Importance of Self Esteem - Tips for Improving Self Esteem and Self Worth
Overcoming low self esteem is important because it will enable you to deal competently with common physical and emotional challenges and health, relationships and financial problems. Low self esteem or self worth makes you feel inadequate, timid, fearful and hesitant. You will find it difficult to make decisions, take actions and interact with people and it will lead to unhappiness.
Boosting self esteem helps you develop inner strength, optimism, self respect and self acceptance. When you feel worthy, you are less self critical, prejudiced and judgmental. There are many goals that you can achieve and you can have healthy and happy relationships.
Low Self Esteem Signs
- Self critical - Finding, assuming and seeing your faults and weaknesses which will cause you to feel bad about yourself.
- Fearful - Afraid of being criticized and being judged. The fears lead to procrastination, avoidance and making excuses not to start or finish a task or challenge.
- Highly sensitive - Makes it difficult to accept opinions, feedback and criticism objectively.
- Unhappy because feels unlovable or unworthy or love. Because of doubts and distrust, a person with low self esteem has difficulty accepting love and praises.
- Avoiding social contact, sometimes thinking negative towards others.
Causes of Low Self Esteem
Having been brought up by over critical parents, living in a negative environment and being told repeatedly that you were worthless are some of the causes of low self esteem. As you grow up into adulthood, you eventually believed and developed a habitual pattern of self disapproval, fault finding and self condemnation.
How to Build Self Esteem
Improving Self Esteem No. 1- Willingness to Change
If you are willing to admit that you feel unworthy and have the desire to build self esteem, you will find that it is easier to examine and challenge negative thoughts.
Improving Self Esteem No. 2 - Become Aware
Explore your present thoughts, emotions and responses. Look at your behavior, attitudes and habits. Take note of what you have been saying about you to others and yourself. Do you often here statements such as "It's my fault," "I know I am ugly" "I can't" and "I'm not good at it." Do you say "I'm sorry" too often even when it was not necessary? Do you often say "It's up to you" even if you were asked what and where you would like to eat?
Do you keep quiet when you have an opinion or answer to give because you are afraid that it may be wrong and you would be laughed at or ignored? Do you imagine that people are talking bad about you? Do you feel that you must and should do something or else people will disapprove of you?
By looking at what you have been thinking, you will become aware that you have been thinking negative and feeling inadequate. You can then change the way you have been putting yourself down and being overly self critical.
Improving Self Esteem No. 3 - Stop Negative Thoughts and Reactions
Interrupt negative thought patterns. Become aware of how you are feeling and then pause to notice what you have been thinking. Challenge the thought by saying statements such as "Stop it. I choose to see the positive."
Carry a journal and note book with you. Take note of negative things that you say to yourself and to others, your faults that you seem to notice and your reactions to opinions and comments and your attitude about what is going on around you. At the end of the day, go through it and mentally create a different response. State positive affirmations such as "I choose to respond positively," "I choose to feel more confident" and "I choose to feel worthy."
Continue this practice until you feel that you have substantially reduced negative patterns of thoughts and reactions and improved self confidence and feeling of self worth.
Improving Self Esteem No. 4 - Visualize a New Self Image
When you improve the way you see yourself in your mind's eye, you will behave and feel differently about yourself. To improve self image, get yourself to do deep breathing exercise. The exercise will help slow down your brainwaves and relax your mind. In this relaxed state your subconscious mind will easily accepts suggestions. Use it to visualize a new self image and affirm positive statements.
Improving Self Esteem No. 5 - Adapt a Different Outlook
One of the ways to improve self esteem is to change the way you view yourself, events and people. Make it a conscious effort to view something differently and positively. Refrain yourself from seeing and believing what you have been conditioned to see and believe.
Improving Self Esteem No. 6 - Do Things Differently
The next time someone compliment you, say "Thank you" instead of rambling and trying to justify. If you have something positive to say, just say it. If you feel doubtful, remind yourself that you have a right to offer your opinion or suggestion and if some people disagree, it's OK because it is their rights and everyone has his own personal view about things.
Make yourself do things that you have been putting off and afraid to do. To overcome your fear, ask yourself "What is the worst thing that can happen if I do this? So what if it doesn't turn out right? I will learn something from this experience" and ask "What's the best outcome if I succeed?"
Improving Self Esteem No. 7 - Stop Comparing
The trouble with comparing yourself to others if you have low self esteem is that you will find that other people are always better or superior. So stop making comparisons. Spend your time instead to look at your strengths and abilities and look at ways to capitalize on them. Recall your past successes no matter how small they were and acknowledge that you can do certain things extremely well.
Improving Self Esteem No. 8 - Get Involved
If low self esteem is stopping you from socializing, get involved in an activity, game or sport which you enjoy. Playing in a team builds relationships and doing any form of physical activity or exercise will help you feel good about yourself. You can also get involved in other activity such as community service where you can contribute your energy and effort to help others. You will develop a sense of self worth.
Improving Self Esteem No. 9 - Set Goals
One of the benefits of having a dream to pursue, setting goals and working on them is that you will overcome your preoccupation with your inadequacy. Going for your dream will cause you to push yourself to do your best and overcome challenges that show up along the way. When you have a goal to achieve, your mind is focused on that one thing that you want to accomplish.
Improving Self Esteem No. 10 - Forgive
As mentioned earlier, you developed low self esteem during childhood and the adults who were responsible for your upbringing may have contributed to your feeling of unworthiness. It's time to forgive them and release the emotional attachment to the past so that you can move on. Forgive yourself too for the mistakes you have made, self criticisms and false labels that you have given yourself.
Self Esteem Articles
How to Love Yourself
Overcoming Inferiority Complex
How to Develop Self-Respect
How to Accept Yourself
Stop Approval Seeking Behavior
Personal Responsibility
Dealing with Ego
Developing Self Efficacy
Personal Values
Improving Body Image
Developing Self Concept
The Importance of Having a Pleasant Appearance
Bad Habits
Beliefs
Self Criticism
Pride and Dignity
Improving Self Esteem to Personal Growth Home
Source: http://www.about-personal-growth.com/improving-self-esteem.html
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