Tips to Improve your Self-Worth
This blog post is a follow-up on Practicing Self-Love, which I published a few weeks ago. Self-Love and Self-Esteem are intrinsically connected; therefore, it is essential to understand the meaning of self-esteem if you want to practice or improve self-love. But what is self-esteem? In psychology, the term self-esteem is used to describe a person’s overall subjective sense of personal worth or value-in other words, how much you appreciate and like yourself-. It involves a variety of perceptions about yourself, such as assessing your own appearance, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.
It is important to note that several research studies support the fact that men and women are different when it comes to self-esteem. Apparently, women have lower levels of self-esteem than men, and this discrepancy is observed worldwide. Think, for example, about women’s tendency to over-apologize-and this is not meant to stereotype-. Low self-esteem can cause you to feel unsure of your abilities or like you’re doomed to fail. While low self-esteem is difficult to overcome, it can be done. The purpose of this blog is to help you understand the concept of self-esteem and provide the proper guidance to build it, improve it or boost it.
It’s interesting to consider how biology contributes to the self-esteem differences we witness between genders. Why do so many of us basically dislike ourselves? Why are we embarrassed to “respect “ourselves? Why is it that women pick up on the slightest slur and never hear the good stuff? Criticisms are stored forever; compliments evaporate instantly. Self-esteem comes from the inside. It means that a woman is not dependent upon anyone else to make her feel good about herself because she already knows she is fine just the way she is. She is confident and aware of her strengths and abilities, and she wants to share them with others. This does not mean she is vain or proud.
However, a significant number of women struggle with poor self-esteem because they have absorbed negative messages about women from the culture or relationships. As is stated in an article published in the Psych Central website, “The reign of youth, beauty, and thinness in our society dooms every woman to eventual failure. Starting with the teenage market, women’s magazines program them to focus all their efforts on their appearance. Many girls learn by age 12 to drop formerly enjoyable activities in favor of the beauty treadmill leading to nowhere. They become fanatical about diets. They munch, like rabbits, on leaves without salad dressing, jog in ice storms, and swear they love it! Ads abound for cosmetic surgery, enticing us to “repair” our aging bodies as if the natural process of aging were an accident or a disease.” Not to mention magazine models airbrushed to perfection; or beautiful movie stars who are whipped into the perfect shape by personal trainers and use surgery to create an unnatural cultural ideal. But beauty cannot last forever. If women buy into this image of beauty, they are bound to chronic low self-worth.
Confidence in one’s value as a human being is a precious psychological resource and generally a highly positive life factor. Studies have confirmed that self-reported self-esteem directly correlates with emotional well-being (achievements, good relations, satisfaction). Conversely, be lacking in it, and the fallout can be profound. Possessing little self-regard can lead people to become depressed or anxious, fall short of their potential, or tolerate abusive relationships and situations.
Whatever has affected your self-esteem, it’s important to remember that you have the right to feel good about who you are. Having healthy self-esteem can help you achieve because you navigate with a positive, assertive attitude and believe you can accomplish your goals.
Signs of low self-esteem
It is important to know the common signs of low self-esteem to identify correctly. There are many signs of low self-esteem; here are some of the most common.
- A tendency to devaluate the self (you believe that others are better than you)
- Focus on personal weaknesses
- Trouble accepting positive feedback
- A need to please others
- Putting other people’s needs before your own
- Struggling to say no
- Avoiding conflict
- Apologizing more than necessary
- Overreacting to disagreements
- Intense fear of failure
Low self-esteem occurs for various reasons, including trauma, academic struggles without parental support, disapproving authority figures, dysfunctional workplace, or an unhappy relationship, among others.
Tips for improving your self-esteem
Because self-esteem changes as you move through life, you are likely to experience low self-esteem at some point. Having low self-regard can prevent you from reaching your full potential and could negatively impact life in myriad ways, from academic and professional success to relationships and mental health.
Whatever has affected your self-esteem, it’s important to remember that you have the right to feel good about who you are. Having healthy self-esteem can help you achieve many things because you navigate with a positive, assertive attitude and believe you can accomplish your goals.
No one person is less worthy than the next person, and one is deemed more important. Knowing this detail is crucial. Feeling more confident and having healthy self-esteem helps to up aside fears of being worth less than others. Here is a list of things you can do to build and boost your self-esteem:
- Know yourself. Identify what you like, know what you want out of life, and develop an awareness of how your past experiences have shaped the person you are today. It requires paying attention to how you treat yourself.
- Be nice to yourself. Developing healthy self-esteem also encompasses recognizing how powerful your internal voice is and learning to rewire your brain by creating more effective thinking patterns. Try to be kind to yourself and try to challenge any negative thoughts if you do slip up. It involves acting like your own cheerleader and being mindful that things such as diet, exercise, sleep, and setting realistic expectations all play a role in how you feel about yourself. Caring for yourself means ensuring you take time out to nurture your spirit by doing what you enjoy and excel in-this provides positive reinforcement-.
- Respect yourself. Nobody is perfect; comparing yourself to other people is a sure way to start feeling crummy. Try to focus on your own goals and achievements rather than measuring them against somebody else’s. Always strive to be the best version of yourself, but it’s also important to accept that perfection is an unrealistic goal.
- Remember that everyone makes mistakes. You must make mistakes in order to learn and grow.
- Focus on what you can change. It’s easy to get hung up on all the things that are out of your control, but it won’t achieve much. Instead, try to focus your energy on identifying the things within your control and seeing what you can do about them.
- Do what makes you happy and celebrate the small stuff. Try to schedule a little you-time every day, whether that’s reading, cooking, or watching movies. Also, celebrating small victories is a great way to build confidence. Make sure you weigh your successes equally with your difficulties. Give each result, positive or poor, the same attention.
- Be grateful. Being kind and considerate with other people will undoubtedly boost their mood, but it will also increase your self-esteem.
- Seek out caring relationships. Find people who make you feel good about yourself and avoid those who trigger negative thinking. When you feel consistently supported in your relationships, it becomes easier to weed out your self-doubts.
- LOVE YOURSELF. To truly demonstrate self-esteem, you must believe in your worth and care about your future. Loving yourself means treating yourself as well as you treat friends and loved ones. Doing this involves creating better boundaries in relationships. It also implies celebrating your strengths and learning to accept compliments.
In conclusion, building healthy self-esteem is possible but requires work. It does require you to actively turn inward and develop a greater sense of self-awareness. With dedicated effort, focused attention, and a willingness to put new tools into practice, you can build self-regard and experience a greater level of confidence. It’s part of the process of human evolution. We need to evolve and mature throughout life to become the best version of ourselves. Let’s get inspired!