Honoring yourself and who you really are is your birthright.
So many teens “young adult teens” are so stuck on being adults and demanding they be treated as 40 year-olds, they fail to recognize that they may need to be treated older than they really are because of poor self-esteem. Much like my cousin who thinks he is a grown man, he fails to recognize that he can hardly take care of his own needs. No job, no bank account, not able to drive but clearly able to moan groan and complain about how unfair life is.
The problem here is he expects people to honor him, but he cannot honor himself. Instead he can only act out towards the people that feed and support him. He is not the only one, millions of teens that are 18 act out like this. Much of it is caused from low self-esteem.
Building high self-esteem is a process, not something you develop overnight and it isn’t necessarily easy. Yet, every single person has the capacity for high self-esteem. The question is, are you ready to make a commitment towards increasing your self-esteem?
1. Self-love.
Loving yourself simply means believing in your own self. It is nurturing a healthy sense of positive self-regard and knowing in your heart that you are good. Self-love is self-acceptance. It lets you take the risk of being open and vulnerable. It is to love and accept yourself for who you are and not what you are.
2. Associate with positive, supportive people.
The real you is a magnificent, unique being with enormous potential and capacity for experiencing love of yourself and extending love to others. Keep your interest in life high by keeping company with enthusiastic people. This way, you will be infected and affected by their positive attitudes. You will view the world in its full, shining glory and move around oozing with energy. In the same manner, it would be wise to stay away from negatively inclined thinkers. When you are surrounded by negative people who constantly put you and your ideas down, your self-esteem can take a lowering hit.
3. No need to blame yourself for mistakes in the past.
Many things in our lives are only minimally in our control, but those of us with low self-esteem take the full blame for the resulting negative outcomes. Instead, learn to honor your efforts and give proper credit for things that you have done well. Following a practical approach for managing your self-esteem will prevent it from becoming a problem and keep you off that rollercoaster.
4. Make a list of your positive qualities and think positive.
Not everyone has your unique abilities and talents. Are you honest? Unselfish? Helpful? Creative? Be generous with yourself and write down at least 20 positive qualities. It is important to review this list often. Most people dwell on their inadequacies and then wonder why their life isn’t working out. Start focusing on your positive traits and you’ll stand a much better chance of achieving what you wish to achieve. You can’t develop high self-esteem if you constantly repeat negative comments about your skills and abilities. Remember that there is always a positive in every negative if you look hard enough.
5. Set strong boundaries.
Learning to set boundaries is vital to learning to love yourself, as well as communicating to others that you have worth. When you look outside yourself for self-definition and self-worth, you are giving your power away and setting yourself up to be a victim. Society has trained you to be victim. You have been taught to give your power away. A boundary is a system of setting limits that enhances a person’s ability to have a sense of self. Boundaries control the impact of reality on the self and others. The purpose of a boundary is to contain and protect reality.
For today this is Dr. Tyler Woods saying walk in peace…