An estimated number of eighty-five percent of people have low self-esteem. This is an astonishing number that correlates to different harmful behaviors, from doubting yourself to having more severe symptoms such as anxiety and depression.
While the direct effects of self-esteem may not be seen in your life, they can influence how likely you are to take risks, go after the things you truly want, and the likelihood of you having healthy relationships. Self-esteem is something that is inherently developed throughout childhood and built upon through the experiences of your life. However, once you learn how to raise self-esteem, you will see noticeable changes in your life.
Keep reading for a guide on how to boost self-esteem.
How to Raise Self-Esteem: Healing Trauma
Low self-esteem stems from a feeling of dissonance between who you are and who you want to be. It can also correlate with having a core set of belief systems but then acting differently from these beliefs. This lack of living up to how you know and want to behave can cause feelings of unworthiness.
Some even turn to harsh coping mechanisms, such as abusive relationships for example, that perpetuate low self-esteem. In order to gain confidence back, it’s important to figure out what caused low self-esteem in the first place.
So you can learn how to raise self-esteem, it might be a good idea to try therapeutic methods. Talking to friends or family about traumatic situations that happened to you as a child may also help get to the roots of your self-esteem issues. Without recognizing these core beliefs about yourself that occurred when you were young, it’ll be hard to completely eradicate low self-esteem.
Engage in Authenticity
Instead of doing things for how others perceive you, try to remain authentic. People who are genuine and honest to others and themselves live happier lives. While it can be uncomfortable at first to experience living a new reality, it is only going to help boost self-confidence.
To begin, start listing your passions and interests. This can be an easy way to identify with what you do to please others versus yourself. It can help to evaluate strengths, skills, and talents you have as well.
Even if others have put you down for these interests or skills in the past, stick with them. Doing things for yourself because it satisfies you and you’re good at it is a huge way to boost self-esteem.
Take Risks
Many people can gain confidence by taking new risks. Low self-esteem can result in staying in situations that are comfortable, even if they aren’t healthy. The only way to discover yourself and get your confidence back is to take on challenges.
Many successful people have their great success from experiencing many failures. These failures create resilience and make you a stronger individual.
One example of a way to take risks that is super easy is by calling a locksmith if you end up locking yourself out of your car. This relates to self-esteem, because it can be empowering to take on challenges by yourself rather than relying on a parent, partner, or someone else to do it for you.
Take Small Steps
The most effective way to learn how to raise self-esteem is by taking small steps towards gaining confidence. These small signs of progress might go unnoticed by you or those around you at first. However, over time they build up, and you gain the strength to disregard most negative thoughts of self-doubt entirely.
Visit our ‘Health and Fitness’ page for more ways to step into the most authentic and healthy version of yourself.