Healthy self-esteem is comprised of self-worth, self-confidence and self-acceptance and is independent of our achievements or what people think of us.
Some ways to bolster self-esteem:
1. Be realistic - focus on doing your best each day, and try not to compare to others.
2. Focus on your accomplishments - also try to get out of your comfort zone. Taking healthy risks can help build confidence and enliven you.
3. Look inside yourself rather than at your external circumstances, as things change around us. Determine your personal, instrinsically-driven sense of purpose. What truly matters to you and what values are near to your heart?
4. Be an active participant in your life - set goals and take regular, manageable steps toward achieving them.
5. Engage in positive mental imagery - imagine yourself succeeding and even rehearse being self-confident.
6. Think positive thoughts - be mindful of your habitual thoughts and weed out the negative and self-sabotaging ones. Accept that your thoughts are major contributors to your emotions.
7. Be truly grateful - for all the blessings you have now. Rehearse and even write down the things you are grateful for and try to see the silver lining.
8. Practice healthy self-care - nurture yourself, eat well, get lots of sleep, exercise and make time in your schedule for rest and relaxation (and have lots of fun!).
9. Meditate - you can even simply take a walk, take deep breaths and think pleasant, peaceful, happy thoughts. Your body believes what your mind tells it, so direct your thinking toward the good.
10. Get your needs met in a healthy manner - identify what you need and define what your choices are for getting those needs met. Above all, act honourably and know that you may not end up getting everything you think you need (often in hindsight this is a blessing).
- Ref. Rachel Fintzy (MA, LMFT), PsychCentral, 10 Ways to Increase Self-Esteem
Feeling good about ourselves may not come naturally, given our upbringing and life experiences, but this is certainly a most worthy endeavour. Just sayin' :) Hugs.
Blessings,
Chatgirl
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