Do You Have a Healthy Self-Esteem?
Positive self-esteem can make the difference between feeling good about yourself and taking care of yourself and not feeling good about yourself and not taking care of yourself.
All the advice you get to “believe in yourself”, “respect yourself”, “love yourself”, and realise that you cannot fully love others until you love yourself is true.
But what does that mean in simple terms? Ultimately, a happy and successful life depends on how much you value yourself.
What Is Self-Esteem?
Henry David Thoreau, a famous scientist and philosopher, said, “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
Your self-esteem determines how you see yourself and what parts you choose to highlight.Self-respect is when you like and value yourself.
Healthy self-esteem means that you don’t just like yourself but also treat yourself with love, worth, dignity, and respect. Positive self-esteem also means having faith in your abilities (to learn, succeed, and make a difference in the world) and the freedom to do things on your own. It means you value your thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
Low Self-Esteem vs Depression
Low self-worth is different from depression. Even though the two ideas sound similar, low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression, but not the same thing.
Depression is a mental illness that affects both the mind and the body. Self-esteem is how you feel and think about yourself.
Signs of Healthy Self-Esteem
How can you tell if you value yourself a lot? Here are some indications:
- It’s easy for you to say what you think, even if it’s different from what others think
- You’re confident in your skills
- You don’t give up when things get complicated
- A mistake doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself
- You love and respect yourself instead of putting yourself down
- You’re ready to set limits with people who don’t care about you or treat you respectfully
Why It’s Important to Have High Self-Worth
A key to good mental health and well-being is having a healthy opinion of yourself.
A person with high self-esteem is less likely to feel lost, stuck, or not good enough because of what they see as “failures.” Instead, they are more likely to look for what they can change or improve. If someone with high self-esteem was having trouble with a project at work, for example, they might ask their boss for help coming up with ideas instead of berating themselves for not being good at their job.
On the other hand, someone with low self-esteem is more likely to feel bad about themselves for a long time. A study shows that feeling good about yourself and treating yourself with respect, especially as a child, goes a long way towards helping you deal with life’s challenges.
High Self-Esteem Boosts Overall Well-Being
A strong sense of self-worth can help you avoid many mental health issues, like depression and anxiety. Studies show that high self-esteem is directly linked to being happy with your life and keeping a good mood even when things are hard.
Research shows that people with a higher sense of self-worth are happier at work, have better relationships with others, and have better well-being overall.
Risks of Having Low Self-Worth
Like anything else, your self-image can change and grow as you get older and significant eventsoccur.
Research shows a clear link between low self-esteem and low self-confidence, as well as the other way around. High self-confidence also encourages self-reliance, self-advocacy, and trust in yourself and your skills. These things strengthen high self-esteem and build a foundation for good mental health and quality of life.
How to Build Up Your Self-Esteem
Building up your self-worth and ability to bounce back from setbacks isn’t easy, but you can do it, and it will make a big difference in your life.
It’s important to realise that a big part of your self-esteem is how you think, focus on, and how optimistic you are, not just the facts or events of your life.
When to Get Help
If you have low self-esteem, working with a counsellor or other mental health professional can help you change the bad things you say to yourself and improve how you see and value yourself.
You may choose to seek help from a therapist. Counsellors support you with cognitive-behavioural therapy and can help you work on problems that might get in the way of having a positive view of yourself. It can also teach you to stop negative self-talk and have a more positive view of yourself.
How to Feel Better About Yourself
As was said above, working on your self-esteem takes time and effort, but it’s worth it because there is a clear link between self-esteem and quality of life. Some ways to think more positively about yourself are:
Accept Compliments
Notice the urge to turn praise away and let it in instead. Research shows it is directly linked to low self-esteem and trouble taking compliments.
Forgive yourself
Let yourself off the hook for your mistakes, and stop telling yourself negative things. No one is perfect or happy with every part of themselves. You need help to do that. Ask yourself if you’re being fair to yourself or being realistic when you start to feel bad.
Love yourself despite your flaws
Yes, you may have things you wish were different, something you want to change, or things you’re not happy with, but you should still love and respect yourself.
Embrace who you are
Accept yourself as you are right now and find value in that. Find and be proud of what makes you different, happy, and valuable.
Have a reasonable opinion of yourself
Once you see how you think about yourself affects your happiness and satisfaction with life, you may be more likely to change your feelings about yourself and value yourself more.
Start a ‘Gratitude Journal’
In a gratitude journal, write down all the good things in your life, the things you like about yourself, and the things or traits you’re proud of. When you’re feeling bad about yourself, you can read it over.
Write down what you’re thinking
When negative ones come up, you can either healthily work on them or let them go. When you have good thoughts, try to make them stronger, especially when bad ideas come up.
Consider yourself a friend
When you think about a friend, you’re likely to be more patient, kind, encouraging, helpful, and proud of them than yourself. So, the next time you’re being hard on yourself, take a step back, change your point of view, and look at yourself as you would a friend.
Take care of yourself
If you don’t like something about yourself or your life, think about what you can do to change it. Then, make a plan for how to make those changes.
A word from Hope Trust
To be happy in life, you need to have high self-esteem. Some people find it easy to think this way. Some people have a more challenging time with it. No matter where you are on the self-esteem scale, you can improve your ability to see, support, care for, and love yourself.
Your relationship with yourself may be the most important one in the long run. It gives you the strength, confidence, kindness, drive, and love that shape the rest of your life and helps you be the best person you can be!
Consider calling a therapist to help you learn your skills to feel better about yourself.
Is something holding you back? Click www.hopetrustindia.com for an online or in-person appointment with an expert.