Autonomisation
How I Improved My Self-Esteem
My journey, and the six steps that changed my life.
Learn to Say No
I used to feel obligated to go out of my way to help friends and to say Yes to everything they asked of me. This lead to me consistently being taken advantage of and feeling hurt, which lowered my self-esteem. Because I was so overly generous, even friends who normally wouldn’t ‘use’ me, ended up making me feel used, and it damaged our friendship. I learned the hard way that when a friendship is out of balance, it often spoils.
So the lesson is this: Don’t be a people pleaser. Recognize that you have enough value as a friend without giving them any extra benefits. And if you do nice things for a friend and it’s not reciprocated, then stop doing those things and see how your friend reacts. Givers, like me, can’t be friends with Takers or it’ll eventually suck you dry and drain your self-esteem. You need to put yourself first and be comfortable saying no.
Don’t be a people pleaser.
Dwelling On Problems Is Not Healthy
My husband helps me see situations in a better light, and when I’m going through a tough time he’s quick to point out that things aren’t nearly as bad as they appear to be. He helps me to focus on the positive and stop dwelling on the negative. If you dwell on the things that have gone wrong in your life, you’ll be stuck under a gray cloud.
When a tabloid journalist I’d never met wrote a bizarre article speculating about my personality, completely fictionalized, my mentor, Richard Branson, gave me good advice. He told me to forget about it, move on, and not to respond. If you move past the negative in your life and try to find the silver lining in every situation, then you’ll soon realize that other people can’t damage your self esteem.
Janet Day
I lost a few “friends” last year. One of them shattered my confidence.
Edwina Thornhill
Sometimes, being too modest is a bad thing.
Agnes Hoots
People always assume that I am confident because I always speak my mind when in reality, I just like voicing out my opinions.
Jennifer Kirkpatrick
Thank you so much for writing this article! I’ve been struggling with my self-esteem since I was little and out of all the self-help tips I’ve read online, this one had struck me the most.
Eleanor Honea
A lady who wears too much makeup everyday screams that she doesn’t have self-esteem. Society has put too much pressure on our women.
Jennifer Baker
They encourage pretty girls to be confident, but when a simple girl is confident but not that pretty, they bring her down. Wtf! Of course, everyone did this. But did that help you become better?
Janice Way
What is self-esteem and how do you take care of it? every time I get one, it dies within a few minutes. am I not feeding it correctly? LOL
William Dean
I wanted to build up my self my self-esteem and confidence, but I don’t know what to do! How and when do I start? How can I help myself?
Caroline Soloviev
Start now! Trust yourself, make something that makes you feel good! Do something unusual that empowers you !
Jamie Wurst
But how can I change the way people treat me? Because that’s how I manage to fix my self-esteem issues.
Alta Johnson
I always doubted the compliments I received. I always thought of them as sarcasm. How can I determine the truth from a white lie?