Would you like to boost your self-esteem? Great plan! We’ll tell you how best to put it into practice.
Helpless, tiny, unreflective, innocent and perfect – when we look at babies we see at a glance: No one is born fully formed, but we are all inherently lovable. Over time, we learn things like sitting, speaking, rooting, and breaststroke—and (hopefully) developing self-awareness, self-confidence, self-love, and self-esteem. Ideally, this happens as automatically as sitting or walking. But in reality, life usually gets in the way.
Things that can interfere with the development of your self-esteem:
- exclusion at school
- codependency in the relationship
- a big sister who always makes you feel guilty when she fights with her parents
- Pressure to perform or an excessive focus on achievement (from parents, teachers, society)
- puberty
- and many more experiences…
If that happens, it’s stupid on the one hand, because good self-esteem is a prerequisite for a happy, self-determined life is. On the other hand, there is no drama either, because then we can take targeted countermeasures and strengthen our self-esteem. As? We’ll tell you right away!
Strengthening self-esteem: you need to know this
Anyone who has already learned to understand their own feelings (or at least read our article about it ?) knows: Our sensations are closely related to our perception. How we experience and interpret events determines which emotions they trigger in us. The same goes for self-esteem: How we see, evaluate and classify ourselves largely determines how (valuable) we feel. A healthy self-perception therefore usually automatically leads to a healthy self-esteem (and vice versa), while a negative or disturbed self-perception prevents a positive attitude towards ourselves (and vice versa). So it is already clear: If you want to boost your self-esteem, you should definitely work on your perception.
A second fact that knowing can help you to build self-esteem in a targeted and successful way: your self worth, ie your individuality, what makes you unique and what makes you the person you are, stands – as with all other people – on several different pillars. He is fed by the different areas of life in which you act. For most of us, these are primarily the following three major areas.
- “Power”: job, school, household …
- social life: relationship, family, friendships …
- me time: hobbies, interests, talents …
Ideally are the different pillars of self-worth in our lives are equally strong and well developed, because then we can B. Compensate for or process setbacks at work with the help of our relationships, while jogging or playing the piano. When strengthening your self-esteem, you can and should therefore pay attention to it directly in your life a balance of the different sources of self-worth to manufacture.
Strengthening self-esteem: This is how the 7-2-1 rule works
So far understood everything? If so: great! If not: no problem! With the 7-2-1 rule, you automatically improve your self-awareness on the one hand and strengthen your self-esteem pillars on the other, ie you can use it to strengthen your self-esteem without knowing and understanding all the backgrounds in detail. Best of all: The rule is really simple, can be implemented by anyone and can be wonderfully integrated into everyday life. And this is how it works:
7 days a week…
… are you looking for (at least) something you’re proud of. One thing that went well that day, a challenge you did well, a decision or reaction you made that you are happy with. Possible examples:
- got to the office on time
- ate something healthy for lunch
- keep your cool when your son freaked out in the supermarket
- thinking about your girlfriend’s birthday
- successfully completed a project
- found two identical socks
Whatever you like: Just be proud and definitely don’t discount it! Don’t think about what you could have done better, how others would have reacted or if it’s “just” a little thing that doesn’t justify your pride. Nothing you do is taken for granted, every action you take requires your commitment, and you should learn to recognize and appreciate that.
2 days a week…
… you are doing something good for yourself. Just like that, for no reason. Yes, exactly, for no reason. No ideas? Oh dear, it’s about time you got going! For example, how about…
- a face mask
- 10 minutes listening to music
- a full bath
- 5 minutes breathing exercise
- something delicious to eat
- a foot massage
- a date with your vibrator
Imagination stimulated? Good. Twice a week!
One day a week…
… you leave your comfort zone and consciously face a challenge that you would normally avoid. What you perceive as a challenge is entirely up to you, we all fear or respect different things. Basically, this point is about you making the experience of being able to overcome your fears and master situations that you do not believe (and, by the way, also to strengthen your self-esteem pillars). So that you don’t sit completely dry: Possible weekly challenges could be…
- Saying “no” to your manager when he asks you to do something and your workload can hardly be managed anyway
- ask the cute barista who is always flirting with you for his number
- go to sports
- appear in the office without make-up
- Clean out the closet.
In the beginning, it’s advisable to tell you really manageable challenges to seek that (even) you think you can handle. Over time, you can build up and adjust them to your growing self-esteem. As with the things you are proud of, the following also applies here: What you find challenging and outside of your comfort zone is a challenge – no matter what others might think about it…
Would you like more tips and inspiration on the subject of self-awareness and personal development? Totally happy! We’ll tell you how you can learn self-love, get your self-doubt under control and why you are guaranteed to underestimate yourself.