How to Build Self-Esteem

"Hello, my name is Melisa Schenk and on behalf of Expert Village. Today we're going to talk about how to deal with a bully. In this clip let's talk about building self-esteem. When talking about how to deal with a bully, usually we're talking about somebody being bullied who doesn't have a high self-esteem or a high opinion of themselves. So really fundamentally, it's all about building confidence within yourself. If you have confidence, you're probably not going to have to deal with many bullies. So, how do we do that? Well the first is to get motivated. Everyone can find the confidence to feel better about themselves but you have to want to do it. You can't make someone do it, they have to want to do it themselves. So, get motivated and everyone then has to find a starting point. Where do you find that starting point? Well, if you do have a low self opinion of yourself, identify at least one good thing, one positive thing about yourself, start with just one. Or if you're working with your kids, try to get them to tell you just one positive thing about themselves that they like and from there continue to grow that list. It will continue to increase their self confidence. If you believe in them, it helps that they need to believe in themselves first, fundamentally. Stay positive. I know it's difficult, but staying positive is absolute key. Also be nice. It's very easy to when you're feeling insecure to deflect and take out your anger on other people. Being nice to other people will only help you with your positivity. Learn from your mistakes. We all make mistakes, kids do need to know how to learn from their mistakes and in future clips we're going to talk about turning that inner critic, all of that negativity, the things that we say inside our heads like, I can't do that, into an inner coach. So turning that inner critic into an inner coach, we'll talk about that in a future clip. And finally assert yourself, be assertive and that's where confidence comes in as well."