7 Self-Care Tips During International Boost Self-Esteem Month

The month of February is devoted to self-esteem. A boost in self-esteem among people is celebrated globally during this month.

As you enter the international boost your self-esteem month, you will realize that many people struggle with low self-esteem and that many of them can benefit from some boosting. Although it is a complex issue, it is not set in stone, and developing it is a process.

In the digital age, where instant self-gratification and the perception of perfection are required everywhere, self-esteem is dropping, which negatively affects mental health.

A healthy lifestyle starts with a healthy sense of self-worth. It can also be helpful for you to fight depression and anxiety by boosting your self-confidence. Taking care of your mental health is important for your overall mental wellness.

This article will explore ways to improve your self-esteem and its importance in achieving positive mental wellness.

What Is Self-esteem?

To put it simply, self-esteem is how much you like yourself or appreciate yourself regardless of circumstances. It's based on your opinions and beliefs about yourself, which can be hard to change.

It is more about accepting yourself and knowing your worth, and self-worth is a key factor in having higher self-esteem. It is a positive yet fragile evaluation about yourself that often bounces up and down according to your latest successes or failures in life.

Self-worth realizes that you are more than what others perceive you to be. It is a deep recognition of your value, love, and necessity in this life. That your value is beyond comprehension.

Although you might find it difficult to feel confident about yourself in certain situations in your life, improving your relationship with yourself is important to build your self-worth.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Self-esteem Can Influence Your Outlook On

• How you like and value yourself as a person?

• How you can make and assert decisions yourself

• How well are you able to recognize your strengths and weaknesses?

• How kind you are to yourself?

• How do you deal with your past mistakes without blaming yourself?

• How much do you believe in yourself?

Having healthy and positive attitude can help you find answers to the above question about yourself, and if you find yourself questioning or hesitating, you might be struggling with low self-worth/esteem.

Since many of your feelings and outlook are influenced by what other people perceive of you thus, you end up valuing yourself on a measuring scale. But that isn't the right way to foster a good relationship with yourself, and acceptance from your own can only lead to higher self-worth.

How Can Low Self-esteem Affect Your Mental Health?

Self-evaluation is critical to social and mental well-being, and it influences one's personal goals and interaction with others. Low self-esteem or having a negative acceptance of your worth can have a huge impact on your mental health.

According to many studies, low self-esteem is linked to many mental health disorders and issues. For better mental and physical health, it is essential to understand the development of personal identity, its outcomes, and how it can be actively protected and enhanced. It is considered a key element of mental health promotion to focus on your self and a basis for broad-spectrum approaches.

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

Many factors can cause low self-confidence in you, which may differ from one person to another. The things that affects it can be different for everyone. You might have low self-esteem for a while, or it might suddenly change due to some triggering event or factors. It's very fragile and complex, mostly caused by stressful life events.

Here are some of the factors that might trigger or derail your self-esteem -

• Experiencing prejudices or discrimination

• Being bullied or mocked

• Losing a job or a position that holds importance in your life

• Problems or stress at work

• Poor mental health or physical health

• Financial stress

• Relationship problems

• Low acceptance of your body image.

However, it is important to know that you are more than your insecurities. Whatever may affect your self-worth, you should remember that you have the right to feel good about yourself. It might feel overwhelming, but taking each step towards self-love bits by bits can eventually help you accept yourself.

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Signs Of Low Self-Esteem

It might be easy to brush off low self-esteem or low self-confidence as a character trait, but it does more harm than that. It has longer negative effects on one's mental health ranging from smaller occurrences to life-long threats leading to relationship problems and self-damaging behaviors.

Recognizing your sense of low self confidence is an important step towards cultivating a higher one. Here's how you can find out if you have low self-esteem -

• Difficulty speaking up in public or taking a stand for yourself

• Prioritizing your own needs and feelings

• Saying sorry or feeling guilty at the slightest inconvenience

• Difficulty in making a choice or decision on your own

• Feeling unworthy or not deserving of anything good

• Negative thoughts or perceptions of life

• Unhealthy boundaries

However, your self-esteem or self-worth is not set in stone, and you can work and rebuild it over time.

"With higher self-confidence you'll have a higher satisfaction with life and yourself."

How Can You Boost Your Self-esteem?

Boosting your self-esteem is vital to having a healthy lifestyle. Positive sense of self-worth is seen as a basic feature of mental health.

It is also cionsidered as a protective and contributing factor for better mental health and positive social behavior.

It is a key factor to promote a healthy outlook on yourself and how you perceive life. It is an influential factor both in physical and mental health and, therefore, should be an important focus in mental health promotion.

As we enter the month of February, which is celebrated as the International Boost Your Self-esteem month, you will recognize that many people struggle with it and that everyone could use some growth.

But first, to boost your self-confidence, you need to understand what exactly contributes to it. Let's break down the factors that contribute to achieving higher self-value.

The Pyramid of Self-esteem

1. Self-worth

It's about loving and valuing yourself—your ability to bounce back at life even if something negative is thrown in your way.

2. Self-efficacy

The ability to control your thoughts, actions, feelings and the belief in oneself and control over one's thoughts, activities, and emotions. Building self-esteem relies heavily on this ability. You will deal with anxiety, depression, and stress better if your self-efficacy is aligned with yourself.

3. Self-agency

It is more about having a more positive mindset about life and your belief that it’s not just luck but you are too in control of the things that happen in your life.

Only when all three are equally weighed will you feel robust in your self-esteem.

Seven Ways To Boost Your Self-Esteem

February month is all about investing your time in boosting your self-esteem and finding small ways to encourage yourself every day.

1. Stop Comparing And Criticizing Yourself

The first step towards achieving higher self-esteem is accepting yourself for who you are. And it starts when you stop comparing yourself with others and start lifting yourself.

You can begin this self-love journey by asking yourself why others' opinions matter to you. When you get the answer to that question, start working on it by limiting your exposure to the things that trigger you or undermine your confidence.

A basic step would be to limit your social media exposure. You can also start your day with positive affirmations and mantras that motivate you.

2. Think Positive

Thinking positively or having a positive outlook towards yourself and your life is one of the best ways to feel confident. When you limit your negative thoughts, your mind will rejuvenate and contribute to your mental wellness.

Writing down positive things about yourself is also a good idea, such as being good at sports or saying nice things about yourself. Consider these things when you are feeling low, and remind yourself that there is plenty of good about you.

You can start your day with positive quotes and affirmations, which is a great way to lift your mood. Practicing meditation also helps a big deal when having a positive mindset. Remember, when your mind is at ease, you are more likely to be free of all negativity and toxins of life.

"Positive internal dialogues are a big part of improving your self-esteem."

3. Start Accepting Compliments

Accept compliments you receive from others without questioning whether you're worthy of them or not. Put aside your insecurities and start appreciating yourself more. Take baby steps by writing them down to look over whenever you feel low or have doubts about yourself. Your journey to gaining more self-confidence is made easier if you believe yourself to be worthy enough.

You can begin with three basic steps -

1. Celebrate your success more often.

2. Ask compliments and note them down to feel better about yourself.

3. Ask others what they like about you as people will see you differently than yourself.

"The key is not to be hard on yourself. But to be kind to yourself."

4. Learn To Say NO

Saying yes or agreeing to everything irrespective of your comfort is not a good habit. It would help if you tried to be more assertive before deciding to do something because you are scared to stand up for yourself.

Pausing and assessing the situation before saying yes gives you more control over yourself and a chance to ask yourself whether you want to do it or not.

You can start your journey by practicing the following -

Practice Saying No More Often

It could help you be more assertive before taking up any decisions, as you can pause and think about how you feel regarding the situation.

Give It Some Thought and Time

Saying no could be a hard task for you if you're not used to it. But with practice and time, you will feel it more liberating and good about having control over your own decisions.

Try To Build Some Boundaries Before Taking Everything On Your Plate

Setting healthy boundaries for you is necessary for your mental health. Taking up a lot will only lead to anxiety. Overstretching your role or doing more than you should please people will drain your energy and leave you exhausted.

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5. Recognize Your Strengths

Self-confidence leads to self-esteem, which comes from knowing that you have the knack or the ability to succeed. Recognizing your strengths and passion is a key factor in building it.

You might lack the confidence to start something new, but you need to get started to prove to yourself that you can do it. It's a vicious cycle, but once you overcome it, you'll get a boost to your higher self. The best approach to it will be breaking it down into achievable goals and doing it step by step.

Here are a few ways for you to identify your strengths and how to work towards them -

• Take a self-assessment and discover your strengths. List them to work more towards making them better.

• Take an assessment from others and ask them to list down the things they think are your strength.

• Now make a list of the things you are most likely to do or fascinate you about work or life.

• Find the things that others think are your strength and align them with your interest.

• Acknowledge your strengths and skills and >set realistic goals to achieve them.

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6. Avoid Negative Self-Talk.

Negative talks decrease motivation and increases helplessness. Critical inner dialogue often causes depression and other mental health struggles. Thus paying more attention to your self-talk or internal dialogue is important for your confidence boost.

If you find yourself more negative self-talk, you can shift your inner dialogue to a more positive one. You will end up benefiting from it both mentally and physically.

However, forming a habit might take time and effort. But over time, your thoughts will shift from negative to positive. Here are some tips for turning your inner dialogue -

• Identifying your negative self-talk traps. Pinpointing your stressor or things when you experience negative thoughts the most can help you anticipate it and be prepared for it.

• You can find humor to relieve stress and tension when you engage in negative self-talk. When you need a boost to self-talk, find out something funny to watch or read.

• Try to engage yourself more in positive affirmations and inspiring quotes for a morale boost.

Suggested Read : 101 Thought-Provoking Mental Health Quotes That Will Stay With You

7. Prioritizing Your Health and Exercise

Prioritizing your health and exercise that makes your body feel good is another way to boost your self-worth. Practicing yoga, meditation, jogging, dancing, or any movement that feels good for your body, even in small amounts, and makes you feel connected to your mind is a good way to boost your self-esteem.

Exercise releases endorphins and serotonin in your brain to help you feel calmer and more relaxed. It also allows you to feel more confident and make better decisions.

When you are feeling healthy physically, it has a dramatic impact on your esteem and how you feel about yourself. A round well, balanced diet with proper exercise can help you reach the ultimate goal of the mind-body connection.

Summing It Up

Thus, to sum up, having higher self-esteem and worth of yourself will not fix all of your problems, but it will help you sail smoothly through a life full of struggles and sufferings. It will give you the strength and courage to face hurdles in a better way and build your resilience to bounce back from failure without leaving you emotionally drained out.

I hope this article helped you find ways to boost your self-esteem and make your attitude towards yourself more positive.