Feeling low? Boost your self-esteem with these tips.

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Self-esteem is the way a person feels about themselves and how much they value or appreciate their own worth.

Someone with a healthy self-esteem can feel good about themselves and take pride in what they do, their skills and their accomplishments.

Self-esteem is the result of comparing who you want to be and who you are. When you feel good about yourself, you’re more likely to:

  • pursue and attain your goals
  • believe that you are capable of learning something new such as a sport or skill
  • try new things
  • become more approachable

Will my self-esteem change?

Everyone’s sense of self will grow and change — especially when you’re trying to figure out who you want to be or how you fit in. Your self-esteem can be shaped by things such as:

  • your environment (e.g. you receive constant criticism from your peers)
  • how you feel about yourself (e.g. your body image)
  • your expectations of yourself (e.g. you downplay your successes and focus on faults and failures)
  • your experiences (e.g. you struggle with a difficult life event or family relationships)

I’m feeling low — what can I do?

It’s important to know that self-esteem can change for the better. It can grow through things such as achieved goals, finished projects and other feelings of competence and personal pride. When it’s strong, self-esteem can help you get through a challenging time. To help your self-esteem, you can:

  • remember that you are more than your appearance
  • identify your strengths/abilities and build on them
  • take care of yourself by getting enough sleep, eating right and staying active
  • counter any self-critical thoughts with positive thoughts
  • set realistic goals and plan an approach to stick with it until you succeed
  • be generous with others by volunteering
  • build a support system of people including family and friends