5 Ways to Boost Your Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
Everyone has moments when they feel low or unsure of themselves. When you’re under stress, it can be hard to see the bright side. However, a feeling of low self-esteem or self-doubt isn’t something that will go away on its own. We all need to do the things that are good for us, as well as have positive reinforcement and support from friends, family, and professionals, in order to have a sense of confidence again.
Lacking self-esteem is often linked to negative thought patterns such as Comparisonitis and Imposter Syndrome which make you question yourself more than you should. Wearing a hat or mask in public can also give you a fake sense of security if you don’t know your real appearance, like wearing glasses indoors for example.
If you feel less than confident about yourself on a regular basis, here are five ways to boost your self-esteem and self-confidence again.
1. Take Small Steps to Build Up Self-Esteem and Confidence
Many people have a big goal or dream, but when you look at the steps to get there, it feels too big to take.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed or down about the distance between where you are and where you want to be, break your goal down into small steps that you can work towards. Keep track of how you feel and your progress is much easier to see. You might even notice that once you start moving towards your goal, you feel more confident and optimistic than ever before.
You can also use a journal to track your feelings, thoughts, and actions, then see if you can make any connections. For example, if you’re feeling low, what do you think about that makes you feel even worse? Once you’ve figured out what triggers those feelings, you can then start finding ways to change your mindset.
For example, if you’re feeling low because you’re stressed about work, relax a bit and breathe. Take a few deep breaths and tell yourself that everything will be okay. Start small and work your way up from there.
2. Define your personal strengths
No matter what your job or career is, there are some skills and qualities that you have that are unique and make you a great person. When you don’t feel confident in these areas, it can create a feeling of low self-esteem and self-doubt.
The first step to boosting your self-esteem and self-confidence is to identify your strengths. Look through a list of qualities you’ve identified as being important to you and find out what they are. For example, if you’ve come to the realisation that you’re a great leader, you can use that as a strength and define it as such. When you define your strengths and start working on honing them, you’ll feel a lot better about yourself.
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3. Find activities you enjoy
When you’re feeling low about yourself, you’re more likely to overeat, drink too much, or skip out on hobbies. This is not what you need to do in order to feel better. Instead, find something that you enjoy doing that doesn’t require you to be at 100% all the time. Whether it’s reading a book, journaling, or exercising, find something that doesn’t involve a lot of pressure. A hobby that doesn’t require you to be 100% will allow you to take your mind off things and relax without the risk of overdoing it.
4. Talk to your friends and family about how they see you
It can be difficult to talk to your friends and family about how they really see you. You’re not trying to put them down or make them feel bad, you just want to know what they see and what they think is important.
For example, if you’ve been feeling low about your appearance, someone might tell you that you look fine. Instead of taking that as a sign that you look fine, ask them to explain why they think that.
You might be surprised by what they say and the way you feel about yourself.
5. Show yourself some love, even when you’re not feeling it
Often times, when we feel like we aren’t worth it or our worth is questionable, we don’t treat ourselves kindly. In order to boost your self-esteem and self-confidence, you have to give yourself some love. Whether you need to eat a snack, take a break from eating healthily, or treat yourself to a fun thing you’ve been wanting to do, do it.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t deserve it (or rather think you don’t). Treating yourself kindly will make you feel better than if you don’t treat yourself right.
Conclusion
Low self-esteem and self-doubt are usually a result of a lack of confidence. To boost your confidence, you need to work on identifying your strengths and finding activities you enjoy that don’t require you to be at 100% all the time. You can also talk to your friends and family about how they see you and show yourself some love, even when you’re not feeling it.