1. Switch up your internal dialogue by silencing your pessimistic voice inside your head. For example; if you often fall down and hurt yourself and always say to yourself “I’m a clumsy person” (even if you believe it’s true), stop that. If you can’t help, then change to something like “I need to be more careful when I walk”. The technique to smoothen this change is to think of your closest friend and ask yourself “Will I say this to my best friend?” If the answer is NO, why would you say it to yourself??
2. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes. Nobody is all good or all bad. If you make mistakes, it doesn’t automatically make you an awful person. If you do good things, it doesn’t completely make you a saint either. Accept that we are just human and we do make mistakes from time to time. Forgive yourself and move on.
3. Challenge your negative self-beliefs. Sometimes those beliefs are untrue or outdated. Sometimes those negative beliefs are given from people who don’t know us well enough. Try telling yourself that you are a good person and you are worthy of all the good things in this world. Don’t be afraid to rewrite your life because it is up to you to shape it.
4. Set realistic goals and expectations. Recheck your goals and see if they are suitable and achievable. For example; if you only start to run and your goal is to run in a marathon, that would be too much or a too long-term goal that might put you under pressure rather than enjoy it. It would be more achievable and enjoyable to set a goal to run 0.5 km more each time or join a 3km running event.
5. Failing does not mean you are a failure. Use those failing experiences to give you energy to learn from them and try again. All of the successful people did fail. The difference is that they don’t use failing as an excuse to give up or beat themselves up as a failure.
6. Stop comparing yourself with others. Comparing yourself with others is the thief of happiness. Remember that everyone is different, we have different interests and skills. You need to find your strength and develop it to be better. For example; someone, who has no special skills or interest in anything except eating, finally became a food/restaurant reviewer.
7. Take care of yourself inside and outside. Outside means your appearance; hygiene, hair, clothing, face etc. Inside means what you eat and drink, exercise, sleep hours etc. When all is balanced, you will feel good about yourself from the inside.
8. We all have unique talents. There is no need to be a millionaire or a world famous person to be worthy as a human being. Being a supportive friend or sister can make you special as well.
9. Complimenting others must not be at your own expense. When you compliment someone, it doesn’t automatically make them “better than you”. Acknowledging their strengths and specialty won’t make your strengths less valuable.
10. When someone criticises you, separate the comments out of feelings. It can be hurtful to hear critics sometimes, especially from the one close to us. First thing to do is to separate the feeling out of comment and see if the comment is true. If it’s true, feel grateful that they tell you about it and fix it. If it’s untrue, try to explain the truth to them. If they don’t believe you, move on. You don’t need to please or prove yourself to the whole world anyway. Don’t waste your time explaining yourself to someone with close-mindedness.
11. Learn to communicate how you feel at a time without waiting until your emotions are overwhelming, if you tend to explode in anger for small matters. Practice “I-statement” to communicate how you feel without hurting other people’s feelings. “I feel….when….I like/prefer….”
Credit : https://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/wellbeing/a25866/how-to-overcome-low-self-esteem/
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