8 key ideas to improve self-esteem

Self-esteem is an essential element for building a healthy psychological well-being that helps us adapt to the challenges that life poses.

It is about the subjective perception that we have of ourselves in all areas of our person, both physically and intellectually, and also the assessment of our way of being as a whole.

This perception of ourselves can coincide with reality in cases where we have good self-esteem; however, in other cases, some people may have a negative self-assessment, something that not only causes them discomfort, but also leads them to miss out on opportunities and maintain dysfunctional relationships. Now, all bad self-esteem can be transformed into a more balanced and closer to reality .

Understanding the keys to improving self-esteem

Self-esteem is a complex psychological element and, in the same way that it is influenced by everyday experiences of all kinds, it is reflected in a wide variety of behaviors that we carry out habitually; That is why it is important to pay attention to it and improve it. Let's look at some key ideas to achieve it.

1. Do not fear being wrong

The fear of making mistakes in our daily lives is related to a feeling of permanent insecurity and often also hides a low level of self-esteem, considering that we would not be able to face failure.

Losing the fear of making mistakes and understanding that mistakes, in the event that they occur, help us learn and improve in life, is essential to progressively lose that insecurity and therefore give us the opportunity to show ourselves what we are. able.

To integrate this learning into our daily lives, we can train it based on taking risks in various areas of our lives and getting used to failure or making mistakes that are not of great importance.

2. Maintain healthy habits

To achieve optimal mental health, it is also necessary to maintain healthy habits throughout the day to day related to physical exercise, correct nutrition or sleeping habits that allow us to rest at night for the necessary hours.

Doing moderate physical activity on a weekly basis will help us feel better due to the large amount of endorphins that are released during exercise and will also help us stay in shape, which will help improve our self-worth. On the other hand, something as simple as spending about half an hour a day on hygiene and personal image care has spectacular results almost immediately.

3. Do things that fill us

To be happy in life we ​​must try to truly aspire to those objectives that we set for ourselves, related to our interests and carry out those activities that fill us and fulfill us. It is important not to stay only in fantasizing about achieving our goals .

All people have vocations in life, even if they are latent. Causes for which they are willing to fight and that generate happiness and well-being. To have good self-esteem, it is important that we do as much as possible what fills us, knowing how to prioritize the most significant projects for us and dose the time available.

4. Surround ourselves with friends free of toxic dynamics

To live a full life, it is better to surround ourselves with honest people who make us see our positive qualities and allow us to improve those small defects that we may have, thanks to constructive criticism (very dosed). In this sense, we must avoid the dynamics of constant attacks to try to compete for the role of leader in a group of friends.

Prioritizing healthy friendships over toxic people will help us have more emotional peace and achieve higher levels of self-esteem on a daily basis.

5. Maintain an active social life

People are social beings; That is why it is so important to continue to maintain an active social life with friends, family and interesting people that we do not yet know well , something that allows us to have a richer and more detailed vision of all our facets.

Instead of staying at home and isolating ourselves, we should try to go out regularly and meet people who make us feel good with their presence.

6. Identify the source of discomfort

One of the first things we must do to start a process of improving self-esteem is to identify the origin of our own discomfort, the one that prevents us from feeling comfortable with ourselves and having a negative self-concept of our own body or personality.

Once we know what it is that prevents us from having the self-esteem we want, we must start working on strategies to improve as people or change our perspective of ourselves towards a more positive one. To achieve this, a routine of taking notes in a personal journal and looking at it regularly helps a lot .

7. Practice self-compassion

Self-compassion consists of putting into practice a model of positive interaction with ourselves , avoiding being too harsh when we fail at something or making too severe judgments towards ourselves on a day-to-day basis.

Treating ourselves well, being respectful of ourselves and positively valuing what we do daily, accepting that it would be unfair to expect perfection in everything we do, will help us improve our self-esteem, but that is something that must be trained for weeks or months until we internalize it.

8. Go to a psychologist if nothing works

As always, if the above keys do not help us improve our levels of self-esteem, we can go to a professional psychologist; not only is it not a sign of weakness, but it is an example of the ability to take action to overcome a crisis by doing what is necessary to move forward.