Low self-esteem takes the joy and zest out of life. You won’t be able to accomplish the things that you are capable of with a lack of self-esteem.
Maybe you compare yourself to others, and it makes you feel like a loser. Feeling like a failure is terrible – it’s slowly eating away at your soul, your confidence and your feeling of self-worth.
Signs of Low Self-Esteem
People with low self-esteem often anticipate critical feedback from others. Yet, when they get it, they often feel hurt. “I knew it, I am not good for anything” and thoughts like this can cross their mind.
Another sign of low self-esteem is an overly critical inner dialog. Inner dialog is “the voice inside your head”. We all mentally talk to us during our waking ours, there is a constant conversation going on in our mind, even though we often are not aware of it. Realizing what this voice tells you, and what kind of tone of voice it uses, is often a first step to being able to replace the destructive negative self talk with more productive, encouraging, positive self-talk.
Causes of Low Self-Esteem
There are many things that could have caused low self-esteem. Maybe your father or your mother where overly critical of you, didn’t give enough praise to you, did not have confidence in your abilities and never acknowledged your successes. This is a terrible thing. As an adult, you must learn how to feed and care for your own self-esteem, and for most people it is naturally – but if you haven’t received the encouragement that every child needs, it is very difficult to do so on your own. In fact, I might even say if you want to do it completely on your own, it is impossible. You need some help.
There’s also what I call the self-esteem paradox. A lot of talented and intelligent people have a low self-esteem, despite their achievements. The fact that things come so easy to them, even things that can be difficult and hard for others, make them feel guilty, or can cause them to take their abilities for granted. They devalue their own achievements.
And sometimes, you might be just stuck too deeply in your head. And you must go out and interact with other people, instead of searching for something inside of yourself. Of course, if you’re all on your own, then you can feel empty and worthless on the inside. Joy and self-esteem come from sharing your life with others.
There are many things you can do to build more self-esteem. Hypnosis for example is a good way to boost your self-esteem, become more confident in your abilities and potentials, and to value yourself more and feel a much bigger sense of worthiness.
Challenge yourself in life to do things that might be difficult and that force you to outgrow yourself and break your current limitations. Nothing breeds confidence and a healthy self-esteem like action. You can learn to love yourself and become a more positive, life-embracing person that lives life to it’s fullest.