Self-esteem is a sense of confidence in our abilities. Having good self-esteem suggests we hold positive feelings about ourselves and our lives. Low self-esteem means being more critical and negative towards ourselves and being less able to cope with our challenges. Having good self-esteem will make us more resilient to life’s ups and downs. While we all have times when we lack confidence, a long-term period of low self-esteem can negatively affect our mental health and our life. As a whole.
What Causes low self-esteem?
We can often be influenced in childhood to have low self-esteem. Relatives, friends and teachers all influence our sense of self-esteem, and often negative messages stick. Often, we find it hard to live up to other people’s expectations. Even the media can severely influence our sense of self.
Life’s events are unpredictable, and circumstances such as stress, illness, or bereavement also sometimes negatively affect self-esteem. As well as this, some people are naturally more prone to negativity.
How does low self-esteem affect us?
One response to low self-esteem is to retract into a shell. Avoiding social situations and issues we face may seem like an easy solution to low self-esteem, for if you do not meet something, you won’t have to face any consequences. However, this quickly becomes a more significant problem because it enforces the negative opinions we have about ourselves until we spiral into believing that we are incapable of anything. It is always better to face problems before they become too big to fix.
Having negative opinions about ourselves also causes trouble because we start to behave like wholly negative people. We may find ourselves acting in ways that seek to confirm that we are inadequate or unable to do what others expect. Living in such a way can improve your mental health and lead to depression and anxiety, which can cause other negative habits to form as a result.
Improving your self-esteem
To counteract low self-esteem, you must challenge negative opinions about yourself as soon as they arise. You should question why you hold such beliefs about yourself, ask if a specific situation influenced this belief or whether it is founded on any evidence at all. It helps to gather and write down evidence that negates your negative thoughts. Our self-development program is a complete package that helps reshape your personality and behaviour to thwart low self-esteem by unleashing your true potential.