Raise your self-esteem

1. Know why you have low self-esteem.

Do you have low self-esteem because your teacher thinks you are not smart? Do you have low self-esteem because your parents and friends criticize you all the time? Know why you have that negative feeling about yourself. You have to know that emotions are the result of thoughts. If your thoughts are always about criticizing yourself and believing what people say about you, then you are likely to stay having low self-esteem. If on the other hand, you thoughts are positive, then your will feel much better because emotions are the result of thoughts. If you don’t control your thoughts, then ask yourself, “who does?” This is the most important step in raising your self-esteem is to ask yourself “why?” and then change your thoughts about whatever answer you come up with. For example, if your teacher told you that you are not smart or clever, then you could say to yourself “The teacher must be jealous of me, that is why he keeps criticizing me.”

2. Stop thinking negatively of yourself-

Start thinking of yourself as a beautiful human being. No one is like you, you are unique. God put you on this earth for a purpose. Learn to appreciate yourself and think highly of yourself. Always talk to yourself positively.

3. Set goals-

You don’t want your life to go by without attaining your goals and desires. Start by stetting goals. For example, if you want to get a college degree, go and register now. If you want to learn a new sport, go and sign up in the club. If you want your body to be in shape, then join the gym and exercise. Many people grow old without accomplishing much. You don’t want that, right?

4. View mistakes as a learning opportunity-

Every single person on this earth makes mistakes. We are all fallible, so it is perfectly ok to make mistakes. Whenever you make a mistake just say to yourself “Everyone makes mistakes, so it is ok. I learned something from this experience.” The important thing is to learn from your mistakes, so you won’t repeat them.

5. Exercise-

Exercising and taking care of your health helps you release your stress. You will be able to move more freely, breathe better, and strengthen your heart and body.

6. Love your body-

If there is something that you dislike about your physical appearance and would like to change it, go ahead and do it. Maybe you dislike your hair style or want to try new style of dressing. Small improvements in your appearance can do you wonders.

7. Limit dealing with negative people-

I bet one of the main reasons why you have low self-esteem is because of the negative people in your life, whether it is parents, family, friends, teachers, or colleagues. Try to surround yourself with positive people and who bring the best in you. If someone says something negative about you, then just tell that person that you don’t appreciate the negative words that this person is using. Most of the time, such people will stop from making negative comments about you.

8. Learn to love yourself-

You have to realize the more you love yourself, the more others will love and respect you. You also have to realize that it is ok for someone not to love you or to have different opinion than you on specific subject. In my article How to love yourself, I explained the steps you should to love yourself unconditionally.