Exploring How & Why To Cultivate High Self Esteem

Having high self-esteem goes beyond liking your physical appearance and feeling good. Learn why developing a good sense of yourself is essential and how to do it.

Do you have trouble with confidence? It may be hard to say right off the bat because low self-confidence isn’t easy to tame. However, suppose you have a hard time believing in yourself, valuing yourself. In that case, you can’t set proper boundaries, and saying no to people is challenging to do; might have problems with your self-esteem.

Unfortunately, that’s a common thing in today’s society — because most of us tend to walk through life not quite mindful about our actions and behaviors in daily life.

A lack of confidence can cause low self-esteem, and if that stems from childhood traumas, which tend to be the case most of the time, some people can navigate through life without even noticing they have low confidence.

What’s self-esteem after all?

According to the American Psychological Association, self-esteem is “the degree to which the qualities and characteristics contained in one’s self-concept are perceived to be positive. It reflects a person’s physical self-image, view of his or her accomplishments and capabilities, and values.”

In a nutshell, self-esteem isn’t just liking yourself eventually or giving yourself a pat on the back when you have accomplished something. It’s way more than that — and sometimes, it can be a bit complex to comprehend rationally. That’s because dealing with human emotions isn’t about crossing a checklist.

Self-esteem doesn’t depend on one thing or set of thoughts and feelings. It’s simply defined how you perceive and value yourself as a human being.

A lower or a higher sense of self is generally connected to a positive or negative upbringing, childhood trauma, being a positive or negative thinker, and the list goes on.

And why it’s important?

As we know, life has its ups and downs, and it isn’t always a bed of roses. High self-esteem helps an individual to develop resilience and a better coping mechanism when dealing with problems.

Resilient and emotionally intelligent people are able to face adversities in life and cope with them more healthily — they don’t dwell in failures.

How can I improve my self-esteem?

Developing a better image of yourself, thus improving your self-esteem, is a process. It takes patience, awareness, and effort. Some strategies can help along the way, such as:

• Accept compliments: don’t run from them. Hear and let them in.
• Set boundaries: this is extremely important. Learn how to say no and put yourself first. Always.
• Love yourself: for who you are — even the parts you dislike.
• Improve your self-talk: if you have a toxic relationship with yourself, try to change that.
• Be grateful: it doesn’t matter where you are right now; just be thankful for being alive!

“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.”

Maxwell Maltz.