Self Esteem Improvement: Ways to Boost Your Confidence and Self Worth

We often encounter the word self esteem in psychology discussions but sometimes the meaning of the term is rather unclear to us. What we really know about self-esteem is that it has something to do with confidence. That is quite true, but confidence is just one aspect in self-esteem. What self-esteem really means is that it is an emotion or trait we exhibit when we have pride. Self-esteem is associated with how we value ourselves or how we see our overall self-worth.

Self Esteem Further Defined

We all have a clear picture of ourselves in our head. The projection we make is based on how others perceive us according to our own belief. This includes how we are accepted, valued, and loved by the people in our surroundings like family, friends, and acquaintances. We also have a mental image of us as to how we accept, value, and love ourselves. If all of these elements are positive then one can say that you are happy and you feel very good because the response you get from other people and yourself are in harmony. This is the reason why a person who is accomplished in his own right and is well liked in the community exhibits a positive trait of confidence and pride.

When can a Person have Low Self Esteem?

A person is said to have a low self esteem if he or she feels unwanted, underappreciated, and not loved by the people in his or her surroundings. The individual will also exhibit low self-esteem if he or she doesn’t feel good about his physical image and attitude. In addition, a person who doesn’t love himself and doesn’t know how to value his self worth is also said to possess a low self-esteem.

We all experience this at certain periods in our lives. Remember the time when our action led to a mistake and people in our lives were disappointed and saddened by our deed. Remember the time when you were in an embarrassing situation and people around you were laughing until you felt mortified and humiliated. These scenarios are some examples where your self-esteem turns into a negative trait because you feel that your identity has been compromised and people no longer appreciate or accept you. This also leads to a feeling of depreciation or devaluation in your part.

How to Improve Self Esteem

Sure you have been humiliated in the past or you felt you were the unpopular kid in your school but the good thing is that self esteem improvement is possible and it is always aimed towards our advantage. The awkward situations we have been to are just phases which we could leave in the past. We could leave our bad experiences to be able to change our trait so that we can face the things that lie ahead of us with our heads held up high.

Usually, improving self esteem can be challenging especially if the people, things, or events that put us down are still present in our lives. We can address the problem by confronting the source itself. For instance if you were constantly bullied, you can confront the person by yourself or with the help of a friend, family, or authority. If you feel underappreciated by your mom or dad, you can talk about it by arranging a meaningful discussion. Addressing the situation will help you achieve your goal towards an improved self esteem. Here are other techniques on how to value and feel good about you.

• Stop putting yourself down. One of the sources of our low self-esteem is how we poorly treat ourselves. You can be a contributor to your low self-image if you continue to perceive things around you in a negative manner. Over thinking and over criticizing can lead to poor appreciation. What you need to do is discard this negative outlook of yourself and start adapting a positive one. Instead of seeing the negative things, starts by listing down things, which make you, feel good about yourself.


• Mistakes are opportunities too. Mistakes can really put us down but there is no need to mull about it for months. Do not allow your mistakes to control you; instead view it as a learning opportunity so you can be a good person next time. Bounce back from your mistakes. Ponder about what happened but never allow it to control you.


• Set realistic goals and expectations and not perfections. It is okay to strive perfection but once the idea controls you, it will eventually ruin your life. Being perfect can sometimes ruin your self-image. For instance, you view yourself as obese when in fact you are just slightly chubby can lead to lost opportunities. Similarly if you set the bar too high, you will be depressed if you fail to achieve your goals. What you need to do is be real and learn to accept that you can set goals, which you think you can really achieve even if it is a small one.


• Make new friends. As discussed earlier, our self worth is also based on how people treat us or accept us. Making new friends can help boost our self-esteem. Befriending people who share your ideas, goals, interest, and likes will definitely leave you feeling wanted, appreciated, and loved. Stay away from people who know nothing but put you down. It is okay to be criticized as long as it is done in a good taste but being criticized because the person simply hates you for no reason at all is definitely a no-no. You can confront the person if you wish to or you can simply walk away. Instead surround yourself with people that genuinely care about you.

A positive self-esteem is what we truly need in our life. It is a very uplifting trait, which is why we should constantly strive to remain positive. Remember that there is nothing wrong with feeling down as long as we would never allow it to dictate our actions. We could always improve low self-esteem through acceptance and taking positive actions that would appreciate our self-worth.

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