Shaheen is a well-educated and intelligent girl who works in an established private firm in Bangalore. Shaheen has an impressive academic record, and she is the one who works precisely in her team. But due to a lack of self-esteem, Shaheen can’t express herself in front of others and is also very submissive.
As a result, she is often misunderstood by her team members as well as management. She didn’t get any acknowledgement for her unparalleled efforts. Shaheen was very upset with the outcomes, but this time she tries to improve self-esteem so that she can express herself properly in front of others. Shaheen checked with the internet and she was overwhelmed as she found several articles regarding building self-esteem.
Self-esteem is all about your opinion regarding yourself and your capabilities. It can be high or low depending on individuals. Sometimes, people are not confident enough regarding their abilities and competencies. They have low self-esteem that can make them insecure and unmotivated. There may be certain things that are affecting your self-esteem or it could be clandestine. Low self-esteem can adversely affect all aspects of your life, including your relationships, professional life, and health. Here, we are going to mention some ways to improve self-esteem.
Also Read: Top 5 Symptoms of Low Self-Esteem: What to Do?
How to Increase Self-Esteem?
1. Recognize Troubling Situations or Conditions
First, you need to identify those scenarios or conditions that are devaluing your self-esteem.
Some common triggers might include:
- A work or school presentation
- A troublesome situation at work or home
- Some challenges with your loved ones, co-workers, or other close contacts
- Some changes in circumstances or your life like a job loss or a closed one’s demise.
2. Be Aware of Your Thoughts and Beliefs
After identifying disconcerting situations, you need to closely monitor your thoughts about them. This can be what you tell yourself (self-talk) and your explanation of the situation. Your thoughts and beliefs could be positive, negative, or unbiased. Sometimes, based on reason or facts, they could be rational or illogical, based on wrong ideas.
Ask yourself whether these beliefs or thoughts are correct or not. Would you like to share them with a friend? If you are unable to convey them to someone else, then don’t say them to yourself.
3. Identify Your Positive Side
Jot down all the positive things about yourself. If you are a good singer or a good sportsperson, or other nice qualities that people have communicated about you, then note down all those things. When you feel depressed or gloomy, look at these things, and console yourself that you have a lot of positive things.
Instead of thinking like ‘I am not good enough’ or ‘I’m a failure’, you can think like “I can do this” or “I will certainly achieve this if I work hard”. All these positive thoughts will instill confidence in you. Initially, you could be stuck with old negative habits, but if you practice regularly, you will feel more positive and it will also improve your self-esteem.
4. Give Yourself a Break
Self-esteem may not be constant for all days; it may vary from condition to condition. Some people feel comfortable and positive with their friends and acquaintances, but these people can also feel nervous and shy with strangers. Some people are orators at their work but often struggle socially (or vice versa). So, take a break and give some time to yourself. You may feel a little bit down or low on a particular day where you can’t cope up with maintaining your self-belief.
Don’t push yourself hard; rather, always be gentle or kind to yourself. Don’t criticize yourself in front of others as this may emphasize your negative views and also, people will get a negative impression of you. Whenever you achieve something or accomplish some difficult tasks, you should give a treat to yourself. This may help you to manage your bad day with ease.
5. Improve Your Physical Health
Never neglect your physical health. To increase confidence and self-esteem, you should be physically fit and healthy. Do some exercises, eat healthy foods and get adequate sleep to maintain your health. Take a break from your busy schedule to stay relaxed and stress-free. Try to do something that you really want to do from your heart rather than getting influenced by someone else. Sometimes, by changing a small thing, you can make a huge difference to your overall outlook.
6. Take Challenges and Try to Explore Things
People with low self-esteem often run away from challenges and difficult situations. To improve your self-esteem, you can take up various challenges. This doesn’t indicate that you must do all activities yourself. You can explore or try something new that earlier you thought was difficult to achieve. This way you can show yourself that you can get success even by trying a new thing. This can extirpate your negative beliefs and will certainly enhance your self-esteem.
7. Everyone Makes Mistakes
No one is perfect in this world; thus, everyone commits mistakes in their life. You made mistakes to make improvements and grow. Most importantly, mistakes won’t give permanent reflections about you as a person. If you made mistakes, then these don’t imply that you are a bad person.
8. Spend Time with People Who Make You Happy
Don’t invest your time in people who don’t like you or treat you properly. Spend time with those people who make you happy and motivated.
The Bottom Line
These are some ways by which you can increase or improve your self-esteem. You can’t uplift your self-esteem in a day; you need to practice these healthier habits regularly to stay motivated and confident. Always believe in yourself and the rest will fall in its place automatically!
