10 Ways To Raise Your Self-Esteem

Your level of self-esteem impacts how you feel, your level of motivation and productivity and how others interact around you. 

Think about the times you have come across someone with low self-esteem…they typically:

• keep their head down and don’t acknowledge you (often taken to be a message of superiority)
• constantly give in to other people
• use defenses that include annoying behavior (talk too much, never listen),  or abuse alcohol or drugs as a way to cope
• always seem to have “bad luck”
• come across as if they are angry or have a chip on their shoulder
• evoke a “dark cloud” of sadness or seriousness
• fall in with the wrong crowd as a way to “fit in”
• create excuses for why they don’t succeed
• bury their dreams and desires deep learning to “make due with what they have” 

Not exactly the picture you want to be in is it?

The great news is that all of this can be turned around with an increase in self esteem

Here are 10 ways you can begin to raise your self esteem right away…(if you have others that come to mind, leave us a comment)

1. Focus each day on what you are good at or what people like about you – we often focus on the negatives, but start with just one positive and make sure you focus on that throughout the day
2. Put your negative thoughts into perspective – aren’t you over-reacting? 
3. Meditation – the single best method for helping to calm the mind and learn to look at life more objectively instead of dwelling on the negative
4. Exercise – you don’t have to run a marathon, but setting realistic objectives to be active (walking, jogging, cycling, tennis, swimming, climbing a flight of stairs,) will help to release endorphins that can cause further motivation and positive thoughts as well as having health benefits on your body and mind
5. Have a “I am thankful for…” list that you read aloud each morning before you start the day
6. Have an “I am worthy of…” list that you read aloud each morning…you deserve the happiness, joy, satisfaction and fulfillment of achieving your dreams
7. Set goals that are emotionally meaningful and work towards those each day
8. Forget about the opnions of other people.  That doesn’t mean treat them like trash, instead it means treat them with unconditional love and ignore daily negative thoughts of messages – most often they have nothing directly to do with you but rather are the result of their own low self-esteem or just a bad day
9. Surround yourself with like-minded, positive self-esteem people.  When you have low self-confidence you seek out others that are suffering like you.  Make the opposite happen, have the confidence to seek out others that have high self-esteem like you
10. Find the good in the moment.  The sound of birds singing, the cleaning effect of a rainy day, the quietness of a retirement home, the smile that a stranger gave you on the way to work today…

Self-esteem is one of the 5 Pillars of Greatness that underly your joy and ability to accomplish what you want in life.  So go ahead, put these principles to work and raise your self esteem today.