How to Boost Your Own Self-Confidence

How to Boost Your Own Self-Confidence

Do you find yourself struggling with low self-confidence? You are not alone. Low self-esteem can affect anybody at any age or of any background. It can have an impact on your relationships, your career, and even your overall health and happiness. The good news is that even if you have low self-esteem now, there are things that you can do to build it up over time. Before you can do this, you must learn to have a greater understanding of what self-confidence is and what factors go into it. You must also take a look at your life and try to determine what is causing you to have low self-esteem. From there, you can begin taking steps to change the way you perceive yourself.

Understanding What Self-Confidence Really Is

Self-confidence, or self-esteem, has to do with how we view who we are and how capable and worthy we are of accomplishing something. In many cases, it is a skewed version of reality. For example, someone who is very intelligent, capable, and talented can still have low self-confidence despite their known, proven abilities. When someone has high self-esteem they view themselves and their place in life in a positive way. They are typically more resilient and better able to handle stress effectively when it comes their way.

However, when someone has low self-esteem they are more prone to worrying about what other people think of them. They may be exceptionally critical of themselves and will agonize over any tiny flaw. They have a harder time taking criticism from others and may struggle to keep up with the ups and downs of life.

Having good self-esteem is critical for many different reasons. It can impact the opportunities we seek after, the way we allow ourselves to be treated by others, and even the direction that our lives end up taking.

Recognizing the Causes of Low Self-Esteem

There are many things that can cause low self-esteem and it can be drawn from a certain event or circumstances that occurred very early in life. Some examples include:

  • Being criticized or talked down to by a parent, teacher, or another authoritative figure
  • Being belittled by an abuser
  • Going through an unhealthy relationship
  • Physical, sexual, or emotional trauma
  • Being bullied or harassed
  • Growing up with uninvolved parents
  • Growing up with parents that frequently fought or who went through a divorce

Building up Self-Esteem

While it can take time and hard work, self-esteem can be restored over time. The following steps can help you begin to view yourself in a more positive, healthy way.

#1. Work on contradicting the negative thoughts you have about yourself. Pinpoint one of the negative thoughts you frequently have about yourself and look for proof within your life that shows this negative thought isn’t true. For example, if you commonly think “I’m not smart,” look back at successes you’ve had that prove otherwise. Perhaps this is a good grade on a test or earning a college diploma. It may even be helpful to write these successes down in a journal. That way, whenever you begin having that particular negative thought again, you’ll be able to look back on it.

#2. Focus on the positive aspects of yourself. Even if you don’t believe it, there are lots of positive aspects that are unique to you personally. Start looking for them and acknowledging them more often. It could be as simple as a physical trait that you like about yourself or a certain talent you have.

#3. Start changing your inner dialogue. Work on being aware of when you’re having a negative thought about yourself and deal with it before it can spiral out of control. As soon as you realize you’re having a negative thought, replace it with something positive. As time goes on this will become easier and more natural.

#4. Become more aware of who influences you in your life. Are you hanging out with people who build you up or tear you down? If there is someone in your life that is unnecessarily critical of you and is impacting your mental health, it may be time to cut ties with them. Instead, work on surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people.

#5. Many people begin to feel better mentally when they start taking better care of their physical health. This includes making sure you’re eating healthy meals, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. This can greatly impact how a person views themselves. In addition, avoid engaging in excess substance use.

Self-esteem is very important because it impacts so many different facets of our lives. It can affect what opportunities we go after, the direction our career takes, how we allow ourselves to be treated by others, and where our life ends up. Someone with high self-esteem thinks about themselves more positively and is more resilient to stress. If you’re struggling with low self-esteem, it is important to identify the reason. Maybe it is due to a bad relationship or something from your childhood. You can slowly build your self-esteem back up over time by looking for positives about yourself, changing your inner dialogue, getting rid of people who tear down your confidence, and working on improving your physical health. At Achieve Concierge we want to ensure that you are living your best life, mentally and physically. If you’re struggling with mental health, call us today at (619) 393-5871 to learn more about how we can help.

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