Building Your Self-esteem

I was having a conversation with one of my sons recently. And it took me back to a memory of myself in high school. I was reminded of how much my self-esteem was tied to my academic achievements.

I was somewhat uncoordinated so I didn’t do well at sports but I had a sense from early on that I could do well in school. By high school I had it figured out that I wasn’t good at Sciences but I took a liking to languages and decided to focus my attention there. I loved learning Spanish and French.

Throughout my high school years I did the work to pull straight As in Spanish and French. Now, on the odd occasion when I got a B+ for a test or assignment I’d be devastated. It was as if my world had fallen apart.

Fast-forward to high school graduation. I had done well on all the exams and had received top grades in my class for both Spanish and French. We were told that prizes were going to be given out at the graduation ceremony to the top students in each subject area and I was sure I would receive the prize for both Spanish and French. Everyone in my class thought so too.

Well I was right about one of them. I received the prize for Spanish but another student won the prize for French and I was so crushed I couldn’t breathe. I felt ashamed. My Inner Critic kept saying: “Shame on you. You’re a failure. You’re not smart. If you were really smart you would have won both prizes? How difficult is that to win two prizes?

It was such a devastating blow to my self-esteem, my graduation ceremony was a blur. I remembered taking a few pictures with my family but I felt so sad. I felt like I didn’t have a future. I felt like a failure.

I never told anyone in my family but while they were celebrating the success of my high school achievement I was feeling miserable thinking I had nothing to celebrate because I had lost the French prize. What was there to celebrate?

Fast-forward to 20 odd years later. I was searching through old pictures and came across my high school graduation program. In it was my name and the text acknowledging my achievement of gaining the top award for Spanish. Of the hundreds of students in that graduating class I had won the top prize. That was an achievement! Why didn’t I see that then?

Because I had very low self-esteem. I didn’t see myself as enough and no matter what I had achieved it wasn’t enough. My sense of self was tied to what I could achieve and when I didn’t achieve the goals I had set for myself I felt like a total loser. And I’d get mad at myself.

Do you find yourself beating up on yourself for what you didn’t achieve?
Do you get mad at yourself and call yourself names like dumb, stupid, loser?
Do you take time to celebrate your successes or do you immediately take note of your perceived failures and get depressed about them?

High self-esteem is about liking ourselves. It’s about accepting ourselves and recognizing that we are okay just the way we are.
That means we don’t have to win a top prize, get straight As or be recognized as the best in our field to be okay.

High self-esteem is not about our achievements. It’s about self-love, self acceptance, self-confidence in ourselves for just being here on the planet. It’s about acknowledging our strengths and approving of ourselves.

Many of us look outside ourselves for approval and even complain that we’re not appreciated. Yet when we receive a compliment we deflect it by saying: “Oh, that was nothing really” or some other similar excuse.

When we begin to love ourselves we feel comfortable to give ourselves the compliment. And when someone else compliments us we’re able to accept with a simple “Thank you.”

High self-esteem allows us to look at our day-to-day achievements and take the time to celebrate them before moving on. In order for us to get to this level we need to start at the beginning.

Some people might consider this mirror exercise a little weird but if you can bring yourself to try it, do. It will make a world of difference to your life.

1. To begin to develop your self-esteem pick up a small mirror, say your name out loud and “I love and accept you exactly as you are.” Look into your eyes and say something positive to yourself every time you pass a mirror this week.

2. Get a 79 cent notebook and label it My Self-esteem Journal. In your self-esteem journal write 10 positive things about yourself. Every morning as you wake, before you rush off into your day and before your Inner Critic starts telling you all the negatives, open up your journal and read the positive things you wrote about yourself.

Reflect on them. Take them with you throughout your day. Write them on index cards and look at them at intervals in the day to remind yourself of who you are.

3. Every night before bed write in your Self-esteem Journal 5 things you are thankful for. Yes, gratitude lifts your spirits and brings more good to you.

Try these 3 self-esteem building exercises for 90 days and you’ll be amazed at the difference they make to your life!