Powerful Habits For Creating Self-Esteem.
Healthy self-esteem is one of the most important attributes of a happy and productive person. Those who don’t believe in themselves automatically inhibit their potential by not thinking they are capable or deserving of achieving their values and goals in life.
But those who do believe in themselves are willing to do their very best in whatever situation they find themselves. And even when they fail, they believe they can learn from it and overcome it.
The big difference? One person feels capable; the other doesn’t. One tries their best; the other gives up after the tiniest bit of struggle.
Healthy self-esteem can make all the difference between a person who achieves their dreams and goals, and a person who never even gives themselves a fair chance. Without it, it doesn’t matter how many strengths or talents you have, because in all likelihood you’ll never have the courage to use them.
Here are some Powerful Habits For Creating Self-Esteem:
- Reflect on your strengths and accomplishments.
Deep down, I believe that everyone offers some value to this world. We all have our particular strengths and talents, and when we focus on these good aspects of ourselves,
we are more likely to build off of them and accomplish some pretty remarkable things in the process.
A lot of people have strengths that they don’t acknowledge for whatever reason. Maybe they are bashful. Maybe they don’t want to show off.
But I say when we make our strengths shine we make the world a better place. We create something valuable, and we inspire others to purse their strengths as well. Believing in yourself doesn’t have to just be about you, it can be about how you can improve society as a whole. Feeling good about you doesn’t need to be perceived as a “selfish” or “narcissistic” thing.
- Exercise and stay healthy.
An important thing to remember about mental health is that our mind and bodies are one and the same. If you treat your body like crap, then you’re probably going to psychologically feel like crap too.
Recent research has made it crystal clear that those who take care of their bodies and exercise frequently show fewer signs of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
In general, people who take care of their bodies have more respect for themselves. No one feels good after munching on a full bag of Doritos or a whole night of heavy
drinking. Learn how to minimize your bad habits and start investing more time eating healthier and trying to stay fit.
Start simple by cutting out all soda or going for morning walks every other day. Once you start building healthy habits, they will begin to come second-nature. I guarantee you will start feeling better about yourself almost right away. - Accept things you can’t change.
Everyone has some things about their life that aren’t perfect. Some of those things we have control over, but a lot of those things we don’t have control over (like certain physical attributes, genetic limitations, and other environmental factors).
Despite these shortcomings, we have to learn to accept them – without feeling bitter, assigning blame, or fostering negativity toward ourselves.
Accept the fact that everyone is dealt a different hand in this game of life, and some people have to face more obstacles than others.
It wasn’t Viktor Frankl’s fault that he was a Jew during the Holocaust and thus got locked up in a concentration camp for most of his life. However, he learned to find satisfaction in his life despite these external circumstances – by accepting them and instead focusing on the aspects of life he did have control over. - Learn how to reframe.
Reframing is learning how to change your perspective on a certain situation or experience.
For example, successful people (in any domain of life) often view “failures” as learning experiences – and by looking at their failures from this perspective, they become more motivated to improve themselves.
On the other hand, people who don’t have this perspective often view “failures” as evidence of their incompetence. Instead of being educated and motivated by them, they think of them as proof that they should quit. - Have a passion.
Passion is any activity that we find intrinsically satisfying. Often when we talk about it, people notice a fire in our souls. And when we engage in the activity, we get lost in a state of flow – hours go by, but we don’t notice because we are so indulged in what we are doing.
Everyone needs a passion. Everyone needs that something that resonates deeply and makes them tick.
Maybe your passion is music, or baseball, or computer programming, or photography, or parenting? Maybe it is all of the above.
Most people don’t just have one single passion, but multiple ones. The important thing is that we have something to get excited about. Because without a passion our lives can quickly become very dull. - Be social.
No matter how introverted or extroverted you may be, I believe everyone needs to have some social life. Even if your social circle is only 2-3 close friends, it’s important that you have people who support you and are on your side.
For many reasons, humans have evolved to be social creatures. By working together, we have constructed many institutions (marriage, technology, science, government) that have enhanced our ability to survive and adapt to our environment.
Individuals that fail to fulfill their duties as a social being often feel depressed and isolated. They go through life with no sense of “belonging” (like the kind Maslow defines in his “Hierarchy of Needs”) and it becomes difficult to build positive and rewarding relationships that improve our lives.
Although we may like to believe that self-esteem is something that is solely about us – the truth is that our self-esteem is highly dependent on our ability to connect with others in a meaningful way.
