confidence. According to an article published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, people who are more physically fit are more likely to have high self-esteem.
7. Exercise Daily, Stay in Shape
Exercise has been proven to have a positive impact on your mood, energy, and overall well-being. It also improves your self-esteem.
A study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that people who exercised for 20 to 30 minutes a day for 4 to 6 days a week for 3 months had higher self-esteem than people who did not exercise.
A study published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity found that a single session of exercise could improve the mood and self-esteem of people who often feel depressed and worthless.
When it comes to exercising, yoga is in fact the best you can start with. Besides building your physical strength, yoga also puts emphasis on your mental well-being. Here are 40 great yoga poses for stress relief and physical fitness.
8. Build on Your Strengths
Take some time to think about the things you do well. Think of three things you’re especially good at. Write them down. Take some time to think of three things you’re good at that you don’t usually recognize or acknowledge. Write them down.
Now, think of a time when you used strength to accomplish something. Really consider the situation and think about how you used strength to get a positive outcome. Write down the event and how you used a strength. Now, think of a time when you’ve asked someone for help. Think about how you used strength to do that. Write down the event and how you used a strength.
9. Make a List of Your Strengths
Think about all the things that you’re good at, like being kind, funny, creative, or caring. Write them all down. You could also think about your strengths in different areas, like school, work, the community, or the home. There are lots of different areas where you can think of your strengths, so write them all down.
10. Learn to Say No
Saying no is not easy. It is human nature to want to please others and to be liked and accepted by others. However, if you say yes to everything and every one and do not set your own limits and boundaries, you may end up feeling used and unappreciated.
You may also not get to spend enough time with the people you love and you may even neglect your own needs. While it is important to be a team player and an agreeable member of the group, it is also necessary to know when to say no and to do what is best for you.
11. Do What Makes You Happy
It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and to think that there is no time for you. However, if you do not take time for yourself and do what makes you happy, you will feel stressed, unhappy, and burnt out.
Spending time doing what you love is important for your self-esteem. It will make you feel good about yourself, and it will make you feel like you are living a meaningful and fulfilling life.
12. Identify your assets
Think about what you’ve got, not what you lack. Write down everything that you consider to be an asset. If you’re not sure what you’ve got, ask your family and friends.
2. Read a Motivational Book
Motivational books are full of inspiring stories of people that overcame their obstacles and became successful. This is enough to boost anyone’s self-esteem.
According to a study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, people who read self-help books reported an increase in self-esteem, self-acceptance, and optimism, as well as feeling more motivated to achieve their goals.
You can choose one of these 40 great motivational books written by inspirational authors.
13. Be Grateful
Make a list of all the things that you’re grateful for. It could be the things you have, the people that care about you, or even just the weather. Make it as long as you can.
14. Think about how far you’ve come
Looking back over your life, think about how far you’ve come. Can you remember how you felt when you were younger? Can you remember the things that made you unhappy? How are you different now? If you’re struggling to remember, ask your family or friends about your childhood.
15. Be Mindful
When you feel frustrated, angry, jealous, sad, or scared, take a moment to notice your breath. Just notice how it feels. Your breath is always there, you don’t have to do anything to make it change or keep it going, you just have to notice it.
16. Do Something that Makes You Feel Proud
Find something that you feel proud of, and do it often. For example, you could volunteer for something that you think is important. Or you could share your skills with others.