Self-Esteem; confidence in ones own worth or abilities, self respect.
I can remember sitting and speaking with a young girl. I asked her why it was that she was doing the things she was, and I’ll be honest her answer took me by surprise. She flat out told me that the attention she got made her “feel pretty” and like she was “worth something”. My heart broke instantly, it would be a lie if I said I hadn’t had moments in my life where I had the same thought process, but the next thing she said was what really made me think. To make a long story short she wanted to know how to develop confidence in herself, I sat with her for an hour talking about the root of her feelings. In short from that conversation I got these ways to help improve anyone’s self esteem.
1) Forgive yourself for your mistakes; you may be thinking, what the hell does forgiving myself have to do with anything. Well I’m here to tell you if you are holding on to your past, or any mistakes you have made. You may not be able to fully love yourself, holding onto anger towards yourself is detrimental you the way you see yourself.
2) Forgive the people who hurt you, as the saying goes “forgiveness is not for them but for you”. In my experience letting go of anger towards others is just as vital as letting go of anger towards yourself. I understand that this isn’t something that you can do at the drop of a hat, but start working on it. Being able let go of angry is something no one tends to think about when it comes to self-esteem, but trust me it will help you more then you know.
3) Learn to love your flaws; I know this is so cliché, but there’s nothing like accepting yourself for who you are. Being comfortable in your own skin, being able to identify you flaws and love yourself because of them. We are all created unequal and I don’t mean that in a bad way, we are designed to be unique, embrace it!
4) Stop comparing yourself to people; This one kind of goes hand and hand with number 3. This is something we tend to do automatically but we cannot go through life comparing ourselves to others. This is just a recipe for disaster, it’s almost impossible to be happy if you are constantly trying to keep up with someone else’s definition of happiness.
5) Lastly, at least once a day, stand in the mirror. Take a good look at yourself, enjoy the person you are. Say a few nice things about yourself. I know this may seem awkward but trust me if there’s one thing that will lead to a great day, it’s paying yourself a compliment.
In short these are just a few quick things to practice when it comes to self-esteem, no one is perfect so don’t waste your time trying to be. I truly helps this helps someone. Below are some amazing love yourself cards I try to use them daily, they have helped me hopefully they do the same for you!
XO Tanasia.
That Girl Inspires 