A 5-Step-Plan to boost your Self-Esteem

I have spent several days and several blog entries writing about how people often compare themselves to others and thus lose their own self-confidence and along with it their self-esteem. They get depressed, have problems with their own body and think that even their actions and feelings are not worth anything. If you have come to this point or if you want to prevent even reaching until there, I would recommend you doing something to boost your self-esteem. Here is a plan, a tip on how you can start with this:

When you have some minutes of free time, take a sheet of paper and a pen and sit down comfortably. Now start writing down what you think is valuable about yourself. That can be anything that you are proud of, anything that you think is good. It can range from ‘I am good at playing soccer’ over ‘My bottom looks great in jeans’ to ‘I can empathize with people’s feelings’ or ‘I have lots of patience’. You should have an absolute minimum of five points on that list – and there is no limit to how many you want to add.
If you have any difficulty finding points that you are convinced of, ask your close friends or family what they value about you. You will notice, this alone will give you a strong push of positive feelings and self-esteem! If you are shy to ask, remember that you would also like them to ask you for help if they needed it!
Read this list every day at least once. It does not take much time – before going to sleep or after waking up or maybe both times, sit down and consciously read what you have written about you. You will internalize the good feeling about yourself and after some time, you won’t even need the help of the written words anymore, you will just be able to think of your list and feel better.
If you meditate or do breathing practice, use the list as an anchor to meditate on. Concentrate on the positive energy that you feel circulating inside yourself.
Finally, whenever you are in a situation that threatens to throw you back down into your hole of bad thoughts about yourself, return mentally back to all the points that you like about yourself and that others value about you, too. Remember that nobody is superman or superwoman, that nobody is perfect in all fields of life. Know your own qualities and accept that you have some less impressive character traits as well.

Concentrate on yourself, stop comparing yourself to others and find out what your qualities are – you will notice how big a difference it will make in your daily life. Try – what does it take? A paper, some ink and just a few minutes per day! But the effect will make you happy!