Self-Esteem

7 Effective Strategies to Boost Self-Esteem and Overcome Insecurities

How to Improve Your Self-Esteem and Overcome Insecurities

Insecurities get the best of us sometimes. However, feeling insecure all the time can take a huge toll on your physical health as well as emotional well-being. Fortunately, there are ways to change this and build up your self-esteem. In this blog, we will tell you 7 tips to get rid of negative emotions like jealousy and self-doubt that often tag along with your insecurities.

Do you have days when you practically exude confidence while other days, a switch flips, and you just want to hide away cause nothing feels right? Trust us, you are not the only one. As human beings, we are wired to notice the things that aren’t going right rather than those that are.

However, constantly feeling down and incapable is not a good sign. It means that you have low self-esteem, which is extremely harmful to your professional life, relationships, and physical health. People who are insecure about their bodies and how they look eventually fall prey to unhealthy coping mechanisms like self-harm and eating disorders.

What Causes Insecurities and Low Self-Esteem?

Self-doubt and insecurities can take hold of your mind like a parasite. To get rid of it, you will first need to pinpoint its cause.

Insecurities and self-image issues are often deeply related to how people treat you. Being in a toxic relationship where the other person is constantly putting you down can harm your self-confidence. As a result, you always compare yourself to other people and end up hyper-focusing on things that you lack.

Other than this, failure can also trigger insecurities. Studies have shown, that almost 40% of your happy emotions are attributed to recent events in your life. Maybe you have recently faced a difficult patch in your academic life, or perhaps your boss passed you over for a promotion that you worked hard for. A failure like this can no doubt crush your self-esteem.

How to Improve Your Self-Esteem?

However, there are ways to suppress these emotions and improve your self-esteem. Working towards overcoming your insecurities is important to have a peaceful professional life. In addition to this, having personal low self-esteem can also affect you and your romantic partner.

For all of these reasons and more, it is important to fight your insecurities. We know that it is easier said than done, but trust us, if you know how to train your mind to focus on positive things, you can make it happen.

Here are 7 tips that will help you improve your damaged self-esteem and overcome personal, professional, and relationship insecurities.

1.    Surround Yourself with Positive Energy

If you want to improve your mental health and self-confidence, the first step is to detoxify –be it your social company, your diet, or your habits. Identify things are making you feel bad and eliminate them from your life one by one.

No one’s saying that it is going to be easy and it might even take a lot of time, but baby steps matter. You need to cut off friends and family members who regularly make you feel insecure about your professional success, appearance, and abilities.

These people might not be easy to spot, since they are a daily part of your life and they usually leave no more than subtle comments that leave you feeling insecure, anxious, and self-doubting. You also need to eat healthier if you want to feel good in your skin. Keep in mind, that a good diet has a drastic impact on how you feel mentally.

2.    Confront Your Feelings

Some people tend to avoid their feelings when they are insecure. Instead of accepting their emotions, they convince themselves that it isn’t something to be bothered about. While these kind of people might seem okay on the surface, they are crippled by their insecurities which eventually affect their social interactions and work.

Make sure that you confront your feelings rather than avoiding them. Talking to a therapist might help you unfold your feelings and understand the reason that might be shattering your self-confidence.

3.    Set Goals

After you address your feelings, it is essential to set goals and work towards achieving them. Remember that it’s okay to let yourself feel bad, however, there is no point sulking if you can’t take actions and work out a strategy to prevent yourself from feeling this way in the future.

For instance, if you are insecure about not being good at your work, start working harder, ask for your colleague’s help, and try to learn from your mentors. On the other hand, if you are insecure about your appearance or being overweight, start eating healthy. Simply put, have a growth mindset if you want to truly overcome your insecurities.

4.    Acknowledge Your Progress

Getting rid of your insecurities is not something that you can do overnight. It takes a lot of time to face your feelings, change your lifestyle, and work towards improving your self-esteem. Instead of rushing yourself, you should be proud of your success, doesn’t matter how small or big it is.

5.    Reflect on the Positive

One favor that you can do for your self-esteem is to focus on the good things. When you look at your reflection in the mirror, notice things you like about your body. Write down pleasant things that people say to you during the day and focus on the compliments. Trust us, it will slowly transform your mindset and you will start noticing only the good things around you and about you.

6.    Embrace the Awkward

What if you fumbled a bit while talking, or dropped a few things while walking? It is not something that people are going to remember about you. In fact, it’s a part of life. Instead of being embarrassed about it, embrace it and laugh it off.

7.    Keep Yourself First

Last but not least, prioritize yourself. Do things that make you happy instead of pleasing people. Learn to say NO to things that are causing you trouble. If you know that going to a certain party will drain your social battery because you don’t actually like those people, say no. Don’t make plans just to please people and definitely don’t do their work because you simply can’t say no.

Learn more: Embracing Self-Respect: The Key to Unlocking a Happier You

We hope that these tips will help you overcome your insecurities and mend your self-esteem. Believe in yourself, because you can make it happen!