Having great self-esteem all of the time can be hard, we all know that. Sure, in an ideal world, you’ll wake up every morning feeling, looking and acting like a million bucks, knowing that there’s nothing that can get in your head to bring you down. Unfortunately, that’s not always the thing that happens.
As we know, the mind is a powerful tool, and it can throw you off a bit when you over-think things, wondering why you’re not as successful as your siblings, or aren’t making as much as your buddies, or aren’t as attractive as that guy on Instagram. Here’s the thing, though, the only thing you can change is your attitude about yourself — and when better than now, right as a new year starts, to start?
We’re all familiar with New Year’s resolutions and how we often do them to keep ourselves on track for the next 365 days. Some of us hope to be better at things, while others tend to set goals for themselves with stuff they want to accomplish, with a lot of these being self-improvement. Since we always want you to be the best version of yourselves, we’re giving you some New Year’s resolutions to add to your list, which, in essence, can help boost your self-esteem and lead to a much happier and more full life.
Can New Year’s resolutions really help self-esteem?
Yep, sure can — but only if you follow through on the changes you want to make. Making New Year’s resolutions are great, but they can lead to more bad than good if you’re failing to keep with them. For instance, if you make it a goal of yours to save an extra $500 each month for the next year, you may find yourself feeling down come April when you realize you weren’t able to keep it up for more than a few months.
When it comes to self-esteem, it’s important to remember that you’re in control of how you feel about yourself, nobody else. Likewise, you’re the only one who can change how you feel about yourself, so feeling down about small things shouldn’t ad anxiety or stress to your life, it should just be taken as a lesson learned for next time.
Sure, we may all fail at New Year’s resolutions at times, but keep them realistic and remember to do them for you. That way you can learn from them whether you follow through on them all or not.
What are some ways to boost self-esteem in 2019?
When you’re hoping to boost your self-esteem this year, there are a few practical (and simple) ways of doing so. Sorry to break it to you, but looking at yourself in the mirror for two hours each day and telling yourself how handsome you are won’t make you happier, so don’t think that’s a good way of bettering yourself.
To help your self-esteem, you need to start small and remind yourself of some rewards, because, naturally, there will be times when you feel down or fall into a rut. For those days, weeks or, sadly, even months, here are some tips to get you feeling right again.
- Write down happy memories or moments from work or with friends and family
- Make sure you travel, scheduling at least one vacation during the year so you’ve got something to look forward to, while also getting away from your normal, everyday routine
- Avoid making drastic changes at the new year just because it’s a new year. Doing so may be setting yourself up for failure, which can negatively impact your self-esteem
- Learn from previous mistakes and see how those lessons can help you this year
- Surround yourself with other people who are positive and make you feel good about yourself
- Spend money on things that interest you, not for the happiness of others. For example, if you’re not a big drinker, avoid going to bars each weekend only because your friends are. Instead, use that money on a hobby you’ve always been interested in
- Understand your limits and don’t try to be someone else
- Reward yourself when you accomplish something. This can be as big as a vacation after receiving a bonus at work, or something small like taking a personal day to bum around and play video games or head to a movie by yourself. Whatever you think will feel good and help your self-esteem.
There are plenty of other things that you can do to help boost your self-esteem when you’re feeling down, but these are some of the easiest ways.
How can you stay more balanced and happier in 2019 to help your self-esteem?
Finding balance in your life is one of the more difficult things a person can do, because there’s no right or wrong answer since we’re all different. However, when it comes to self-esteem, it’s important to remember that you need to stick with things that make you happy or interest you more regularly, as those will stimulate your mind and leave you feeling balanced.
For instance, if you’re stuck in the same routine of work, home, watching TV, eating and sleeping, you’re not utilizing your time properly, which, in effect, can leave you unfulfilled. This is where you need to try something new or break out of your shell a little more, putting yourself out there more in order to experience different things. As long as it’s something interesting to you, go for it and your self-esteem will impact that.
When I’m down or dealing with something bad, how can I lean on positives to help my self-esteem?
It may seem a bit cliche, but writing positive notes for yourself when you’re feeling good about yourself is a good habit to get into. Sure, it can feel weird doing something like this — and, admittedly, it’s not for everyone — but when your self-esteem is high and things seem to be going great, you need to channel that for later when you hit a rut, which is inevitable at some point.
Another suggestion you can do to help boost your self-esteem when feeling down is by simply talking to someone. Not everyone likes to open up to a friend, colleague or family member, but there are plenty of experts out there who you can call to just vent about the small or big things in your mind, which will help you feel free and reduce anxiety. No matter how big or small the issue, these experts can help remind you of the good things going on in your life, which should help your self-esteem improve.