How is your self-esteem? Most people have dreams and goals that they want to accomplish in life. But, how many people actually follow through with their goals? After all, it’s easy to say you’re going to do something. It’s a lot different when you’re on your own, sometimes struggling day in and day out with doubt and discouragement. Can self esteem be improved? Yes! There are ways to help boost your self-esteem, give you more confidence and to reduce the doubt inside of you?
Do you ever struggle to get over hurdles you’ve created because you feel insecure inside? When people are working to reach their goals, confidence is almost always a culprit.
If you struggle with low self-esteem or want a boost, we’re giving you five tangible ways that you can improve today.
When you’re trying to boost your confidence it can seem like a never-ending battle that leads to self-doubt and feelings of low self-esteem. But the truth is that you can totally turn your life around and be happy! It all starts with changing the way you think about yourself. Everyone has strengths. Even if you don’t believe you have achieved much, believe it or not, you have. The simple fact that you are reading this article should be enough to let you know that you are self-aware and want to improve! Even if your self-esteem is very low, you still do many things well. Look at all of the kind things you do for other people instead of focusing on what you don’t like about yourself. Recognize what you accomplish every day, no matter how small it seems to be. If you want to feel better about yourself, start seeing the positive traits.
A significant way to increase self-esteem is to take action, especially a tiny step. A friend of mine was overweight and struggled to go to the gym. What she did to get herself to go to the gym every day made people think she was insane. What she did was tell herself, “I’m only going to the gym for five minutes.” So every day, she would put on her workout clothes, go inside, get onto a treadmill or lift some weights. Once her timer for five minutes went off, she would stop everything, get up and leave. Her friends thought she was crazy, but what she was really doing was creating a habit. She got used to going to the gym every day, even if it was just for five minutes. That small amount of time became 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, and now she goes consistently and has lost weight because she took the tiny steps to make his goals happen! Start small.. just start.
Stop criticizing yourself and start encouraging yourself. When you criticize yourself, you continue to bring yourself down! This is how you’re going to accomplish your goals. So, what does it mean to discourage vs. encourage? It’s all about the way you talk to yourself. Here are some excellent examples of changing your mindset.
Discouragement: “I never have enough money.” Encouragement: “If I keep improving my daily habits, I will see my savings increase!”
Discouragement: “I never lose weight.” Encouragement: “I am getting stronger everyday”
Discouragement: “Nobody likes me.” Encouragement: “I like me because I do kind things”
Discouragement: “I’m not smart enough.” Encouragement: “I am improving everyday”
Try keeping a journal in which you write down three things each day that has made you happy or proud. It could be something as simple as getting into the routine of making your bed or cleaning up after yourself. Write them in a book so you can read all of them at the end of the week, month, or year! That’ll give you a fantastic boost of self-esteem. At the end of the year, you’ll have plenty of reasons to feel good about yourself! Go back each day at the end of the day and read those statements.
Focus on your progress and nothing else. Did you know that your mind only focuses on what you tell it to? Meaning you can’t tell your brain what not to think about. For example, if I said, “do NOT think about elephants,” your brain will likely only think about elephants. I know, silly example. But you get the idea. In the same way, you can’t tell your brain to not think negative thoughts. If all you’re thinking about is fear of failure, not being enough, always doubting yourself, that is what your brain is going to think. Instead, what you should do is to tell your brain to THINK POSITIVE thoughts. These positive thoughts will be like water on a thirsty plant. Now you know what your brain will do if you tell it negative or positive thoughts. To change your life and become a better person or achieve success in some area of your life, you must continuously tell yourself that you are a great person and focus on being better! Your mind will believe it!
The key to boosting your self-esteem and achieving your goals is to do the things that make you feel good. After all, why would you want to continue doing something or being somewhere that doesn’t make you feel good? You should also avoid places or people that bring you down or make you feel bad about yourself. Doing what makes you feel good is a positive habit that will help you gain self-confidence. And if negative people or places cause you to feel bad about yourself, imagine their effect on your self-esteem or life in the long term? Do the things that make you feel good and steer clear of the things and people who bring you down, and you’ll be on your way to a new you!
More tips to come on how to be a whole person!
Written by a member of the Marie L Paquin Team