How to Reclaim Your Self-Esteem

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By kated2009
User-Submitted Article

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Experiences, people and how you react to people and experiences, can contribute to a decrease in your self-esteem. If you’ve been in an abusive or stressful situation, it’s very common for your self-esteem to be affected negatively. A negative self-esteem can greatly impact your life, lead to depression, affect the decisions you make and how you function in your daily routine. You don’t have to define yourself by low self-esteem. You can reclaim your self-esteem and begin to live life more fully.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Remove the past from how you define yourself. Today is a new day. Define yourself by who you are today, not by what you did in the past, who mistreated you in the past or situations that caused you to feel bad about yourself. Look at yourself with new eyes and forgiveness.
Step 2

Focus on your good qualities. Stop treating yourself as if you don’t matter and don’t have any qualities of value. Maybe you don’t have a high-profile career, but you might be the hardest and most dependable employee at your job. Maybe you don't have a mansion on the hill, but you are totally awesome at keeping your house clean and decorated beautifully.
Step 3

Get involved in life. The more connected you feel, the more you feel a sense of belonging, the better your self-esteem will be. Do volunteer work. Talk frequent walks in surrounds of nature. Help others. Anything that gets you away from the negative and moves you toward something of purpose and positivity, will make you feel better about yourself.
Step 4

Improve what you feel needs improvement. If you aren’t satisfied with your weight, stop complaining and take action. Start with small steps to keep from being overwhelmed. Go at your own pace in implementing changes to lose weight. Take walks. Cut back on second helpings or junk food. Small changes can make a difference and can empower you to keep going. If you need to improve your social skills, make it a point to get out more, to talk more when around people and step out of your box and be the first to initiate conversation. It may be difficult at first, but the more you practice, the more comfortable you will be and the more your self-esteem will increase.
Step 5

Take care of yourself. Eat a healthy and balanced diet. Get adequate exercise and fresh air. Instead of sitting in front of a TV or computer, get outside. Take time to play and pamper yourself. Go to a spa or just enjoy a relaxing warm bath in candlelight. The more value you place on yourself in action, the better you will feel about yourself, emotionally.
Step 6

Learn something new. Take a class to further your education or maybe a class to bring out a hidden artistic side. Learning to dance, to play an instrument or an educational course can have a positive impact on your self-esteem.

Comments

jenng said

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on 9/25/2009 Great article on How to Reclaim Your Self-Esteem 5*

ReuseItAll said

on 8/1/2009 You really hit the nail on the head!!! It took a therapist to tell me these things for me to value myself!!! GREAT ARTICLE AND GREAT ADVICE!!!!