Improving self-esteem can seem a hopeless task, but there are different techniques that can help. If you struggle at times, fear not, I’ve got you covered.

Here’s my checklist of strategies to help you on your journey to improving your opinion of yourself and your confidence.

Why is self-esteem important?

It's the foundation supporting everything you do, while everyone occasionally has doubts about themselves, low self-esteem can leave you feeling…

• Demotivated and the smallest daily chores can be overwhelming. 
• Not wanting to be social leading you to constantly canceling plans with friends.
• Feelings of anxiety and the feeling that everyone is judging you. 

What is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is the opinion you have about yourself and your abilities. It can be influenced by factors like your confidence, your identity, and your sense of belonging. Self-esteem can be high, low, or somewhere in-between.

How does low self-esteem make you feel?

Having low self-esteem might mean you aren’t confident in your abilities, your personality, the way you look or the value you bring to others. 

Low self-esteem might be caused by:

• Experiencing prejudice, discrimination or some sort of stigma.
• Losing your job or struggling to find one.
• Relationship problems such as a breakup or divorce.
• Struggling to find housing or money problems.
• Feeling pressure to meet unrealistic expectations (for example via social media)

If the above resonates with you, you’re not alone. Everybody at some point experiences low self-esteem, the good news is, there are some actionable tips you can implement to help improve your self-esteem. 

Seven tips for improving your self-esteem

1. Be nice to yourself: Try to be kind to yourself and be aware that everyone has intrusive thoughts that cannot be controlled. A good analogy is you can't control the weather, but you can adapt towards it. Starting a gratitude journal is effective too. As you jot down things you feel grateful for such as children, and other positive things in your life you will feel instant relief.
2. Don't compare yourself to others. Comparison is the thief of joy, if you compare yourself to others the wind will instantly be knocked out of your sails, while it's ok to be inspired by someone you can only ever be the best version of yourself. 
3. Be more active and introduce regular exercise: Being more active and exercising is a great way to increase motivation, practice setting goals and building confidence. When you exercise you release endorphins hormones like dopamine and serotonin, these are feel good hormones what send signals though your brain, when dopamine is released you will feel a temporary sense of pleasure. Serotonin is similar but has a longer lasting feeling, this will help massively of you are suffering from low self esteem. We always say losing weight and looking better is simply a bonus, nothing can compare to how exercise makes you feel! If you feel uncomfortable going to the gym create an Unravelled account and try some home workouts or live classes, even setting a daily step goal is enough. 
4. Remember that everyone makes mistakes: You’ve got to make mistakes to grow, don't repeat the mistake though, learn and move forward. A good quote by Thomas Eddison is “I have not failed I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work”. 
5. Focus on what you can change: If you focus on things out of your control you will feel frustrated and it's a complete waste of energy which will be low to start with if you have low self-esteem. Ask yourself can you take any action to control the outcome of what you are worrying about? If the answer is no move on. For example if you feel anxious or embarrassed about a situation in the past except that you cant go back in time to do things differently but you can learn and grow.  
6. Celebrate the small wins: No matter how small, celebrate and be proud! This will cast a vote towards change and the wins will get bigger over time. Your levels of self-esteem are a concoction of small habits that are stacked up, if you take small daily steps before you know it you will feel and see a difference. For example doing one push up is better than doing nothing at all.
7. Surround yourself with a support network: If your self-esteem is low, you might feel isolated, and will struggle to be consistent in making changes, if you don't get much support at home or from your circle of friends create an Unravelled account and join our community and let's celebrate your wellbeing milestones together! Energy feeds off energy and you will find it more fun and easier to be consistent as part of a group who are on the same wellbeing journey. 

I hope these tips help you on your journey towards improving your self-esteem. If you would like more tips get your free health score here and remember to reach out if you need more support from us.