How can good self-esteem help you through difficult situations? Each of us has to face personal challenges in life. But being the strong person we are, we still manage to share a beautiful smile. Despite these difficult times, your smile can boost your self-confidence and self-esteem. By maintaining good self-esteem, you can go further.

In this case, we need to understand how high self-esteem can push us through the hardships life has to offer. Through the help of this article, we will have all the information we need. So, let’s go and see what this article has in store for us.

What is Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem is the attitude to give respect and admiration to yourself. High self-esteem does not stop with just liking yourself. It portrays a more profound sense of it. That includes affording the love, value, dignity, and respect that you deserve.

Overall, you are the first person to give that to yourself more than anyone could. When you learn to develop good self-esteem, it can help you through difficult times. With attention to positive self-esteem, you believe in your skills, abilities, and capacity to do things independently.

Additionally, you are giving yourself the benefit that your ideas, feelings, and opinions have worth. You know in yourself that they deserve to be heard and accepted. But if you have low self-esteem, none of these matters.

Importance of High Self-Esteem

When we talk about high self-esteem, it means the positive vibes inside you radiate more than your negative self. You are not allowing the negative thoughts to overpower your worth as a person. In this case, let’s see how essential having high self-esteem is.

1. First, it is a vital component in having positive mental health and well-being.
2. Secondly, it is your way to develop coping skills.
3. Furthermore, it gives you the capacity to accept challenges and handle adversity.
4. With healthy self-esteem, you can also see the negativities from a different angle.
5. Additionally, when things don’t go your way, you manage to accept them and continue with life. No self-doubt. No self-blaming.
6. Another advantage of having good self-esteem is the ability to cope with stress, anxiety, and pressure.
7. You also get ahead of your perceived failures. Moreover, you think of ways to improve and not feel hopeless about that failure.

Life events can be surprising and challenging at the same time. But if you firmly believe in your own qualities, you will be confident of getting through these tough situations.

Effects of Low self-Esteem

Unfortunately, not everyone can build a positive character towards self. The negative side is more powerful to people with low self-esteem. For this reason, it significantly affects their mental health. Besides that, here are some more effects of having low self-esteem.

• poor quality of life
• poor relationships
• addiction
• anxiety and depression
• negative feelings
• fear of trying and of judgment
• low resilience
• lack of self-care
• self-harming behaviors

The low level of self-esteem can make it hard for an individual to surpass difficult situations. Moreover, challenges will take control over their emotional and physical health. The confidence they have will also continue to perish.

Causes of Low Self-Esteem

Generally speaking, having low self-esteem has its contributing factors. These factors significantly influence how an individual will build their self-confidence and self-esteem. By all means, it often starts with how a person’s childhood has been for them.

One of the potential causes of low self-esteem is an unhappy childhood. Children need proper guidance as they grow and face difficult situations at such a young age. Furthermore, kids may also meet their battles, for example, academic performance.

In some cases, people develop low self-esteem if they undergo a stressful life situation, such as a broken relationship or financial issues. Abusive relationships can also tear apart someone’s beliefs toward themselves.

Furthermore, individuals with medical problems can also lower their self-esteem. Chronic pain, severe illness, or a physical disability can make them less confident. Even mental conditions, such as anxiety disorder and depression, can decrease the confidence of anyone who has it.

Generally speaking, each of us may be experiencing situations affecting our confidence and self-esteem. These conditions can even affect life as a whole, including job, school, or anything socially related. However, we are better able to break that obstacle hindering us from building high self-esteem.

Raising Low Self-Esteem

Fortunately, we can still do something to build up the esteem we thought we never had. Here are the ways on how to overcome low self-esteem.

1. Spend time with positive people.

It would be best to make a good choice whom you will spend your time with. Your loved one, your friends, and your families are the best support foundation. Take care of these people as you also care for yourself. Be with people who build you up and not who tear you down.

2. Don’t be hard on yourself.

Be kind to yourself. Tell things that can encourage you to overcome what you’re going through. Let go of the unhelpful habits. Distance yourself from social media or any sources that can drag down your self-confidence. Challenge your negative criticisms and self-talk.

3. Say yes to imperfections.

Nothing’s perfect! That’s how your mindset should be. Look in the mirror and appreciate what you see. If you don’t see anything that is worth appreciating, visit an ophthalmologist. You might need some help with your eyes, pun intended. Moreover, accept challenges. If something didn’t go your way, feel good about what your best has reached for you.

4. Focus on your life goals.

Do something to make yourself feel good. Keep yourself healthy and focus on achieving your dreams. The body needs support as well. So, feed it healthily.

5. Keep your balance.

We will all have our ups and downs. If something doesn’t go well, focus on the things that turned out great. That will make you feel better.

6. Give and help.

It is better to give than to receive, as the saying goes. Sharing allows you to feel that sense of fulfillment. A small act of kindness can affect your self-esteem positively.

Generally speaking, we tend to get ourselves into a set of mixed emotions in search of self-fulfillment. Little did we know that it is only hidden within us, and we only have to search for it deep inside. High self-esteem can help maintain excellent mental health and overall health conditions.

Don’t turn yourself to social media sites. Instead, seek advice from people who can lead you towards building a good character, high self-esteem and tend to be with you throughout.

References:

Why It’s Important to Have High Self-Esteem, Sarah Vanbuskirk, Medically reviewed by Rachel Goldman, PhD, FTOS, Updated on February 24, 2021, https://www.verywellmind.com/why-it-s-important-to-have-high-self-esteem-5094127

Why Self-Esteem Is Important for Mental Health, Anne Gold, July 12, 2016, https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/July-2016/Why-Self-Esteem-Is-Important-for-Mental-Health

How Can I Improve My Self-Esteem?, Reviewed by: D’Arcy Lyness, PhD, August, 2018, https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/self-esteem.html