Having self-esteem is essential for a happy and fulfilling life. Improving our self-worth and building confidence makes it easier to face challenges, form healthy relationships, and pursue goals. By focusing on ways to improve our self-esteem, we reclaim our power to live as our best, most authentic selves. Why do we lack self-esteem? The most important step of every journey is the first step—understanding why we lack self-esteem. Self-esteem or self-worth is a collection of beliefs, thoughts, and feelings we have about ourselves, while confidence is something we build on top of self-esteem that shows we trust ourselves. So where do these negative beliefs and lack of self-trust come from? In most cases, lack of self-esteem stems from our early life. Somewhere along the way, someone who is dealing with their own insecurities told us who we are is wrong, unimportant, or flawed in some way. Or, they compared us to someone they perceived as ‘better’, damaging our self-worth. If a young person is continuously exposed to such influences, they can be significantly impacted and carry this wound into their adult life. If left unhealed, this wound can cause numerous obstacles and prevent us from reaching our potential. For this reason, the following strategies are vital to reclaiming control of your life. Strategies to improve your self-esteem 1. Commit to the healing process Healing is a long-term goal, and while the process may take time, it’s worth the effort. To heal, you must address past traumas and allow yourself to feel the emotions you might’ve avoided. Healing involves caring for your wounds. It means recognizing the thoughts, emotions, and triggers that reopen those wounds—and choosing to transform them into positive thoughts and feelings, using the power of your will. 2. Practice self-love You’ve likely heard the phrase, “The most important relationship we have is with ourselves.” When we lack self-worth, it means our relationship with ourselves is damaged or even toxic. It’s crucial to work on the negative aspects of our relationship and start loving yourself. You can practice self-love by: practicing compassion when you make mistakes; practicing self-acceptance; committing to self-improvement; or simply taking time for self-care. 3. Become aware of negative thoughts Becoming aware of your subconscious mind is a crucial part of the healing process. Low self-esteem often leads to negative, accumulated beliefs and thoughts about ourselves. The key to overcoming this is to recognize these negative beliefs as separate from who you are and consciously replace them with thoughts that create self-love. Focus on the positive aspects of yourself, even if they feel small at first. You can practice this by using affirmations, positive self-talk, cultivating gratitude, journaling, or other mindful practices. Also, through personal development, you can create new strengths and positive traits while working to minimize those you no longer identify with. 4. Practice Affirmations Affirmations are probably the most powerful and direct way to influence your subconscious mind. They are phrases we say out loud and feel, thus creating a reaction in our body. Similarly to how your mind believed negative things someone said, affirmations are positive self-talk that creates new, positive beliefs. Affirmations are a tool for reprograming your mind, and they work quite fast when done regularly. An important thing to remember is to feel the affirmation. For example, if you say, “I love myself,” you have to try and really feel like this is true in your heart. Even if it’s not yet true, you’ll be surprised how quickly your mind will think of it as truth. Affirmations show how easily our mind is influenced. 5. Be grateful Life is difficult, but it’s much more difficult if we constantly focus on things we are not and things we don’t have. Believe it or not, with such an attitude, you can be a rich supermodel, and you’d still be unhappy. Gratitude shifts our focus from lack towards abundance because there’s always something to be grateful for. Every day, try to find at least 3 things you are grateful for, even if they are very small. More importantly, try to feel the energy of gratitude, even if you have to fake it, similar to affirmations. Creating this energy will allow you to create it more naturally next time. If you need, set a reminder each day and practice gratitude, either by writing down, saying out loud, or recording yourself. 6. Practice mindfulness There’s many ways to practice mindfulness, but it all comes down to being aware of your inner state. Whether it’s through meditation, yoga, or simple observation, practices like these make you look inside instead of outside, which changes your perspective. Mindfulness is a great way to combat negative beliefs and thoughts, as it invites you to practice silence and stillness so that you can observe what’s happening in your mind. Our mind can often be our biggest enemy, and with mindfulness, we take control of it. Instead of reacting to everything it tells us, we detach from it and are able to recognize negative patterns more easily. 7. Learn from experts Knowledge is treasure, and regaining your self-esteem can be viewed as a project, so it’s necessary to keep learning about it. You can listen to one of many available resources online, whether in the form of video, audio, or reading materials. When you can fully understand the problem, it will be much easier to deal with it. You will also be able to hear stories of people who found their ways to improve self-esteem. Believe it or not, most people have problems with self-esteem because most people met a few rotten fruits on their path. People who overcame their struggles are nothing more special than you; they simply committed to the process and didn’t stop. You are capable of overcoming this; just keep moving forward. 8.