Self-esteem is the opinion you have of yourself. This opinion is important because it plays a role in the decisions you make in your life and your relationships with others. If you have a poor self-image, it can prevent you from achieving your goals and reaching your full potential. The impacts can be seen in all areas of your life.
What is your opinion of yourself?
All of us have inner thoughts, the voice that constantly evaluates our actions in life. Even the most confident people have negative thoughts every once in awhile. The key difference is that they don’t let it take over their life.
Ask yourself the following questions to evaluate whether you have low self-esteem.
• Do you find that most of the time, your thoughts about yourself are negative?
• How do your thoughts prevent you from reaching your full potential?
• How do your thoughts impact your confidence level?
Many times, we can be our own worst enemy. Think about it for a moment. Would you have a relationship with someone who was constantly criticizing you? What would you do if someone close to you was constantly telling you that “you aren’t good enough”?
Living a life with negative thoughts about ourselves can be stressful and damaging. It impacts not only you, but those around you and can lead to decisions that ultimately aren’t aligned with what you truly want in life. I witness this quite often in my coaching profession – – adult women who have a hard time achieving their goals because of low self-esteem.
The good news is that you can take action immediately to improve your self-esteem. If you take the time now to work on removing self doubt and negative thoughts…. you will see more success and happiness in your life!
Here are just a few strategies to get you started
How to improve your self esteem
- The next time you have a negative thought, stop for a moment to determine where it’s coming from. What is it that you are looking for ? Focus on what you want versus your negative thoughts
- Stop fueling your negative thought. Once the negative thought comes to your head, acknowledge it and then…… let it go
- Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations
- Begin a journal of your daily successes. Placing attention on positive aspects of your day sheds light on areas that you may have been overlooking
- Surround yourself with people who only want to see you succeed.
- Determine what you enjoy doing and then sign up for groups, activities and events where you can apply your strengths which will build your confidence
Making a few adjustments to your thought patterns and/or your environment can make all the difference in the world.
Sonia Singh is a Personal and Professional Development Coach + Project Management Expert. In the Life Balance Coaching Project she supports women to reach their full potential through self-discovery and goal-setting. She is the go-to lady for women who want to re-design their life by turning their goals and dreams into reality. Her clients walk away with a deeper understanding of what’s important to them, gain clarity on their goals and create an action plan to get what they want. You can visit Sonia at www.thelifebalancecoachingproject.com
2 comments
Connor Harley
When I was in high school, I used to have a very low self-esteem. I was always insecure with my classmates who came from a good family and good school while I came from a poor family and from a public school. I used to think that they are way better than me. Now that I am older, I realize how stupid my thoughts were.
Sheila Grimes
There are many symptoms of low self esteem. This list is just that, a list. It does not infer that you have self esteem issues. If you find that you can go down the list and check those that seem common to you, the you should take a self esteem test to further look into this issue.