You want me to love myself? I don’t even like myself!
The Benefits of Self Esteem
Everyone always says you have to love yourself before others can love you. Loving others seems to come natural. But to love myself? Really? Now that might be a challenge.
Naturally, our level of Self Esteem will fluctuate depending on topic, situation and mood. According to the Mayo Clinic, when you value yourself and have good self-esteem, you feel secure and worthwhile. You have generally positive relationships with others and feel confident about your abilities. You’re also open to learning and feedback, which can help you acquire and master new skills.
With healthy self-esteem you’re:
- Assertive in expressing your needs and opinions
- Confident in your ability to make decisions
- Able to form secure and honest relationships — and less likely to stay in unhealthy ones
- Realistic in your expectations and less likely to be overcritical of yourself and others
- More resilient and better able to weather stress and setbacks
- Less likely to experience feelings such as worthlessness, guilt and shame
- Less likely to develop eating disorders
First and Foremost
Stop comparing yourself with others. Many clients will say that while they are looking at other people’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media accounts, they noticed their own sense of self diminish. In an article with Bustle.com, “not only do you have to look good and be interesting, but you have to be good at things and appear successful and you have to also seem to have an interesting life. And there are more and more watchers, and more and more brands and advertisers, in the mix. If you can relate to these ways social media affects our self-worth, it might be time to unplug a little every once in awhile.”
- Don’t talk bad about yourself
- Dress Up
- Find Something to compliment yourself about
- Think positive
- Accept your flaws
- Seek assistance (friends, counselor)
