Showing posts with label low self esteem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label low self esteem. Show all posts

Low Self Esteem - Here's what to do:


* Low self esteem feeds on negative thoughts so Don't indulge in self criticism. Why are you waging war against yourself? Read self talk and silence your inner judge.

* You can choose to please yourself It is good to you care about other's feelings but aren't your needs just as important? Don't neglect yourself!

* Don't try to be like someone else. This leads to lack of self worth and confidence. You are unique and you cannot be someone else. Strive to improve but don't criticise yourself for not being as successful, beautiful, slim or as popular as someone else.

* Take life and yourself less seriously. Failure just means you are not successful YET. Everybody fails before succeeding, don't look on it as failure but as a means to learning. Perhaps you just need a change of direction. Problems make you stronger if you strive to overcome them.

* Self worth, confidence and assuredness increase when you Focus on your needs and desires. You deserve to live life as you want. This is not selfishness as what you want doesn't hurt others or prevent them from living life on their terms.

* Focus on your successes. Lack of confidence feeds on your feelings of failure and inadequacy. Remember the truly successful things you have done in your life. Reward yourself when you do succeed.
Use positive affirmations and quotes. Read them when you are feeling negative and need inspiration.

Angel Affirmations for Self-Esteem, Doreen Virtue

How to Develop and Nurture Love


By Dr. Annette Colby, RD on SelfGrowth.com

Increasing your love of self involves an intention to become more self-loving and then following up this intention with reinforcing actions. An intention involves a conscious decision to be happier and more fulfilled in your own life. You make a new decision to be alive . . . and then accept personal responsibility to make your life a better, more enjoyable experience. It may take considerable effort to pry yourself out of a life that feels less than joyful, but it is entirely possible to have the kind of life you want for yourself. Below are some practical ideas of how to begin expanding your love of self:

• Acknowledge and verbally praise yourself.
• Have fun more often.
• Learn new ways to relax and release tension.
• Practice conscious, deep, full-bodied breathing several times each day.
• Think inspiring thoughts.
• Instead of always focusing on the problem, decide to focus on desired outcomes.
• Fill your life with beauty, such as times of silence, beautiful music, flowers.
• Raise your confidence by taking daily small, achievable actions steps that support your goal.
• Acknowledge your efforts and your successes.
• Reward yourself daily.
• Listen to your intuition and then follow it.
• Let yourself succeed.
• Nurture yourself by imagining desired outcomes to life's situations.
• Offer yourself affection in many, many different ways.
• Choose to think thoughts that bring inner peace (rather than worry).
• Remember and feel gratitude.



Love may be a mystery. The good news is that the art of increasing self-love is not so mysterious. In fact, it is something you can learn through knowledge and practice. Imagine your self-love as a seed inside of you. Even if it is just a tiny, undernourished, seed right now, you have the ability to grow that seed into something spectacular. The growth of your self-love is not going to happen overnight. However, by taking certain actions, your seed will most assuredly grow. Today, make a commitment to yourself to nurture your inner seed of love. Ask yourself, "How can I be more loving to myself today?" Use your imagination and come up with several possibilities. Then, follow through with your thoughts and put them into action. Do this every day, and watch as you begin to create the loving life you deserve.

Update Creating My List... Self Esteem Exercise #1


Exercise #1 Update: Make a List of Everything You Think About Yourself (Sorry for the delay.)

The first exercise was draining. I actually became quite emotional as every negative thought about me throughout the years surfaced. A simple task like making a list turned quickly into an arduous one. I started off with like three maybe four good thoughts and then I hit this gigantic wall of self-loathing. Every minuscule terrible thing ever spoken about me or to me leaped onto the page. Comments from grade school even popped into my head. Horrible nicknames, abusive things my parents have said during my childhood, angry statements from boyfriends of the past, and my own endless thoughts about myself were overwhelming. In the end I had a long sheet of notebook paper describing someone I do not want to be and making me question my concept of who I am.

Being A 'You Suck' Collector

Doing this exercise made me realize I have a lot of work to do. There are so many powerful negative thoughts that I carry with me. I suppose that was the purpose of the exercise to get a bold reality check on how you view yourself. It was disturbing for me. I never think about those things. I guess I secretly took up the hobby of a 'You Suck' collector. Any put downs or criticisms that come at me I've been taking them in to display on my mental 'Who I Am' bookshelf. Not a good idea.

I know now this process isn't going to be easy but it will be life changing. Although, it took me several days to do the first part of this exercise I think I'm ready for part two. Are you?

How to Love Yourself - Louise Hay's Steps


How to Love Yourself
By: Louise Hay

1. Stop all criticism: Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.

2. Don't scare yourself: Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure (mine is yellow roses), and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.

3. Be gentle and kind and patient: Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.

4. Be kind to your mind: Self-hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Don't hate yourself for having the thoughts. Gently change the thoughts.

5. Praise yourself: Criticism breaks the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.

6. Support yourself: Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends, and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.

7. Be loving to your negatives: Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So. lovingly release the old negative patterns.

8. Take care of your body: Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.

9. Mirror work: Look into your own eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. Talk to your parents looking into the mirror. Forgive them, too. At least once a day, say: "I love you, I really love you!"

10. LOVE YOURSELF - DO IT NOW! Don't wait until you get well or lose the weight, or get the new job, or find the new relationship. Begin NOW - do the best you can.

About the Journey...


Have you ever felt completely alone, invisible, unworthy, disgusting, ugly or totally unloved? I've been feeling like all of the above lately. I guess that's why I decided to start this blog. After a devastating break-up and wasting the past several years of my life feeling defeated I've come to the realization that change has to start with me. I need to boost my self-esteem, confidence, and attain unconditional self love and acceptance if I'm ever gonna move beyond my past.

After scouring the World Wide Web for tips on how to do this I found myself completely overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start. There's endless articles, mental exercises, books, hypnosis, affirmations, and hundreds of other materials on the subject. How do you change what you think about yourself? Which method really works? Can you actually DIY high self-esteem and confidence? I figured the only way to find out is to try them all. It can't hurt.

This site is a journal of my journey towards a more positive outlook on who I am. Daily I'll be researching techniques, blogging about my experiences, and posting as much helpful information or links to assist anyone with the same goals.

Operation: Fall in love with yourself .... begins today!

Check back regularly and feel free to comment. :)