Low self-esteem often causes many individuals to suffer symptoms of anxiety and depression. Millions of adults, when they lack courage or aplomb, will join a huge group like Toastmasters. There they get the opportunity to practice their public speaking and improve their communication, to build their confidence and leadership skills.
For young teens and adults, there are some world-famous finishing schools, where they are taught how to have etiquette, confidence, poise, and to believe in themselves. Why so? Because confident people believe in themselves and they go places.
Factors That Often Influence Your Self-Esteem
- How others react to you
- Your perceptions and thoughts
- Your experiences at work, school, and home, as well as in the community
- Disability, attractiveness, injury, and illness
- Age
- Your status and role in society
- Media messages
- Relationships with those around you
7 Amazing Ways to Build High Self Esteem
- Stay away from negativity – it can drive people away from you – Confidence is key, and that’s what Health Web Magazine says. For you to be able to achieve anything in life, you need to believe in yourself – that you are capable of achieving amazing things. You believe that amazing things are possible because of who you are and, in all likelihood, happen. When you believe in yourself, others do too.
- Get up and do what you have to do. It means celebrating the small stuff. You jump out of bed on time, ready to be at work on time – tick. You see to it that you have a good healthy breakfast to keep you energized and focused – tick. You put a smile on your face as if you have the magic remedy for success – tick. Just celebrating these small positive changes can make you feel confident.
- Listen to what your body is saying to you – Mental health is imperative to be confident and happy. When we are trying to improve our self-esteem, we often focus on our outward appearance; smiling, grooming, being trendy, more upbeat, etc. But it is imperative to feed our bodies from within, so our mental and physical health is in top form. Keep away from toxic people, toxic environments, and toxic habits – they can be a cause of depression. Keep the smile ongoing and genuine because it will make you feel and look on top of the world in spirit and health.
- Make sure you eat right – Eating the right food helps you feel good about yourself because it gives you energy and keeps the brain alert! A healthy lifestyle is a great way to be prepared for whatever comes your way. It is also important to remember that when we are feeling down, it is all too easy to want to give up and throw in the towel. See here how eating right impacts your self-esteem.
- Make time for yourself – A fantastic way to boost self-esteem is to make time for yourself. It’s pandering to your needs. Maybe you love being quiet and alone sometimes, but you never get the time. Allow time to do things that make you happy, calm your mind and body, keep you balanced, enabling you to reflect on yourself and your life and build your self-esteem.
- Maintain positive emotions in how you face people and life – Having fun might be being in a career that you adore, and that might be a huge confidence booster. But how you react to things that happen in your life and how you respond to people also reveal your self-confidence or lack of it. That means not comparing yourself to others and their success, particularly on social media. Clinical psychologist Linda Blair states, “You’re comparing yourself with a fantasy, and that will lead to either excessive striving or disappointment.”
- Exercise – Exercise is not only excellent for your physical health but very much so for your mental health, your positivity, and your self-esteem. Engaging in physical activity releases endorphins in the body. These trigger off positive feelings.
The Bottom Line
Building self-esteem does take time and patience. Trying your best at all times is important because it makes you feel good, which builds self-esteem. When you have good self-esteem, you can value yourself honestly, making you feel worthwhile and secure.
It is building positive relationships with friends, colleagues, and family because you are confident in your abilities, and they are confident in you. When you are confident in yourself, you are open to critical feedback because it helps you master and acquire new skills and improve on the ones you have.
Healthy self-esteem enables you to assertively express your opinions and needs, make decisions, and form honest and secure relationships. It enables you to discern unhealthy relationships and walk away from them. You will be realistic in your expectations, not overly critical of yourself or others, able to weather setbacks and stress, and deal with it in a mature, responsible way.
Self-esteem isn’t about blowing your own trumpet. It’s about loving yourself, respecting yourself, laughing at yourself, and knowing who you are. You make decisions about yourself that many can only dream about!
