What is Self-Esteem?
What is self-esteem? The dictionary will tell you that it is the confidence in one’s own worth or abilities, self -respect. It is true and it is more. What self-esteem is, is how you perceive yourself when everyone and nobody is looking. Your self-esteem is how free you are to be who you are. Would you wonder what people will say? Will you not?
Do you cower in the corner at the words of others, or do you challenge the status quo? It also lies in your ability to stand alone, some people only find their voice with the clique. What is self-esteem, are you shaken by what people will think or if they will be able to handle who you are. Its all about how much you believe in yourself, respect yourself and how vulnerable you are to influence.
How to Improve Confidence
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Be the best version of yourself
When building self-esteem, the only thing you should never stop is being the best version of yourself. Who you are today is not the worst, but tomorrow holds a better version of you. A version who today’s person would see as a superhero. By understanding this you have understood how to improve self-confidence, the only thing left is your actions.
Start by listing out the qualities the best version of yourself has and start working towards them the right way. Motivate yourself by showing yourself you can be all you want to be and with time, your self-esteem will be way beyond the sky.
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Speak positively about yourself
Words are powerful. You have the power to speak things into existence. Sometimes, when you say something long enough, you begin to believe it is true. How to improve yourself 102, speak positively about yourself. Always speak positivity into your life.
When you wake up, look in the mirror and tell yourself you are smart, intelligent, motivated, beautiful, handsome, anything at all. With time, those words will begin to dwell in your head, and you will begin to believe it. What you say you are is what you will be and what others will say of you. This simple act will also make you feel secure about yourself.
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Focus on what you can change
If you do not like something about yourself why not change it. However, when building self-esteem, you must rationalise. Ask yourself, what are the things I can change? If you are too skinny and do not like your size, eat a more nutritious diet and get some multivitamins, also hit the gym.
With some people, that’s just their natural build and it won’t change so you can only stay healthy. If you are overweight or leaning towards it, change your diet and hit the gym. It’s the same process. You must never forget to focus on the things about yourself that you can change or improve. This is how to improve self-confidence.
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Surround yourself with supportive people
Negative people will have you believing awful things about yourself and life. In self-esteem building, be sure to do away with such people, it doesn’t matter who they are. They could be your biological family. Surround yourself with supportive and positive people. Such people will help you build self-confidence. They will motivate you, believe in you and most of all love you. This support group with strengthen you emotionally, socially and mentally.
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Change the narrative
Want to know how to improve self-confidence? Change the narrative. In society, there are different groups of people. Each group is surrounded by different circumstances that have been used to define them. In the US, the African-American man is presumed dangerous on sight. Also, for one born in the ghetto, it is assumed he will end up in jail or dead at a young age.
The northern-Nigerian girl child is believed to be a bride, even when she is just a child. That is not all you are or what you will be as your circumstance does not define you. Do not allow it. Change the narrative, disrupt the status quo. It will help you improve your self-esteem and that of others.
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Do not compare yourself
You are unique. In building self-esteem, you must never compare yourself to another person. This will only give you a headache. It will make you insecure because no matter what you do, you can never be anyone else but yourself. Do not evaluate yourself by someone else’s standards, you will run into a dark hole. Do not give in to social validation, everyone else fights their own demons.
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Forgive yourself
Forgiveness is the first step to healing. For all the damaging things you have done to your self-esteem, forgive yourself. When you forgive yourself, you can begin to find yourself again by taking care of yourself. Love yourself deeply and others will follow suit and the ones who don’t, won’t matter.
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Help others find their confidence
It sounds weird, how can you help others improve their self-confidence when you have none of your own. The same logic applies when teaching people things you’re not totally familiar with, you gain knowledge along the way and never lose it. By helping others, you can build a support team you can grow with. This simple feat can help you get to know more about yourself, more things you just might like.
Building Self-Esteem Quotes
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre“When you’re different, sometimes you don’t see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn’t.”
― Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”
― Michael J. Fox“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”
― Frederick Douglass
