5 Clever Ways to Boost Self-Esteem

We all have moments of feeling low. It’s a part of human nature. At times, the pressure of wanting to fit it, succeed in life and live up to expectations, can all feel too much…physically, mentally, and emotionally. Our self-esteem taking a hit. I’ve faced many of these days. What I’ve learned is that although we might feel helpless in these situations, and out of control, we have all the power to start changing things around. Here are 5 Clever Ways to Boost Self-Esteem:

Volunteer Your Specialty

Utilize your gifts and talents to be a blessing to someone else. This is a two-fold action — a get and receive. By helping and showing kindness to others, you are taking the time to recognize your value. That’s right. You are acknowledging that you — your tools and gifts — are not for naught. What does this look like? It looks like volunteering in your local soup kitchen, cooking food for the homeless. It looks like spending time at a nearby senior living facility, playing the guitar or the piano, bringing excitement to a group of senior citizens. Or tutoring! There are plenty of children and adults alike who could benefit from you sharing knowledge of your specialty. I promise you this. Happiness is contagious. Once you see the smiles and joy of the ones you’ve helped, you are bound to feel the same way.

Be Creative

This one is the most fun! Humans have a natural instinct to create: buildings, technology, art. Regardless of what it is, there is a peace and a sense of calmness that comes with creation. Being creative is a way of expressing thoughts and feelings that might be difficult to express. It allows you the opportunity to focus on something other than what’s troubling your mind, and bringing down your self-esteem. You can be adventurous, creating something you’ve never done before! Baking has always been a fun source of creativity for me. Several years ago I decided to be daring and decorate a cake using fondant. I had never done it before and had absolutely no clue what I was doing. However, I decided to keep with it, and the end result turned out great! It didn’t taste so good, but it looked fantastic! Most importantly, I was proud of myself, and my self-esteem soared because I accomplished something I didn’t think was possible.

Yell Out Your Accomplishments

It’s amazing how easy it is for us to limit our accomplishments. How many times have you said, “Oh…it’s no big deal,” or “it was easy,” instead of acknowledging your achievement? It is important that we take the time to purposefully recognize our accomplishments in life. Yell them out! Whatever they might be. In college, it was required that I take a calculus course….only, math is not my forte. I struggled. I spent many late nights, trying to figure out the technique and theory behind different problems, and still struggled to understand what it was I was doing. Needless to say, I failed the class. I had to take the course again as a part of my major, and guess what…I still struggled. Again, I spent days, nights and weekends trying to figure things out…it was like my mind had a mental block on all things calculus. The second time around, I completed the course with a ‘D’. As an overachiever, and someone who worked really hard in school, that ‘D’ was really discouraging. Even now I get disappointed. Then I realize, I still passed. Even though the results were not what I wanted, passing that calculus class was still an accomplishment. So regardless of how small, or unworthy, your accomplishment might seem, still rejoice in them.

[Tweet ““To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.” – Denis Waitley”]

Speak Words of Affirmation

This is my favorite scene from The Help. In the scene, Viola Davis’ character encourages this child to recognize that she is smart, kind, and important…this is exactly what I want you to do. I want you to wake up and say, “I am smart, I am kind, I am important.” Even if you don’t believe it. Have you ever heard the saying, fake it until you make it? You’ve gotta fake it until you make it! 

In the past, body-image has been a major source of low self-esteem in my life. I constantly compared myself to what I thought was the ‘standard of beauty’. It was not until a friend encouraged me to wake up every morning and say,” I love you, you are beautiful,” that I began to speak change into my life — thus changing my perception of myself and my self-esteem. I’ve mentioned this before: our words hold power. What we say — especially to ourselves — hold the power to make or break our self-esteem. So take those words of low self-esteem that you whisper to yourself, and replace them with words of affirmation. Tell yourself that you are beautiful. Tell yourself that you love who you are, and what your stand for. Speak positivity into your life! You will get the job! You will get the promotion! Why? Because you are worthy of it!

[Tweet ““You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection” – Buddha”]

Discover and Seek Your Passion

Last, but not least, discover and seek your passion. What makes you excited about life? What keeps you going each day? Do you have something that you look forward to each day, week, or month? I encourage you to discover what this is in your life. It could be a sport or activity. Following your favorite musician on tour. Or writing! Write a book or start a blog…hence, why I started The Pink Caboodle. Volunteering Your Specialty is another great example of discovering and seeking your passion. Discover your ‘happiness’, and then continue to seek it out…being active in whatever your passion is. When you feel good about what you’re doing, you feel good about yourself.

[Tweet ““When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” – Jean Shinoda Bolen”]

I’m leaving you guys with some homework! I want you to take each one of these 5 Clever Ways to Boost Self-Esteem, and figure out how you can apply them to your life. Take the time to really think about what this looks like, and how you can utilize these points to help build your spirit and self-esteem. It won’t always be easy, but I promise you, little by little, and with time, you will begin to notice that those moments of feeling ‘low’, will evolve to moments of feeling ‘joy’.

Until Next Time,

<3

PinkCaboodle

Maya is owner of Pink Caboodle, specializing in Fashion and Body Positivity.