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How to Improve Self-Esteem. 8 Techniques You Can Start Using Today.

Updated: Jun 21, 2022

Introduction

Self-esteem is a measure of how much we like and respect ourselves and our qualities and achievements. Essentially, it's how we feel about ourselves.


It's hard to improve your self-esteem if you don't know what it is or how to work on it. Self-esteem includes your beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about yourself and who you are as a person. It's not just how other people see you, in fact, it's always been about how you see yourself.


Many people have a hard time with self-esteem. When they don’t take the opportunity to love themselves through the difficult times, it’s common for more self-hate to happen rather than the benefits of self-love.


Perhaps you’ve encountered this in your life? This isn’t a judgment. I have been in that exact place of not knowing what was wrong and assuming there was something wrong with me. I remember wanting to stay in bed and not wanting to go outside. Until I built my confidence and self-esteem, my life had not been living fully. The good news is that you can build your self-esteem too!


Here are seven ways to enhance your self-esteem!



1. Self Esteem is about being nice to yourself.

It can be difficult to understand why being kind to yourself is important. In a culture that sees self-blame, self-criticism, and self-flagellation as synonymous with taking responsibility, kindness can seem a bit complex. Self-compassion means being kind to yourself by recognizing that you are not perfect. It's about being tolerant of your own faults and flaws. Understanding that you are human. Self-compassion doesn't mean being hard on yourself because you have faults. Rather, it means being understanding and forgiving of your faults because you are human.


Be your own best friend and stop being critical of yourself. If someone is critical of you, let it go in one ear and out the other. Know that you are enough when you look in the mirror and see your best self-staring back at you. It's fine to take time for yourself and invest in your own growth, ability, and potential. Be confident that you can achieve more than you think you can. Remember, you've come this far, so you must be doing something right even on those days when it doesn’t feel that way.





2. Positive thinking helps you improve your self-esteem.

This is a big one! Positive thinking and optimism can be effective stress management tools as well as tools that support healthy self-esteem. Having a more positive outlook on life can provide you with some health benefits as well. Studies have found that having a positive outlook can help you live longer, have a more robust immune system and manage stress better. Being positive about yourself is essential if you want to improve your self-esteem.


Positive thinking techniques to get you started!

Focus on the good things in your life. "Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do." - Dr Rober Schuller. Even in the worst of times, there is something good in your life, whether the kindness of family, friends, or strangers. Some people like to write down all the good things that have happened in their lives. Then keep this list for a few weeks to reflect on the positive events. Think about what is good in your life and memorialise them somehow. in written or picture form. Then, when you are feeling low, look at what you have recorded. By focusing on the good things in your life you begin to let the negative things slide away.

Practice gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful emotion that increases happiness and well-being. When you are grateful, you think of good things that happened to you or someone else. It's a powerful emotion, and you feel good when you are grateful. Think of people, moments, or things that bring you some comfort or happiness.

Learn from your mistakes. If you mess up, you mess up. It happens, but you need to realise your mistakes and learn from them and move on. You can't change what has happened but you can make the right decisions now and move forward. Dwelling in the misery of a mistake will only cause you more pain and weigh you down. By learning and letting go you free yourself to carry on.

Deepen your friendship and communication with people you trust. Stop internalising everything and let people know how you are feeling. By achieving a greater understanding of each other, you will find it easier to resolve any difficulties that you may have. Recognise that you have a unique set of gifts and talents. Increase your ability to accept and respect others’ differences. Remember, the more you understand, a