6 Ways To Overcome Low Self-Esteem

A healthy self-image is important to leading a fulfilling life. However, it’s normal to sometimes fall into self-doubt and self-criticism. But, if such feelings start to take over your life completely, it’s a warning sign that you might suffer from poor self-esteem, and it’s high time you do something about it.

What Is Low Self-Esteem?

Low self-esteem is a state of mind that represents the culmination of all negative thoughts. You start feeling unwanted, useless, and undeserving of love and affection. It adds to your negative self-perception and hinders you from achieving your full potential. After all, feeling down in the dumps all the time isn’t going to bring about positive changes in your life.

When you constantly live in the shadows of your doubts, it gets hard to look at the positive side of things. Plus, poor self-esteem has been associated with poor mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.

How Do You Overcome Poor Self-Esteem?

Practices such as mindfulness can help you develop the ability to step back and assess your circumstances, relationships, and actions with compassion and clarity, free from the biases and regrets that cloud your judgment.

Talking about your feelings with a trusted loved one can do wonders. Often people don’t have any help available and end up falling into addiction, which can take over their life. It is best to consult a professional therapist in such circumstances. Facilities such as Delphi Health Group can support the process. Visit delphihealthgroup.com to connect with a counselor who can work through your negative feelings, uncover their source, and help you heal.

Healing from traumas is a long journey, but with the help of the right professionals, you can start your journey towards a better life!  Below, we have listed six ways to overcome low self-esteem and feel more confident in yourself.

1. Know Your Triggers

Triggers are those situations that make you feel bad about yourself and affect your self-worth. Common triggers might include situations where you’re forced to do something you don’t want to, issues in your professional or private life, conflict with your loved ones, or a major life event that caused a shift in responsibilities.

Learn more about what your triggers might be and once you know which scenarios affect your self-esteem, think about what you feel about them. This will help you challenge your negative self-perception and replace it with something more positive.

2. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness involves paying attention to the present moment and making the most out of your current situation. It allows you to make thoughtful decisions, unfettered by the disappointments of the past or the expectations from the future. 

Although it can be difficult to truly live in the present, appreciating each moment due to a hectic lifestyle is not entirely impossible. It’s not uncommon to have a million thoughts racing through your head, whether dreading stressing about your deadlines or replaying a prior conversation. To practice mindfulness, or “to live in the present,” one must learn to silence the mind’s incessant chatter to savor the sights, sounds, smells, and other sensations of the present moment.

3. Prioritize Self-Care

If you struggle with poor self-esteem, you may find it hard to say “no.” You’re more likely to agree to other people’s requests, even if you aren’t enthusiastic about it. However, this can cause you to become resentful, angry, and depressed.

The first step towards feeling better is taking time out of your day to do something for yourself. Prioritize yourself over others and take a stand for your feelings. Knowing when to say no and care for yourself can improve your mental health. Eating healthy and exercising every so often can boost endorphins, which are happy chemicals and super helpful in making you feel better.

4. Don’t Be Too Harsh On Yourself

You Are Your Worst Critic. 

Most of the time, we are far better at advising others than we are at advising ourselves. It’s important to treat yourself with kindness, especially when you want to lash out at yourself. At times like this, consider what you’d tell a dear friend going through a similar dilemma.

When dealing with poor self-esteem, it’s important to reassure yourself that you deserve love as everyone else. By treating yourself with care, and respect, you’re already on your way to building healthy self-esteem. 

One effective strategy for dealing with low self-esteem is to adopt a less judgemental worldview. Taking a nonjudgmental stance means having no preconceived notions about yourself and accepting yourself for who you are, which results in your poor self-esteem being replaced with pride in your abilities.

5. Surround Yourself With Positive Company

Sometimes the people you may trust the most can hurt you most. If the company of your friends leaves you feeling down, it’s time to find a better company. Surround yourself with people who will love and cherish you for whom you’re instead of bringing you down.

Spending time with a toxic company is often the biggest culprit behind poor self-esteem – be it your family or friends. Find out the nature of your company and if all they do is bring down your self-worth, get rid of them!

6. Try Meditation

When you meditate, you learn to see beyond your thoughts and realize that they are fleeting feelings that do not represent you.

It’s easy to get caught up in an endless loop of “what ifs” in pursuing your identity because of your fear of making a mistake. Meditation promotes self-compassion, mindfulness, fortitude, and other attributes that boost self-esteem. Regular meditation may help your brain respond differently to those ideas and emotions that undermine your self-worth. Spending some time meditating every day can tremendously affect your self-perception. You’ll find your anxieties dissipating like clouds in the sky.

Final Thoughts

Since poor self-esteem is a learned behavior that stems from negative life experiences, it’s possible to unlearn this behavior to improve your quality of life simply. If you struggle with terrible self-esteem, it’s paramount to realize that you are not alone. The above-discussed tips can help you learn to accept yourself for who you are and avoid being harsh on yourself.

Don’t be afraid to ask your loved ones for support and get the help you need. While things don’t change overnight, they may and will improve.