We live in a realm where there is an epidemic of low self-esteem
We are living in a world where there’s an epidemic of low self-esteem. It impacts virtually every part of our lives, from the way we consider ourselves to how we think about and respond to life circumstances.
When damaging influences and opinions are prevalent — produced either from inside ourselves or through the others — it unfavourably affects the way we feel about ourselves. Over time this may cause low self-esteem that may lessen the standard of an individual’s life in a number of different ways. Unchecked, this can lead to emotional health problems like as depression and anxiety.
However what causes low self-esteem? You will find diverse causes, but according to some leading Australian clinical psychologist on self-esteem difficulties, Dr Lars Madsen, it may often be traced back into violent or dysfunctional early years. It may also be attributed to on-going stressful life events like relationship failures, financial distress, poor treatment from a spouse, parent or guardian, being tormented or even choosing the wrong career.
Most of us know our lives are filled with of challenges and triumphs, of ups and downs. In present world we’re only too conscious there are lots of negative stressors that could make us to doubt ourselves. As every negative influence enters our lives, uncertainty creeps into our minds, and “I cannot do this”, or “I won’t ever conquer this”, become chants which are harder and harder every day to dismiss out of our mind-set.
How frequently do you think, “If only I had been good enough?”
The world can truly feel a lonely place while looking for the right tools to assist us at such times — all could be confusing and daunting. Conveying too much credibility on negative habits of thinking can become an ingrained pattern, and we all lose the capacity to find a way to our happy, self-confident and powerful selves.
Simply speaking, a robust awareness of self-esteem will help fight negative thinking. Attempt these seven guidelines to kick-start your self-esteem.
1. Treat yourself as you would to your best friend. Be kind, understanding and supportive. Choose the right career,don’t be hard on yourself if you make a mistake. Each time you criticize yourself, stop and find for objective evidence that the criticism is true. You will realize that nearly all of your destructive self-talk is unfounded.
2. Don’t liken yourself to others. Identify that everyone differs and that each human life has value in its own right. Make a bid to accept yourself, warts and all.
3. Acknowledge the positive and grow your special qualities — remind yourself of your good points daily.
4. Compose a list of your good points and refer to it frequently. (If you are feeling you can’t consider anything great about yourself, ask a trusted friend to assist you pen the list.)
5. Focus on living in the here-and-now instead of than getting back to old hurts and disappointments.
6. Exercise is very good for handling depression and helping you to feel great. Health goals need to be incremental such as beginning with a walk around the block once daily, enrolling at a local gymnasium or going for a swim. Exercise has been demonstrated to be as powerful as anti-depressant pills and psychotherapy combined from the alleviation of moderate and mild depression.
7. Be confident and communicate your needs, desires, feelings, opinions and beliefs and to other people in a direct and honest way.
It requires effort and vigilance to substitute unhelpful and negative thoughts and behaviours with healthy choices. Give yourself time to set up the new habits. Keep a journal diary to chart your improvement.
It’s not actually external events which have the most profound outcome on our self-esteem, but the way we see our personal life and life’s events. In the end, it’s the inner belief we’ve got in ourselves which guides our journey. Can we actually believe we deserve to stay in a bad relationship? Do we really believe we deserve to be physically or emotionally abused? Is our negative impression in ourselves keeping us in such negative surroundings?
Although we can’t change our past experiences, we could alter the way we think about them. Consequently, once we fight negative thoughts and improve how we think about ourselves, we identify a solution to a better future.