Everyone is in favor of having good self-esteem — but cultivating it can be surprisingly tough.
Low self-esteem can affect nearly every aspect of life. It can impact your relationships, job, and health.
It’s so important to your health to prioritize and build your self-esteem.
In this blog, we’re explaining how self-esteem develops in childhood and the steps you can take as an adult to accept your flaws and build your own self-esteem.
From anxiety to attachment to conversation with teens, BLOOM is here to help. Discover our wide range of courses for both children and parents.
Why is Self-Esteem Important?
It’s so important to maintain one’s self-esteem, as having healthy self-esteem significantly impacts your relationships. Because they feel more secure in themselves, someone with healthy self-esteem is more likely to be open with their feelings, manage conflict constructively and feel trusting towards people. Having healthy relationships, in turn, positively impacts one's emotional health and overall well-being. Self-esteem also influences motivation, as people with a healthy, positive, and realistic view of themselves understand their potential and may feel inspired to take on new challenges.
The Importance of Parents in Building Self-Esteem
Until we mature and begin to shape our own views, perspectives, and opinions about ourselves and the world around us, we perceive EVERYTHING through the eyes of our parents- including the way we view ourselves as a person. Our parent's view of us has a significant impact on our self-esteem. If they accept us as we are with all our human flaws, we can accept ourselves and feel confident in our abilities.
A person who struggles with self-esteem can build up their own self-esteem by learning to accept their flaws.
Steps to Build Self-Esteem
If you had a challenging upbringing, you can take steps to improve it yourself. In order to reach a stage of acceptance, it’s helpful to create a list of acceptances about yourself, for example:
I accept that I am shy when I meet new people.
I accept that I don’t always sound so smart in front of my manager since he intimidates me. And so on.
Then on a separate page, create a gratitude list of all the things you are grateful for about yourself. For example:
I’m grateful that I have a good relationship with my co-workers, and they appreciate my listening ear.
I’m grateful that I am intelligent and a whiz at computers.
I’m grateful that I can draw well.
And so on.
Read through your list a few times a day and really internalize it. Feel it as you say it. As you say each acceptance, feel the acceptance of it. It’s ok if a second later, you fight it or don’t feel acceptance.
After a few weeks, you’ll feel more confident in yourself. You’ll feel more confident in both your flaws and your strengths.
Once you’ve accepted your flaws, you’re more able to view yourself positively since you don’t see yourself as only a person with flaws; instead, you see yourself as a human with both flaws and strengths.
Parenting Courses to Build Self-Esteem
Parents of young children or teenagers need parenting guidance and support, and BLOOM can help. Access parenting tools that have been used by thousands of parents of neurodiverse children worldwide.
Remember that parenting requires support. Building your child’s self-esteem requires purpose and thought.
Discover BLOOM’s courses Self-Confidence and Parent-Child Relationships to begin today.
