Surely you have ever felt discouraged when considering challenging projects or daily tasks, a common experience that occurs especially when we do not trust ourselves.
It is normal for this to happen from time to time; The way we perceive ourselves varies depending on the circumstances and, being dynamic, can lead to moments in which we do not feel prepared to do everything that life asks of us. However, when this experience lasts over time, it is indicative that we surely suffer. a problem of low self-esteem.
The good news is that we don’t have to resign ourselves to feeling bad about ourselves. There are several ways to improve self-esteem and although the most effective are to go to psychotherapy, some are so simple that they can be based on relatively simple habits
Key habits to increase self-esteem in your daily life
Self-esteem is the way in which we analyze and value ourselves globally, as individual beings. This implies that Self-esteem is composed of a textual part (it can be reflected in phrases and words) and an emotional part that touches us more closely. The combination of these two dimensions of self-esteem means that it influences us in all aspects of life, and that is why it is advisable to keep it in good condition, without letting it drag us towards the tendency to judge ourselves in a very unfair and linked way. to constant self-sabotage.
Thus, self-esteem constitutes an essential element in the life of any person, and to increase it we can put into practice a series of very useful habits that can be implemented in our daily lives.
1. Exercise regularly
Doing moderate exercise regularly is one of the simplest habits to maintain good emotional balance, since it influences both physical and mental health. It’s not about simply getting in shape and looking good in the mirror; The very experience of exercising generates in us an instantaneous effect of satisfaction with our achievements.
Exercise can be of any type, the important thing is that it is intense enough to challenge us and connect us with the here and now, letting go of the intrusive thoughts that usually affect us when we feel low self-esteem.
2. Surround yourself with people who value you
Human beings are social beings, which means that we need the company of other people to develop and fulfill ourselves healthily, as well as to feel better throughout our lives. Much of what we think we know about ourselves is derived from the way we see others react to us, and that is why to maintain good self-esteem we must know who is worth dedicating our time to.
To increase self-esteem it is necessary being with those people who make us feel good or who lead us to see ourselves through the lens of constructive criticism ; It is not just about being with sycophants, but with people who feel good sharing with us what they like about our actions and way of being, and who have no interest in lowering our self-esteem to make us dependent on them (something unfortunately common in toxic relationships).
Doing what truly fulfills us in life and dedicating time to pursuing hobbies that make us happy is another of the best ways to improve our levels of self-esteem. It allows us to show ourselves what we are capable of in areas of knowledge or technical skill that add meaning to our lives.
4. Maintain positive self-talk with yourself
Self-dialogue is the way we communicate with ourselves. Some people have a tendency to talk to themselves before doing a complicated task or to encourage themselves before a complicated test.
This habit, far from being an eccentricity, is a good way to communicate with ourselves and something that many psychologists highly recommend, especially for those with self-esteem issues.
Therefore, to improve our self-esteem we must modify a negative self-talk style and replace it with a more positive one. This means that we must start talking to each other in a positive and respectful way, highlighting when necessary the successes and good things we do and also encouraging ourselves or being understanding when something goes wrong, to learn from our mistakes.
5. Write a personal diary
Increasing knowledge about oneself is the best way to improve our levels of self-esteem, which is why it is so important to fill out a personal diary in the that we write our emotions, fears or daily problems.
When we know ourselves better and are able to identify our emotions, we will also be better able to modify them with more positive ones, which will allow us to live better and be happier in life, with higher levels of self-esteem.
People with low self-esteem have tendency to be self-critical of themselves to excessive levels since they systematically consider that they do everything wrong.
To overcome this vision of ourselves, we must convert self-criticism towards ourselves and our performance into concrete proposals, to know specifically what we must change in order to be better.
7. Avoid dysfunctional perfectionism
Low self-esteem is also often caused by excessive perfectionism in certain people.
This means that the person is never happy with their performance or the result of their work. To improve this problem we can set more realistic and achievable goals.
8. Avoid expressing yourself in absolute terms
Some people with low self-esteem tend to harbor very drastic thoughts about themselves like: “I’m useless” “Nothing works for me” or “I’m never going to get it.”
To improve our self-esteem we must modify those absolute thoughts with some more positive and realistic ones. In this way we can begin to think “This hasn’t worked out for me, but if I try hard I will achieve it” or “I’m not good at this but I am good at other things.”
Are you looking for psychological assistance to boost your self-esteem?
Psychology offers very effective emotional management tools to overcome self-esteem problems. Therefore, if you are interested in having professional help, contact us.
In Happy Mind Institute We offer you psychotherapy services and training in emotional regulation, self-leadership and Mindfulness.
