Introduction

Self-esteem can be fluid. Many of us take regular blows, often when we feel rejected, guilty, or inadequate. It is normal to struggle with your worth after a challenging experience, such as a breakup, losing your job, or moving to a new city. By increasing your self-esteem, you can help your view of yourself become more stable, even in moments of stress and hardship. Self-esteem refers to your assessment of your personal worth. It is also often linked with someone's confidence. 

Having high self-esteem is a protective factor against developing (or increasing the intensity of) anxiety or depressive symptoms. Additionally, high self-esteem tends to result in stronger relationships, because it is important to be aware of your worth in order to form connections with people who will treat you well. There are also some links between self-esteem and one's performance at work or school. High self-esteem allows you to believe in your ability to overcome challenges you face in those domains. If you're looking to increase your sense of self-worth, we've compiled a list of five tactics to try out.

Practice Self Compassion

Self-compassion is the practice of holding space to empathize with your own emotions as they arise, rather than immediately judging yourself for feeling a certain way. This involves validating your feelings and embracing opportunities to learn more about who are. Self-compassion helps to increase one's self-esteem because it creates a foundation of greeting yourself and your actions with love and care rather than anger, resentment, or shame. All of this helps you make room to explore more details about yourself, whereas self-blame and guilt close off opportunities to dig deeper into who you are. Self-compassion can be implemented through mindful self-talk, forgiving yourself for past mistakes, and maintaining a supportive inner dialogue.



Focus on Personal Growth

Focusing on your own individual growth can be a great way to build your self-esteem. This may look like reflecting on where you are now, where you want to be in the future, and setting small, attainable goals to help you get there. If you take this route, it is important to also celebrate these accomplishments! Even small wins help train our brains to see that we are capable of achieving difficult things. Additionally, focusing on personal growth may mean that you do your best to embrace challenges as they come up. Looking to yourself and saying, “I know I can do this,” is a very powerful step.

Engage in Self-Care

Devoting time, effort, and energy to your relationship with yourself is a valuable way to show yourself that you matter. Your needs are important and deserve to be met. Self-care looks different for different people. It may look like prioritizing some of our basic human needs, such as sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Self-care could also look like giving yourself adequate time in the week to engage in hobbies or spend time with loved ones. Make time to explore interests and honor your personal taste in that way. You deserve to love yourself, and a huge part of love is being interested in knowing more about someone.

Practice Gratitude

Gratitude practices are highly related to self-esteem. Setting aside time to be thankful for anything helps us look for the positives in our lives. It can also be helpful to practice being grateful for the person you are in this moment, including all of your mistakes and flaws. Some people implement this practice by keeping a gratitude journal, either physical or digital, to write down a few good moments about each day. Others may prefer to set a goal to compliment or express appreciation for one person each day. Overall, gratitude helps us focus on what we have, rather than what we are waiting to have. This helps us maintain the presence of mind rather than ruminating in the past or trying to predict the future. Being present helps us enjoy who we are in the here and now. 

Seek Professional Support

Many of us have experienced struggles with our self-esteem due to larger-scale challenges, such as interpersonal relationship challenges, trauma, academic or work-related discouragements, an underlying mental health diagnosis, or other life challenges. If you're in this boat, it may be worthwhile to seek out professional help. A therapist will be able to support you as you process the impact of your life events. They will also help you see the positive attributes you bring to the table as you show resilience in the face of these challenges. 

If you're interested in therapy, Trust Mental Health is available for therapy in California. If you believe you may have an underlying mental health condition that is impacting your self-worth, our therapists are trained to help support you. Trust Mental Health offers depression therapy in California to help you process your feelings and work to help you see your value once again. You deserve to feel seen and heard in your struggle, and therapy can be a great place to make that happen.

Conclusion

To recap, self-esteem is the way we view ourselves. Someone with high self-esteem feels confident in their ability to navigate new challenges, surrounds themselves with loving and kind people, has a lower likelihood of displaying anxiety or depressive symptoms, and often excels in a work environment. To help support yourself in increasing your self-worth, you may look to try any of these tactics. You deserve to see how wonderful you are.

Key Points

  1. Self-esteem is high connected to your mental health. Accepting yourself as you are helps boost your overall mood and protects against symptoms of anxiety and depression.
  2. There are lots of things you can try out to help improve your self esteem, including self-care, goal-setting, self-compassion, and practicing gratitude.
  3. Professional support is available to help you establish a strong sense of self-worth.

FAQs

  1. Is self-esteem solely based on external factors like appearance or achievements?
    • No, self-esteem is not solely based on external factors. While external factors such as appearance and achievements can influence self-esteem, it is also shaped by internal factors such as self-perception, beliefs, and values.
  2. Can low self-esteem lead to other mental health issues?
    • Yes, low self-esteem is often linked to other mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Addressing low self-esteem can help prevent or mitigate the development of these conditions.
  3. Can self-esteem be improved?
    • Yes, self-esteem can be improved with conscious effort and practice. By implementing strategies such as self-compassion, setting realistic goals, and engaging in self-care, individuals can gradually boost their self-esteem and improve their mental health.