Taking the Escalator: Boosting Self Esteem

10 Tips for Increasing Self Esteem - Review the following list of tips for increasing self esteem and discuss these as a group:

1. Nullify Negative Thoughts – If you catch yourself putting yourself down in your own head (Like “I’m so stupid” or “I’m never going to make it”), practice breaking that negative habit. Do whatever you can to distract yourself and think of something else. If possible, do the next one below instead (Think positive)

2. Practice Positive Self Talk – There is a reason for reviewing these affirmations from the previous exercise and that is because affirmations work. Practicing saying a few positive things each day can lead you to starting to believe these positive thoughts. Learn to be your own cheerleader

3. Learn When Not to Care – It is nice to be a caring person and there are times when it is important to care about what others think as image can be important. However, people with higher self-esteem usually are skilled at knowing when to ignore the haters, drown out the drama and lose the losers.

4. Don’t “Catch” Other People’s Negativity – Negative thoughts and vibes are often contagious, and some negative people are skilled at spreading the disease of negativity through gossip, slander, insults. Other people can be sarcastic and discouraging and can pull you down with their words gradually over time. It is often best to avoid spending too much time with anyone like this if you want to build yourself up

5. Gravitate Toward Encouragement and Support – Even just one supportive and encouraging person who sincerely cares and wants to see you succeed can be such a boost to your self-esteem.

6. Keep Your Mistakes in Perspective – Mistakes are bound to happen, but some people have a harder time getting back up after a fall than others. Self esteem building is all about looking at the big picture and accepting the fact that things are going to go wrong from time to time but that does not mean you are not going to eventually succeed in your goals

7. Goals are Golden – Speaking of goals, having short term goals every day and long-term goals to keep focused are essential aspects of self-esteem. If positive self-esteem is a tower, then individual goals are like the bricks that the tower of self esteem is built with. Each goal achieved is a self esteem boost no matter how small

8. Get Outside Your Comfort Zone – Speaking of goals, one goal should be to take some healthy risks to push yourself to move in positive directions. Yes, there may be some anxiety and discomfort when venturing outside the comfort zone but going past the boundaries is the only way to expand your world and grow in your experiences which can really boost self esteem

9. Sense of Humor – It can be so empowering to be able to laugh at life and to know when not to take yourself too seriously. People with self esteem often know when and how to just let themselves be human and to be able to use humor to de-stress and to let go of some of the small stuff that can weigh you down

10. Accept Imperfection – There are times when practicing and striving to get things just right can be very rewarding and some people have had great success perfecting a skill or a craft. However, in general, to ALWAYS strive for perfection can be a lesson in frustration. Expecting “straight A’s” in all facets of life can be very damaging to self-esteem because we all fail from time to time and that’s okay.