A healthy sense of self-esteem can make a considerable difference in the way you present yourself to the world and the effect that daily living has on your well-being. Life is very stressful and working on improving your ability to weather the slings and arrows that come from stress and low confidence can have a noticeable effect on your physical health as well.
People make fun but what we want is to achieve a level of thought and mindfulness that raises us above internalizing the comments of other people. If you need to dress a certain way or paint your car your favorite color or do a fat freeze treatment to live your life authentically, then that is what you must do.
Understanding that the comments made by others come from their own insecurities and that they are projecting their low confidence onto you is a liberating realization that should help you to kick-start your journey to self-actualization. Put yourself first and take care of your needs and you may be amazed by how much more confident and happy you feel in just a short time.
Fight Against Negative Self-Talk
Unfortunately, we have become so used to hearing negative opinions and comments from other people that most of us have internalized those voices. Now, we police ourselves and carry out negative self-talk within our minds. This can range from scolding yourself for a light indulgence such as an extra helping of a dessert to putting yourself down to prevent yourself from trying a new sport or buying a nice outfit.
This kind of persistent negative thinking draws us into a spiral and can cause great harm to our self-esteem. Shake yourself out of these spirals by placing yourself in the third person. Think of a person you love very much and ask yourself if you would say the same things to that person. This should help you to contextualize your thoughts and filter out the damaging negative attitudes you have unwittingly internalized.
Choose the Right Friends
Negative self-talk and low esteem cause people to be drawn to other negative people. This means that the way you perceive yourself is the way you will allow someone to treat you. This creates a feedback loop where you and the people in your life keep each other down and do not allow yourselves to grow and better your lives.
Understanding this can help you to objectively evaluate your interactions with the people in your life and make better choices. Spend time with active people who are dedicated to self-growth and improvement. These are the kind of influences you need to help you improve your overall wellness and self-esteem. Our friends are a reflection of ourselves, therefore we must make friends with the kind of people we admire and want to be like.
The way you feel inside will be reflected by your body. Luckily, this works in the opposite direction as well. Projecting an air of confidence is the first step to becoming a more confident person. If you find that you have low self-esteem and notice that you are usually hunched and dress simply, then you can actively change these around. Straighten your back every time you notice that you are hunching. Walk purposefully no matter where you go. Start improving your clothing style by adding colors via bright ties or well-fitting and attractive shoes.
By improving your posture and polishing your appearance, you are sending a message to your brain. You are re-programming your brain to view yourself more positively and with respect. People around you will take notice and begin to see you in a new light. Treating yourself with respect and good intentions at all times will lead to the people in your life, whether colleagues or family, to begin treating you better as well.
