As humans, we all go through certain stages in life. Whilst some are easy to navigate through, some pose a challenge. When we come out of those challenges, we might not be the same people we were before. One may turn out positively successful whereas another would end up having a negative opinion about themselves. It’s called low Self-Esteem. In fact, it has a significant impact on a person’s life experiences and is not solely dependent on their success and achievements. Therapy has been quite useful in increasing Self Esteem, but some therapy can be expensive. However, it’s not always pricey. The Cost of Therapy depends on various factors.
If you’ve been through difficult social situations and have a rather mediocre opinion about your personality, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. You just need a little boost for your confidence to up your game. If you believe your issue hasn’t got out of hand yet, you can increase your Self Esteem by yourself. Read up below.
Signs of low Self-Esteem
Sometimes you may feel a cloud of negativity hovering over you just one time. That doesn’t mean you suffer from low Self-Esteem. If you are experiencing below signs on a regular basis, you might have a low Self-Esteem,
- Often feeling unloved
- Looking for others’ opinions and approvals
- Continuous Anxiety
- Worrying about being disliked by others
- Irrational feelings of guilt
- Self-criticalness or criticalness of others
- Defensiveness and hypersensitivity etc.
Above mentioned are the very first stages of low Self-Esteem. If you’re still at the start of these steps, there’s hope for you to fix your thought process on your own.
Good things first
Is your Mind taking you on negative curves? Then start looking at the positive route! There are so many good things in life that have happened to you which are noteworthy and taught you many important lessons. Look at the good things and focus on the emotions associating those moments. Every time you feel a splash of a negative thought about yourself, think about the good things. It might take you a while to practice, but believe us, it works.
Love yourself – Show Compassion
Self-love is vital in increasing Self-Esteem. This plays a major role in your love life too. Before loving another person, first, you have to love yourself. And that love begins with believing your worth. Sometimes you may be a confident person, yet could be tackling Self-Esteem related issues. Once you come into terms with your own feelings, you could start showing compassion to others. The more you give love and compassion, the better it feels for your conscience.
While loving yourself and showing love, your Self-Esteem and Self-Satisfaction is likely to get higher.
Don’t be influenced by others
The greatest Self-Esteem attackers are those random people with opinions. Everyone will have something to say, that doesn’t mean you should be influenced by them. Trust only those who are closest to you, even them – make sure you run by your own senses before grasping opinions. Whenever other people advise, try to extract the gist of it and not the offenses and insults thrown at your way in disguise.
Apart from personal opinions, Social Media also plays a vital role in lowering or increasing Self-Esteem. While daily inspirational content may up-boost your motivation to love yourself, Celebrities or Influencers might make you dislike yourself and the life you live. Don’t let those influencers influence you. Many compare themselves to others as a method to shape their self-image. This habit may lead people to develop false expectations. Social comparison can have a negative effect on self-esteem starting from an early age or even as adults.
Give purpose to life
A life without a dream isn’t a life at all. If you spend most of your time sulking over your own personality, it’s high time to open your eyes and look around. Give your life a purpose. Set some goals you want to achieve every month or every day. Make sure these goals are practical and achievable in a short period. The more you find yourself completing tasks and achieving your goals, you’d feel confident about yourself. Every time you’re one step above who you were yesterday, give yourself a pat on the back. It would guarantee to improve your Self-Esteem.
Other peoples’ faults are not yours’
If you’re generally a ‘I’m sorry’ type of a person, in the long run, it could affect your Self-Esteem. As we grow older, the reasons to which we say sorry aren’t the same as of those in our childhood. Some people may even take advantage of it. So remember, other peoples’ faults are not yours. When you stop taking the blame on behalf of others, you start developing your own Self-Esteem which is good!
Challenge negative thoughts
Negativity is a demon that lives inside of you. As children, we don’t experience this demon within ourselves. However, as we reach adulthood, we face different social situations that make us experience negativity time to time. That’s totally fine and healthy for a person to feel such emotions. But if you continually keep feeling negative about yourself and if it starts affecting your day-to-day chores, it could be a problem.
Negativity is one of the key contributing factors in lowering one’s Self-Esteem. If you constantly feel negative about yourself or people around you, keep looking at the bright side and let the positive energy surround you. The best way to challenge negative thoughts is by making space for optimism.
Conclusion
If you’re still at the very start, you may find it easy to overcome your symptoms, but if it’s a serious case we advise you to consult a Therapist. Not only would a therapist help you increase your Self-Esteem, he/she would also help you with all other underlying conditions that would’ve possibly lead you towards this. In the meantime, be open-minded and strive to always bring out the best version of yourself.