Self Improvement for Beginners

Trust Yourself, Then You Will Know How To Live

How can I build up my self esteem? Building self esteem is one of the crucial foundations of self improvement. Below, I’ll share some of the things I did in order to boost my self esteem from low to healthy. Getting healthy self esteem isn’t always as easy as many make it out to be. It’s probably not going to be easy, nor is it going to be instantaneous. For me, I had turned the suggestions below into habits, slowly ingraining them into my daily life and thoughts.

1. Respect yourself!
   Like in the Christian God’s ten commandments, the first in the list is always the most important and it’ll serve as the base of everything else. Having self-respect is crucial to raising self esteem. When you respect yourself, you wouldn’t accept someone else treating you derogatorily. If not from someone else, why should you tolerate it from yourself?


2. Be aware!
   Be conscious of how you think about yourself. Do you automatically think you can’t do something or do anything well? Catch yourself in the middle of your self-depreciating spiel and think positively.


3. Don’t always compare yourself to others!
   Everyone has something they’re good at. Comparing yourself to others, especially in a self-derogatory way, is bad for your self esteem. Perhaps Kate may be better at drawing, or Mike may be better at Math, but you have something you’re good at as well.


4. Learn more about yourself!
   What are you good at and what are you not so good at? What do you enjoy doing? What are your likes and dislikes? Knowing more about yourself is important to building self esteem. When you learn more about yourself, you can learn to better assert yourself in the areas where you are more proficient. Also, it can lead to building confidence (but hopefully not arrogance) in yourself and what you can do.


5. Hone your talents!
   Improving on your talents will help you build confidence in what you can do. It can also help you get better and more efficient at what you do. Much like in video games, it is important to level-up so you are better equipped to tackle more difficult things and situations.


6. Take pride in your work!
   Much like being aware, refrain from chalking up your work to external sources like luck, and stop downplaying your successes. Accept and take pride in what you can do and what you’ve accomplished!


7. Set a goal and keep track of it!
   Having an ultimate goal is crucial to success. Many actually do set goals, however many also fail to follow through with it. It’s good to aim high, but aim realistically. I’ve listed below some suggestions on how to set a goal, follow it, and keep track of it.

• Be as specific as you can
  This is very important when setting a goal. Setting vague goals aren’t enough. “I want to be rich” is not very specific. “What do you have to have to consider yourself rich? 40 million?” “By what age do you want to be rich?” Vague goals are more prone to changes and modifications (into lesser goals).


• Set deadlines
  Hand in hand with being specific, realistic deadlines are important. Given our earlier example, the deadliest deadline (when you get 40 million) isn’t the most important. Instead, the steps you take are what are most important. Set deadlines like, “I’ll have my first million when I’m 30, and my first 10 million when I’m 40.”


• List down options you can take to reach it
  Make a list of what you can do to reach your goal. In line with our example and setting deadlines, the question to ask here is, “What will I do to get my first million?”


• Stop procrastinating
  Now that you have your list and schedule, get your butt of the couch and actually do it. Procrastination is a horrible enemy to reaching your goals. It’s usually better to start now than starting later.

Toodles,
Amy