16 Tips To Increase Self-Esteem And Build Confidence

“A weed is but an unloved flower.” ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox ~

What do you think about yourself?

What kind of things do you say to yourself?

Is that self-talk negative or positive?

Do you believe that you are just totally awesome?

Let’s talk about self-esteemfor a minute.

DEFINITION of self-esteem: a feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities; a confidence and satisfaction in oneself

Where are you on the self-esteem/confidence meter?

16 Tips To Increase Self-Esteem And Build Confidence

It is really important that you believe good things about yourself and there are many things you can do to increase your self-esteem and build confidence in your abilities and in just being you.

1. Set Realistic Expectations: Avoid making long lists of things to do each day that you KNOW will either take much more than the alloted time or are completely unrealistic. For instance, having a goal to get pregnant naturally and have a baby at 80 years old is stretching it a bit. So remain realistic with your expectations and don’t set yourself up for failure before you even have a chance to begin.
2. Take Care Of Your Health: It’s just a fact that when you feel better physically, it is easier to feel better about yourself and your abilities. So eat properly, drink plenty of water, exercise and get plenty of sleep each night.
3. Accomplishments: Take the time to make a comprehensive list of your accomplishments. When your self-esteem and confidence are waning, read the list to help you recall the good things you’ve done to boost the positive feelings.
4. Accept Compliments: Don’t be shy when you receive a compliment. Graciously accept the compliment because they are true!! For the most part, people don’t just say nice things about you if they don’t seriously believe it.
5. Pamper Yourself: Life’s not easy, so take time out to be pampered whether you do something like get a massage, read a good book while stretched out on a blanket at the park or take a nap on the couch in the afternoon sunshine. By doing things special for yourself, you reiterate the fact that you are special thereby increasing your self-esteem.
6. Perfection: You’re never going to be perfect or do anything perfectly, so just throw perfection out the window and forget it forever. Do the best that YOU can do and be happy with your best because it is good enough. You can’t do better than your best! You don’t expect the people you love to do better than their best, so hold yourself to the same rule.
7. Posture: Carry yourself with your eyes forward, shoulders back and with the air of confidence you either already have or hope to portray. If you have to fake it until your confidence becomes reality, then that’s fine. In this instance, faking it is a good thing. LOL
8. Comparison: If you think she’s better than you or he’s better than you, then you’ve already lost the battle. DO NOT compare yourself to ANYONE else! You are you and that’s all you have to worry about. What’s that quote by Dr Seuss? Oh yeah, I remember! “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” That’s right! You are unique. A one-of-a-kind and totally original just like the Mona Lisa or Hope Diamond and they are PRICELESS!
9. Smile: Smiling reduces stress, lowers heart rate, kills pain, live longer, boosts your immunity and improves your mood. When you’re happy and you know it clap your…no wait…wrong post. LOL When you’re happy it is much easier to feel better about yourself. So smile often and it will increase your self-esteem and boost your confidence. Besides, smiling makes you even more beautiful!
10. Self-Image On A Sliding Scale: You are changing all the time and I mean ALL the time. Because of all the changes you are going through, your self-image needs to be willing to change. Keep your self-image on a sliding scale and go with the flow of your present life. Be confident that you are improving as you change and feel good about it!
11. Meditative Breathing: When life starts to eat at you, stop the craziness and begin meditative breathing. This breathing will help to focus your mind on the important things in life. Push all the stress and negative thoughts out of your mind. By the time you finish the deep breathing exercise, you will feel much better about yourself.
12. Exercise: Exercising is NOT my favorite thing to do. Well, I guess I should qualify that statement and say I don’t like exercising except for one kind of exercise. No matter what kind of exercise you participate in doing, it will increase your endorphins and immediately boost your confidence and help to build your self-esteem by having a better functioning body.
13. Inspirational And Motivational Books: Sometimes it is necessary to immerse yourself in feel good messages and one of the best places to get them is in good, self-help, inspirational and motivational books. Reading books that lift your spirit will help you feel better about yourself and life. If they are very well written, they can make you feel like you can conquer the whole world! Yes, I’ve read some books like that and they are actually worth reading often.
14. Notes And Affirmations: “Dear Sherry, You will present yourself in a very professional manner for the interview today. Love always, Self.” Yep, leave yourself notes to remind yourself that you can do anything! Throughout the day, throw in some affirmations to inspire yourself to greatness. Seeing positive reinforcements about yourself written down will last longer than just a fleeting thought in your head that you almost forget by the time your think of it. Stick notes on the bathroom mirror, refrigerator, front door and steering wheel of the car. These are very obvious places that you just won’t miss and they will help to build your confidence.
15. Believe: All these tips to increase self-esteem and build confidence are great, but they will not mean anything unless you BELIEVE that you are fantastic, wonderful, magnificent, intelligent and a thousand other positive adjectives. Believe what you are telling yourself to believe especially since it is true.
16. Make It Your Goal: With confidence you will believe that you can do anything. Make it your goal to have confidence and believe that you can do anything you are willing to work hard enough to accomplish BECAUSE you CAN!

“The earth laughs in flowers.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”~ Joseph Addison ~