Our top tips!
- Identify your barriers
What is it that is making you feel bad about yourself? If you are able to identify the feelings that are holding you back, you can begin to overcome them. - Accept the things that cannot change
There are plenty of aspects about ourselves that cannot change. We all have to accept that there are parts of ourselves that we can control, and parts that we cannot. - Focus on the positives
If you are feeling negative about yourself, focus on the parts of yourself that make you feel positive. Find things that make you feel proud and focus on how you can make more proud memories of yourself.
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is a word used to describe how someone values their own self-worth. Another way to describe this is how much a person appreciates or likes themselves. Self-esteem can be made up by a variety of beliefs about things including including your own appearance, emotions and behaviours. Your self-esteem is often seen to be part of your personality.
Self-esteem is an important part of our ‘psychological makeup’. It plays a really important part in how we push ourselves, as well as our successes, failures and motivation.
- If you have low self-esteem, you will likely hold yourself back and avoid pushing yourself further. You might find you lack motivation and avoid pushing yourself to be successful as you really could be. Ultimately, this can prevent you from reaching your potential.
- If you have a healthy level of self-esteem, you will find you feel more positive about life and feel more able to push yourself to achieve your full potential. This is because you have a better understanding of your self-worth and a belief that you can achieve your goals.
What is low self-esteem?
Low self-esteem is when you are unable to value yourself at your full worth. People with low self-esteem often do not feel like they can realistically achieve their goals and find themselves lacking motivation to push themselves forward.
There are many signs that might indicate that you are experiencing low self-esteem:
- Having a negative outlook on life
- Believing that other people are better than you, and lacking confidence in yourself and your abilities
- Always focusing on your weaknesses, and finding it difficult to accept positive feedback from others about yourself
- Experiencing excessive feelings of shame, depression and anxiety, and feeling unable to express your needs
- Having an intense fear of failure or believing that you will not be able to succeed in whatever you are trying to achieve
Mentor others
If you are struggling with your self-esteem, it can sometimes help if you mentor others who are also struggling. Through helping them to understand their full worth, you often find ways to understand yours too.
Strike out the negatives
Think of all the negatives in your life. This might be feelings, behaviours or people that make you feel bad. Once you have identified them, start removing the ones you can control, such as spending time with people who make you feel bad.
Create an accomplishment diary
An accomplishment diary can really help you keep track of all of the positive things that you can achieve in life. Every time you do something that somebody praises you for, or that you feel proud of yourself for doing – record it in a diary.
Find your comfort zone... and push it to the limit
Everyone has a comfort zone, and we prefer to stay in this zone. People with low self-esteem often have “smaller comfort zones”. Find your boundaries and really try to push yourself beyond those to boost how you feel.
What can I do to help myself?
If you are feeling like your self-esteem needs boosting, there are many ways to get help. One way is to reach out and speak to someone who can help you. But for that to work, you need to be willing and able to help yourself as well.
We have put together some examples of things that you can do to help yourself when you are feeling like this.
Coping with low self-esteem
Find your positives
Take time to think about the positive aspects of yourself. Think back to the last time you felt really proud of something that you did, or a talent that you like to show off. Keep a note of these positive things to remind you when you’re feeling low.
Inspire yourself
Think about things that you want to achieve. Make a bucket list and, for each of the items, think of ways to inspire yourself to achieve them. If you are feeling low, refer to these as inspiration to remind you of what you can do.
Avoid listening to others
The only person that you need to be able to please is yourself. You are the only person who can sum up your self worth. Avoid spending time dwelling on what other people think you, and instead focus on what makes you happy or proud.
Identify your negatives
Low self-esteem is caused by negative perceptions of yourself. Identify these things that make you feel negative about yourself and take the time to understand them. Weigh the negatives against the positives to understand your worth.
I think I might need some help... what do I do?
If you have been reading this page and are starting to worry that you might be suffering with low self-esteem, it is really important that you start thinking about reaching out to somebody.
There are so many different options that you can think about, and all of them will be able to help you some way. Do not suffer in silence; reach out to someone now to start getting the help that you need.
Get support!
If you think you are struggling, reach out to somebody and get the support you need.
Speak to us
You don’t need to suffer in silence. If you think that you might be suffering with any mental health condition and you would like to talk to someone, our friendly mentors will always be on hand to talk with you about anything that you might need.
Speak to somebody you trust
It is really important that somebody close to you, who you can trust, knows about how you are feeling so that they can be there for you when you need them.
Speak to a doctor
If you are suffering with low self-esteem, often simple therapies provided by a psychologist can help you better understand your positive worth. It may be a good idea to speak with a doctor about seeking this kind of support.