By Subhasree Nag
You are not worthy enough of the success you desire, or you are not smart enough like your brothers and sisters. These are some typical lines women often hear from their childhood. But you are. You are worthy, and you have to believe it.
These are things we often hear from our family and friends. These days, everything is moving fast, and similar expectations and judgments are also changing. This is where it is even more important to be confident about yourself. So, how to improve self-esteem?
There is nothing more important than how you feel about yourself. Women who have a high opinion of themselves primarily know self-love and self-care.
If you’re on your way to exploring the best version of yourself, you have to find ways to boost your self-esteem. Here, we will take you through some of the powerful ways to do so.
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem refers to the degree to which we evaluate ourselves on a positive note. It shows how much we value or like ourselves, and it often depends on comparisons with others. It revolves around the opinion that you have formed of yourself and what you have accomplished.
These days, we are surrounded by social media, which is filled with lifestyle content that often changes our opinion about ourselves. However, this can be relative. And there is a good chance that your self-esteem takes a hit the moment you open your feed.
Why is self-esteem important?
Self-esteem determines how you look at yourself, and that’s exactly how you present yourself to the world. If you have low self-esteem, you won’t love yourself enough and do things that make you content.
Self-esteem and confidence go hand in hand and reflect through every gesture you make. It represents your abilities, intellect, and etiquette and keeps you positive.
Low self-esteem in a woman: Reasons
Accepting the reasons why you have low self-esteem is a big step to improving it. However, what are the major reasons behind low self-esteem in women? Let’s explore:
Rumination
Rumination is the continuous process of thinking negatively. It can be about the past mistakes you have made and thinking negatively about the future. Low self-esteem and self-rumination are directly linked.
Negative self-talk
This is a lot like rumination. Always thinking about shortcomings, self-blame, and self-criticism can increase rumination. This negative self-talk causes low self-esteem, and this cycle continues.
Childhood trauma
Bullying and childhood abuse can cause low self-esteem. There have been researches that show the relation between low self-esteem and childhood trauma. However, this needs more research-backed data.
Abusive relationships
If there is a history of childhood sexual abuse, there is a chance that the person might be vulnerable to revictimization in their adult life as well.
This can show symptoms of trauma and can have a distorted self-image of themselves. Even if there is no childhood trauma history, abusive relationships can have a huge impact on the self-esteem of a woman.
Sociocultural factors
Various sociocultural factors affect the self-esteem of a woman. Violence against women, the prevalence of the diet culture, double standards in dating and the hookup culture, racism, and internalized prejudice affect women in a negative way.
How to improve your self-esteem as a woman?
Check out the list below and choose different ways you can boost your confidence and esteem:
1. Become self-reliant:
Experiences are the biggest life lessons, and far too many women spend years of their lives depending on people. In many parts of the world, people still expect women to depend on their fathers first and then their husbands.
In the millennial world, every individual must have their own identity and should be known by their name. Being independent is the first step to becoming self-reliant. It is the only way people can recognize you by your name and not because you’re related to someone.
2. Embrace positivity:
You might have been through many tragic situations, but nothing is worse than drawing in more negativity. We all have scars that don’t heal, but if we stop letting in positivity, it will not improve things.
Every woman has the potential to make a difference in their lives. You must embrace what makes you feel happy and better about your life. It can be cooking, painting, experimenting with makeup, or following motivational people. Do things that add positive vibes around you.
3. Go for a physical transformation:
Most women aren’t happy with their bodies, or they’ve developed over the years. While some try hard to maintain a flat tummy, others find it hard to have the perfect butt.
Whether you’re planning to do intensive cardio or go for buttock augmentation, it is absolutely your choice. Don’t let other people tell you what you should do with your body because it should make you feel good.
From choosing the perfect gym to signing up for the best cosmetic therapy, do what you think is best for your body. As long as you’re safe and under the supervision of great health experts, you’re in from a massive transformation.
4. Maintain your body:
It is not wrong to have your style or look a certain way, but it is important to maintain a healthy body. You must eat well and have a minimum level of physical activity.
Many plus-size women are fit because they exercise regularly, even if their goal is not to lose weight. You must focus on being fit and flexible, and that will help you do more than you can right now.
5. Pick up a hobby:
Working women are more pressured to have a good work-life balance, especially if they are moms. You might have enough stress that you don’t find ways to let go of it.
A weekend spa is perfect for killing the stress, but you should try and take 20-30 minutes for something you love. If you take out some time for hobbies, you’d probably have the best stress buster.
It could be doing origami with your kids, swimming every morning, cooking a special dinner, or learning an instrument. Try to give yourself at least 30 minutes to feel less stressed and make the most of your day.
6. Respect yourself:
We must all respect ourselves and expect respect from other people. You need to assess and uphold your values and not sacrifice your well-being for other people.
Respecting yourself develops self-trust and helps you become more assertive. You will not allow anyone in your life if they don’t respect you or devalue you.
7. Accept your flaws:
No one in this world is perfect, and we cannot fit into the ideologies of how people perceive us. To some, we will never be beautiful, and to some, we will never be capable.
You need to accept your flaws as much as you accept your abilities. If you find beauty in your flaws, you will accept what makes you unique.
8. Note down the things you like about yourself
It is not easy to think about the positive things you like about yourself. It might be awkward as well. However, acknowledging these things or skills you like about yourself can help with positive self-talk.
Try to keep a journal about these things. Think about what you liked about yourself and what you think you can do best. Do not just write about positive affirmations, but look for the relevant ones and accept yourself.
9. Set boundaries in your relationships
Think about the boundaries you want to set in your professional and personal life. To increase your self-esteem, you have to figure out what boundaries you want to set and whether they align with your values or not.
Also, think of the repercussions when people cross them. It could be intentional or unintentional. This will stop people from taking advantage of you.
10. Celebrate your wins
Victories come in all sizes. And it is important to celebrate even the smallest ones. It is important to practice positive self-talk, get rid of negative beliefs, and face your fears.
Acknowledge the feelings of pride and confidence and embrace those. It will help you grow your confidence. You will feel more comfortable about yourself when you build your self-esteem strong.
Be confident
The key to boosting self-esteem is accepting who you are and developing to become your own role model. Boosting your morale will not only make you happy but also help you see life in a brighter light.
You will have more things to do and fewer things to complain about. You will find happiness even when times are tough and look for ways to solve your problems.
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