Feeling Low? These 7 Mental Hacks Will Help Boost Your Self-Esteem

Going about your life while being unsure of yourself, your abilities, and your knowledge is a sure recipe for constant frustrations and failure. See, you need to believe in yourself first before others can. And the most successful people would tell you that confidence and an inflated sense of self-respect are prerequisites for success in anything you pursue. But, perhaps what they won’t tell you is how to build your self-esteem.

So, here you can find 7 ways to boost your self-esteem to adequate levels:

Push Through Self-Limits to Boost Confidence

To improve confidence, it is vital to start working towards beating any limitations you or others have set. As we grow up, our parents, educators, and the rest of society have expectations regarding what we should be, what we should accomplish, and how we should conduct ourselves.

These suppositions can turn us into individuals who cannot do some things in life. We become people who avoid certain instances, or even opportunities, but only because we feel like we're restricted by limitations.

To break away from this “trap”, be open to new things and make sure to try out different endeavors. Pay attention to those undertakings that you consider to be uncomfortable. It is only by venturing past your limits that you will build confidence. So, get out of your comfort zone!

Take Control of the Memories to Build Self Esteem

The human brain has a selective memory system. All details about your life are stored in such a way that is consistent with your self-image, values, and beliefs. Thus, when someone has a low sense of self, his brain will store information in a way that confirms his confidence issues.

Now, it is quite easy to take these memories as facts while in reality, they aren’t.

Accepting your past experiences as simply that and not as facts can help you break out of the boundaries you have set on yourself. To overcome some of your low memories, review the experiences in your life that are constraining. After that, try to scrutinize the events from a more confident perspective. Alternatively, ask someone to give their opinion. You might be surprised to learn that what was holding you back is not the mountain you had thought it to be after all.

Listen and Talk to Your Inner Self to Gain Positive Self Esteem

Crazy, right?

But actually, this strategy works.

Talking to yourself can help you stay focused, make you smarter, and boost your memory. More importantly, having monologues can help you get through tough times.

Some of the people who have reaped the benefits of positive self-talk include the Special Forces and the Navy SEALS. In these teams, recruits are asked to speak positively to themselves in order to overcome fears coming from the limbic system, the part of the human brain that aids in countering anxiety.

“Talking to oneself influences one’s neurobiological response. For example, by telling yourself that you can overcome a particular issue, your brain responds positively to the challenge. In turn, through overcoming your problems, you will gain confidence,” – Ron Waller, a career coach in Skillroads.

Stay Positive to Increase Self Confidence

Humans are inclined to pay attention to the negative things they encounter in life. Positive information tends to fade away quickly. On the other hand, negative experiences stick around for a long time. And this negativity can eat away at a person’s confidence and even result in depression. If left unchecked, this negative bias can affect all aspects of your life.

Here are useful tips for overcoming negativity:

• For every negative thought, think of five positive ones to counter it.
• Ponder on each positive thought for at least 20 seconds.
• Recognize both good and bad feelings.
• Do not ignore the negative thoughts.
• Do not dwell on the negative. Instead, learn to move on.

Curiosity Can Help You to Be Confident

Curiosity is essential for building confidence and gaining lifelong success. By being curious, you stay open to new ideas or knowledge. In turn, your mind keeps growing. You can maintain curiosity by always looking forward to new experiences and unearthing new information.

Being curious brings several benefits. For one, it helps you develop an active mind. Second, it makes you more observant. Third, it exposes you to new possibilities. Lastly and most importantly, it develops an adventurous response in you that helps you become more confident and receptive of new things.

Become Self Confident by Conquering Self-Doubt

Lack of self-assurance makes you adopt a victim mentality that bars you from being able to withstand challenges that you face in life. You will tend to allow other people to dictate the direction your life takes. However, no one is preventing you from doing what you want to do but yourself.

To overcome doubt, be your best friend and take control of your life by doing what is needed when it is called for. Be ready to take on whatever comes your way without doubting your ability to do it.

Fight Off Lack of Confidence by Confronting Your Fears

You cannot improve your self-confidence without addressing your fears first. Fear is guided by emotions and is random and irrational. It comes from things that you are not comfortable with. Denying, avoiding or ignoring what makes you scared will not help you get past them.

Thus, to overcome your fears, you must get closer to your threats. First, identify the source of your fears and then address each of them appropriately.

To wind up, building your confidence takes time and commitment. That said, putting these tips to practice will help you grow your self-esteem so that you're more confident with your decisions, abilities, and plans. Remember to work on your confidence diligently as it will help you in all aspects of your life — may it be professional, personal, or social.