You Really Can Get Self Esteem Help and Here’s How
Do you need self esteem help? You may be surprised to learn that having a high self esteem and living on purpose are directly connected.
But if you:
- Fear others’ criticism, rejection or disapproval
- Are workaholic and/or a perfectionist
- Feel inadequate and easily embarrassed
- Are overly concerned with your appearance
- Do not set goals for the future
- Are a people-pleaser, finding it hard to say “no”
- Procrastinate, lack self motivation and drive
Then, you need to consider getting self esteem help. Low self esteem is a distorted view you have about yourself that generates negative thinking and controls your everyday behavior. The most common low self esteem signs are avoiding social settings, sharing your opinion, passing up a better job or a more fulfilling relationship – all these from fear of failure or rejection.
Self esteem is at the very core of our being, connected with our unlimited potential and controlling our personality, our performance and our presentation (how we care for our body and surroundings). Take a look:
Picture: courtesy of La Belle Foundation, a non-profit organization.
Without a healthy self esteem, life is a permanent struggle.
Most problems in setting and achieving goals, experiencing abundance and prosperity, a vibrant health and happiness, have their origin in a low self esteem. No matter how hard you may try to fix another person or your job, take pills for depression or other physical ailments, the problems will resurface until you get self esteem help and address the root cause.
As symptoms of low self esteem, your relationships suffer because you tend to hide behind an emotional armor or become needy and over dependent on your partner. At work, you may bristle at the slightest perceived criticism (even if it is constructive feedback), feel stressed constantly being unable to build healthy, supportive networks with your colleagues.
If this sounds familiar, don’t despair. Improving self esteem is possible.
Self esteem help is available!
But what exactly is self esteem?
Well, it is your sense of self-worth and pride in self-achievement. It is one of the most important keys to happiness, the foundation from which you are highly motivated and go out to achieve in the world and build happy, satisfying relationships. With high self esteem you recover easily after a setback, have good social skills, and are able to take and benefit from constructive criticism.
Different than self confidence, which is about behaving confidently about your abilities, about WHAT YOU CAN DO, self esteem is about unconditional self-worth, about how much you value WHO YOU ARE as a human being.
With a positive self esteem, you are enthusiastic, happy, and easily express your personal core values.
You may ask yourself, if high self esteem is crucial to your overall quality of life, why do you hesitate to get self esteem help? Well, is it possible that you view low self-worth as a weakness and therefore hide it – often behind bravado, aggression, shyness or arrogance?
Think about it.
Low Self Esteem is Formed During Childhood…
…when you initially developed your view of yourself. Common causes of low self esteem are neglect, physical, verbal or emotional abuse, excessive criticism, or lack of support and encouragement.
Of course, you can blame your parents, you siblings, your childhood friends or your teachers for your lack of self-worth, but you know that ultimately, assigning blame is not constructive. Recognizing that you need self esteem help, IS.
Resources to Improve Low Self Esteem
There are many books, courses, audio programs, and online resources available, like La Belle Foundation, also known as Self-Esteem Learning Foundation (S.E.L.F). Most of these resources contain specific assessments and exercises to guide you through the process of improving low self esteem. You may find it easier to work through these exercises with a partner, either a good friend, or your significant other.
Working with a counselor or an experienced life coach is a great self esteem help. Such a professional will use customized worksheets to identify negative self-beliefs and destructive patterns of behavior in order to replace them with positive, life-affirming ones.
With enough determination you can work by yourself on increasing your self esteem too!
Finding a role model to learn from, participating in sports to learn teamwork, volunteering and giving back to the community to build a sense of belonging and self-worth are all valuable self esteem activities you can engage in.
Keeping a self esteem help journal is another useful thing to do. Write in it self esteem affirmations and every accomplishment, no matter how big or small. Then, read through your entries for positive reinforcement, especially when you are down or harsh on yourself – that’s the first step to rebuilding your life and finding your purpose
