10 tips to kickstart your self esteem

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10 tips to kickstart your self esteem

By Plenty

If you're tired of feeling " less than " , afraid of making and achieving your

desires and goals, feel that no matter what you do it is never " good enough " ,

then your self esteem could do with a boost!

Having low self esteem takes an enormous toll on the quality of your life.

You take fewer risks, which limits your opportunities, both personally and

professionally.

You are reluctant to voice or acknowledge your needs.

You are probably also haunted by past mistakes and making future ones.

It doesn't have to be like this, the tools you've used to (unconsciously) lower

your self esteem are the same ones you use to raise it.

The following article gives you ten tips to raise your self esteem and improve

the quality of your life!

1. Stop comparing yourself to other people. If you play this game, you're likely

to compare yourself in a negative way and set yourself up for continuing to have

low self esteem. Why continue to play a game where you've set the rules against

yourself, so that you're less likely to win!

2. Don't keep putting yourself down! You can't develop high self esteem if you

constantly repeat negative comments about your skills and abilities. Other

people will pick up on it and take on board the negative way you view yourself.

How are they likely to treat you? Also don't beat yourself up over " mistakes "

that you've made - learn how to reframe them so that they work for you.

3. Using affirmations is an excellent way to raise your self esteem. It's the

opposite of no 1. If you can programme your mind to repeat negative phrases

about yourself (and see how effective that's been!), then you can certainly get

into the habit of continually thinking (and saying to yourself) positive

statements about you. When you do, allow yourself to experience the positive

feelings about your statements. Also use inspirational quotes to assist you.

4. Accept all compliments graciously. Don't dismiss or ignore them. When you do

you give yourself the message that you do not deserve or are not worthy of

praise, which reflects low self esteem. It also means that others will become

more reluctant to praise or acknowledge your abilities, if you don't.

5. Take advantage of and use life coaching programmes, workshops, books on how

to raise your self esteem and develop a more positive attitude. Whatever

material you see, read acts as subliminal learning, which means that it will

plant itself in your mind and dominate your behaviour. Talk about food for

thought - what diet is your mind on? Is it a nourishing one?

6. Mix with positive and supportive people. Who you associate with influences

your thoughts, actions and behaviour - another form of subliminal learning.

Negative people can put you and your ideas down and it lowers your self esteem.

On the other hand, when you are surrounded by supportive people, you feel better

about yourself, which helps to raise your self esteem. Learn how to develop your

positive personal support network.

7. Acknowledge your positive qualities and skills Too many people with low self

esteem constantly put themselves down (back to no 1 again!) and don't appreciate

their many positive attributes. Learn how to truly affirm and value your many

excellent qualities. If you find this difficult, ask others to tell you. They'll

come up with things you would never have imagined!

8. Stop putting up with stuff! Not voicing or acknowledging your needs means

that you are probably tolerating more than you should. Find out what you're

putting up with and zap those tolerations. By doing so, you're giving yourself

the message that you're worth it.

9. Make positive contributions to others. This doesn't mean that you constantly

do for others what they could be doing for themselves. But when you do make a

positive contribution to others, you begin to feel more valuable, which

increases your sense of your own value and raises your self esteem.

10. Involve yourself in work and activities that you love. So many people with

low self esteem stop doing those activities that they most enjoy. Even if you're

not in a position to to make immediate changes in your career, you can still

devote some of your leisure time to enjoyable hobbies and activities.

and.............................. Start taking action! The universe rewards

action. Backing away and avoiding challenges means that your self esteem muscles

become weak and flabby. When you start to take action - regardless of the

outcome - you will start to feel better about yourself, develop your self

confidence and raise your self esteem.

Shari

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