Self-esteem is the appraisal a person makes of her own value as a human being. Your level of self-esteem categorizes the lifestyle, possessions and quality of relationships you believe yourself to deserve. In fact, it forms the actual boundaries of what you will allow yourself to achieve. Carrying through certain activities can help you to develop higher levels of self-esteem than you have at the moment, thereby improving the conditions and quality of your life.
Redecorate
Decorate your living space with items and images that remind you of your best attributes. Cover your walls with awards that commemorate your achievements. Cut pictures from magazines and passages out of books that reflect your truest nature. Even if you live with someone else, your existence as an individual merits a degree of personal space. Allow your environment to serve as a constant reminder of the good things about you. Doing this will change the way you see yourself and increase your sense of personal value.
Challenge Negative Assumptions
A large part of our self-esteem comes from the habitual ways in which we learn to think and respond to circumstances and other people. A great number of statements that people with low self-esteem make to themselves, regarding life, are negative. Challenge this habit, within yourself, by eliminating any tendency to draw negative conclusions without sufficient evidence to support them. Be cautious of the impulse to generalize the consequences of undesirable circumstances. For example, losing a sporting competition doesn't make you a bad athlete. It simply means that what you tried didn't work on that night. Additionally, don't make statements or use humor that underestimates your abilities. Make it your intention to go through an entire day without saying anything negative to yourself. This will most likely take a considerable conscious effort, at first. When you can stay positive for most of an entire day, then attempt to continue doing so for a week. This exercise retrains your brain to see more of the whole picture, instead of filtering out the positive aspects of your experience. While some may perceive this mission to be impracticable, you may be surprised to discover how much negative talk actually serves no significance or purpose.
Improve Your Skills
Devote yourself to learning a skill that interests you. Look for free or affordable resources and courses in your subject of choice and make a commitment to apply yourself, fully, to the task. Start by setting, as a goal, some small, measurable achievement that denotes an increase of your abilities. Then, focus on the next milestone, then the next. By allowing yourself to purposely seek and achieve meaningful goals, you demonstrate that you are a person worthy of such effort.
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