How To Improve Your Self Esteem – 15 Steps To Uplevel In Life
Want to know how to improve your self esteem? Here are 15 simple steps to uplevel your self esteem in life.
Let’s chat about how to improve your self esteem.
Before I share with you my best advice, it’s best that you properly understand what self esteem means. Your self esteem is defined as “confidence in one’s own worth or abilities.” This means you feel confident in your ability, even when you might not yet have any proof that you can actually do the task at hand.
Obviously it makes sense that you will want to improve your self-esteem if it is currently low. But what can you do to make that happen?
Well first things first – please know that improving self-esteem is a gradual process that involves adopting positive habits, challenging negative thoughts, and building a more compassionate relationship with oneself. It will take time to improve your self esteem but it is definitely work worth investing in and doing.
Here are some strategies to help boost your self-esteem in the simplest way possible:
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
1- Practice Self-Compassion:
Are you kind to yourself? Do you grant yourself lots of grace in life, especially when times are tough? It is important that you treat yourself with the same level of kindness and understanding that you would offer to a friend.
The goal is to become your own biggest cheerleader in life. Consequently it’s important to be mindful of negative self-talk and replace it with positive and encouraging thoughts when you find your crappy thoughts are dominating your internal conversation.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
2 – Set Realistic Goals:
Don’t set yourself up for failure! Instead do your best to establish achievable and realistic goals that you at least believe you are capable of achieving. They should stretch you but not so much that you break. In order to make them easier to tackle, break your larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, and don’t forget to celebrate your accomplishments along the way.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
3 – Focus on Strengths:
Let’s talk about what you are good at! It doesn’t have to be anything super fancy. Even the skill of listening well is a strength. Having patience is a strength. Do your best to identify your strengths and acknowledge your achievements. Think about your strengths every single day. Reflect on your skills and talents, and recognize the positive qualities you possess.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
4 – Positive Affirmations:
Affirmations are defined as positive statements that you repeat either out loud or inside your head. They are said with full belief, affirming the sentence to be true.
This is not about wishful thinking but instead about harnessing the power of the thoughts we choose to repeat to ourselves on a daily basis.
I encourage you to embrace positive affirmations to challenge and replace negative thoughts.
Some examples of positive affirmations include:
I respect my intution
Every situation is an opportunity for growth
I do what is best for me
I do what I can to follow my own heart
I get to know myself better every day
Repeat statements that reinforce your worth and capabilities.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
5 – Surround Yourself with Positivity:
Positive energy attracts positive energy just like negative energy attracts negative energy. So which do you want to be attracting into your life? Choose to spend time with people who uplift and support you. Surround yourself with positive influences – people who believe in you and love you. This can have a significant impact on your self-esteem.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
6 – Accept Compliments:
Stop dismissing sincere compliments that come your way. Instead learn to accept compliments graciously. Avoid discounting praise and instead, acknowledge and thank others for their kind words.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
7 – Take Care of Your Physical Health:
A healthy body is often correlated with a healthy mind. Therefore, regular exercise, a balanced diet, and adequate sleep will contribute to overall well-being and can positively impact your self-esteem.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
8 – Learn from Mistakes:
Guess what isn’t fun or useful in life? Making the same mistakes over and over again in life and NEVER LEARNING FROM THEM. I recommend that you don’t do this. You have the opportunity instead to view mistakes as opportunities for learning and growth rather than as reflections of your worth. Understand that everyone makes mistakes, and they don’t define you. But they are instead a valuable chance for you to learn and grow in life.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
9 – Challenge Negative Thoughts:
Let’s ditch your consistent crappy thinking. If you want to improve your self-esteem you can keep sh#t-talking to yourself every day and talking yourself down. Do your best to identify and challenge negative thoughts and beliefs about yourself. This is important work for you to do. Consider the evidence for and against these thoughts, and reframe them in a more positive light.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
10 – Practice Gratitude:
Let’s also do our best to be more grateful IF ONLY BECAUSE THIS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF. News alert: when you feel better about yourself, this will in turn improve your self esteem. Focus on the positive aspects of your life by keeping a gratitude journal. Make sure to regularly write down things you are thankful for, no matter how small.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
11 – Develop Healthy Boundaries:
Want to know a quick way to feel crap about yourself? It’s when you let people overstep your boundaries and walk all over you like a doormat. Once again, this is something you need to avoid if you want to improve your self esteem. (Of course if you want to decrease your self esteem, by all means ignore this tip).
My suggestion to you is that you set and maintain healthy boundaries in your relationships. Learn to say no when necessary AND AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED TO and prioritize your own well-being. You are important. You are worth doing this work.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
12 – Seek Support:
Don’t feel like you need to do it all on your own. Talk to friends, family, or a mental health professional about your feelings and challenges. Ask for help when you need it. Having a supportive network can provide encouragement and perspective, which will in turn improve your self esteem.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
13 – Learn New Skills:
Have you ever learned a new skill and thought “wow, I really thought it would be hard to do but it really wasn’t so difficult after all?” How did you feel after you learned that skill? A little smarter? A little wiser? A little more confident? Taking up a new hobby or learning a new skill can boost your confidence and provide a sense of accomplishment – once again all catalysts for a boost in your self esteem.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
14 – Engage in Self-Care:
Repeat after me: self care is important. Self care is self love. I repeat: SELF CARE IS SELF LOVE. I want you to prioritize any self-care activities that bring you joy and relaxation. Do them often. Do them freely. Relish in this activty. Examples include activities such as reading, taking a bath, or spending time in nature. Anything that makes your soul feel nourished and nurtured.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
15 – Focus on the Present:
Let’s come back to our goal here. It’s to improve your self esteem today. It’s to help you feel more confident about your ability to do things you have never done before. It’s to help you discover that you have the power to always land on your feet.
It’s when you know that deep down, you are fine, you will always be fine, and you will always be taken care of BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOU. You have this present moment and all is well right now.
Let’s just worry about yesterday or tomorrow just now. Instead practice mindfulness and stay focused on the present moment. Deep breath in and deep breath out. Let go of past mistakes and avoid worrying excessively about the future. Remember: all is good for now; you have you and you will always have you.
In the end, keep in mind that improving your self-esteem is a gradual process. This takes time and this takes work. But the payoff will ultimately be so worth it my friend.
I wish you the best of luck, Frances xxx
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I’m Frances Vidakovic – a mindset & action coach for quietly ambitious women who want to stop overthinking and finally take aligned action. I help women achieve their goals and follow through on what matters, without sacrificing their sanity or soul.