Don’t Let Others Challenge Your Self-Esteem
If someone’s careless comment should flow your way and it hurts your feelings, don’t get down on yourself because of it. Learn how to stand up for your inner self by refusing to internalize the negativity you encounter every day. Deflecting negative comments from others is a great way to start raising a low self-esteem up to a healthy level. You’ll soon feel a boost in how you feel about yourself, and others will notice your new self-confidence in your attitude.
Stop Worrying What Others Think About You
When someone challenges your confidence, it’s time for you to put your dukes up. They say that “stick and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt [you].” Words can hurt, and often do, but that is where you can to take action to protect yourself.
Just because someone threw some negative comments your way doesn’t make them true. And even if they are, who cares? It’s just what one person has to say. There is no need for you to carry those negative feelings around with you, sucking the life out of what should be a happier you. Learning to rely on your own opinion above all others’ is the best way to live.
Is It Low Self-Esteem?
So how do you know if it’s low self-esteem that’s got you down? Take a look at the following list and see if you recognize any of these traits in yourself:
- Being really critical of yourself
- Focusing on the negatives in your life
- Comparing yourself to others
- Not accepting compliments
- Negative self-talk
- Loneliness
- Poor performance in school
- Being bullied
- Neglecting your needs
- Suffering from abuse — verbal or otherwise
- Feeling like you’re the odd one out
Just Be Yourself
If any of these comments sound familiar, your self-esteem may need a tune-up. One of the best places to start is to learn to stop caring so much what others think and more about your opinion. “Feeling like you’re the odd one out,” for example,” could easily be the result of you hearing others talking about a subject with which you disagree. Since others around you seem to be in agreement with each other, you may automatically assume that your opinion is wrong.
The more this happens, the more you feel excluded from a group, and eventually assume yourself to be the odd one out. But who’s to say that your opinion is wrong, or doesn’t count? Only you can make that decision. Try voicing your opinion and fielding the response in a way that you don’t feel criticized. It will show through in your attitude and others may start having more respect for you for being confident enough to voice a minority opinion. It takes courage.
Take Action
Take action! Ask yourself why the opinion of others is so important to you. Try to be more assertive in less significant situations and work your way up to things that matter more to you as your self-confidence builds. Learn to say no. It’s unlikely that you’ll lose a friend because you can’t always be there to help them out.
Make a decision to change, and start doing it. It won’t happen overnight, but slowly, as you start to trust your own feelings more, you’ll start to notice that you feel better about yourself in general. And in turn, your friends may react to your new self-confidence enough that you’ll no longer feel like the odd one out.
