Self-esteem is how much you value yourself while confidence is how sure you feel about your ability to do things well. Although slightly different, working on one will improve the other. The higher your self-esteem, the more likely you are to make confident decisions that will improve your life.
Raising your self-esteem will help you believe you’re a valuable and competent person. If you’ve had a difficult childhood or experienced many setbacks and disappointments in your life, then it might seem a huge leap to think about yourself as someone who deserves respect and admiration for just being yourself.
How to Raise Your Self-Esteem
Although self-esteem is an abstract concept that is hard to measure, you can change it. The key to transformation is fairly simple: recognize just how much the tone of your thoughts affect your opinion about yourself and your experiences in life.
By changing what you think about and how you feel, you can raise your self-esteem and become a much more confident, happier, and successful person. When you raise your self-esteem, you will also automatically feel more confident in your ability to do things, even things you have not tried out before.
You can change your self-esteem by how you dress, by setting goals, and by changing your mindset.
How Deciding What to Wear Affects Your Self-Esteem
One way to get an immediate boost of self-esteem is to go shopping for trendy dresses and make a commitment to wearing them often.
For some strange reason, when we change our clothes, we also change our minds. When we dress down, we don’t feel as good about ourselves as when we dress up. The psychology of clothing is more powerful than we often realize.
You may not have realized it, but how you dress has a significant effect on your mood. For instance, you may have noticed that on days you feel good, you are more likely to wear bright colors and nicer outfits. Conversely, on days when you feel frustrated or dejected, you throw on any old clothes.
How Setting Goals Raises Your Self-Esteem
By setting goals for yourself and making plans on how you can reach them, you will initiate changes that will raise your self-esteem and build your confidence.
Going back to school for a high-demand career, for example, will help you think about yourself in a new way. Many people with low self-interest don’t have any career goals at all while those with high self-esteem have impressive aspirations.
Thinking new thoughts about your future, specifically about all the wonderful things you would like to achieve in your life, will amplify your sense of self-worth.
How Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) Fixes Low Self-Esteem Issues
Although the root cause of low self-esteem is often based on unpleasant memories, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has highlighted that if you change how you think, feel, and behave in the present moment, you can break free of the negative thoughts and feelings you hold about yourself.
It is entirely possible to raise your self-esteem by working on your cognition and behavior. Since your positive decisions will lead to more positive outcomes, this will shift your worldview from pessimistic to optimistic.
Coping With Negative Thoughts and Feelings
Low self-esteem is a widespread issue that affects people all over the world. And, worst still, most people are not even aware of how they can dramatically improve their lives by replacing their non-loving, self-critical thoughts with self-loving, accepting thoughts.
Transitioning from habitually thinking that things are not going away and feeling distraught to positive thinking, feeling, and behaving is a gradual process. If you stick with it long enough, you will raise your self-esteem, improve your confidence, and step into a brand new life.
