How to Overcome Low Self Esteem

If you are dealing with low self esteem and wondering how to improve it, the following tips can help you feel good about yourself.

Start Journaling

Most negative thoughts about ourselves are locked in our subconscious minds and journaling can bring them into our awareness. Expressing these thoughts on a paper can further help separate the negative ideas about self from the truth of who we are.

If you are battling poor self-esteem, get a notebook and start writing about how you feel at a certain time every day. As you continue writing, try not to stop, edit, or reread, as it can break the flow of thoughts. Once you are finished, take a deep breath and carefully review your words, noticing any negative beliefs you may hold about yourself. Once you identify these beliefs, try understanding where they stem from so you can break the cycle.

Be Non-Judgmental

For most people, low self-esteem arises from judging oneself too harshly. For example, refer to your journaling exercise and remember what you write about yourself. Ask yourself if you would be this critical of someone else too. The answer will probably be no, so why judge yourself so much?

When you start approaching your life without any judgment, it will be easier to accept yourself, your failures and successes, your experiences, and others just as they are without any shame, guilt, or embarrassment. Shifting your mind to be less judgmental has proven a fantastic self-remedy to fix low self esteem for many people with long-term positive impacts.

Forgive Yourself

If you keep ruminating over your failures or mistakes, learn how to forgive yourself and move on. Learning this skill can help you focus more on improving your future instead of lingering on the negative things that have already happened.

Value Yourself

Value yourself by thinking about your accomplishments and everything else you are proud of. Give yourself a chance to appreciate your talents and worth without comparing them to anyone else’s or focusing on things you would instead like to change. Remember that you don’t always need to be better to value yourself. On the contrary, learning to appreciate yourself can motivate you toward your goal.

As a tip, consider yourself your best friend and think about how you would treat a dear friend stuck in a similar situation. Most people will give them kindness, empathy, patience, and understanding. Apply this situation to yourself and show yourself unconditional support just like any sincere friend would.

Work with a therapist

People with high self-esteem usually have a strong belief in themselves that rescues them from holding their critical inner voice and saves them from low self-worth. To become like one of these people, it is imperative to learn how to acknowledge your positive qualities and remind yourself that it is okay to make mistakes every once in a while. Once you achieve these targets, accepting that you can feel depressed, fearful or anxious without considering them as character flaws becomes possible. Another essential tip to fix low self-esteem is to recognise where it stems from. Once you identify these causative factors, move away from them to practice self-acceptance and work on achieving healthy self-esteem. Low self-esteem can have multiple causes, such as traumatic past relationships, upbringing, social media, etc.

Working with a therapist can be a great way to identify and manage the sources of low self-esteem while capitalising on your strengths to achieve self-empowerment. For some people, coping with self-esteem issues is not enough, especially if the problem is due to an underlying mental illness. In such circumstances, addressing these underlying issues become imperative for long-term recovery.