How To Boost Your Self-Esteem For Peak Performance

People make mistakes. And things don’t always go your way. Perhaps you’ve lost a job, a relationship, your home. But what happens next is based largely on what you believe about yourself. Without strong self-esteem and self-confidence, you can quickly feel down, defeated, and depressed.

For example, let’s says someone looking for work (Sarah) emails over 300 resumes and finally lands an interview. Another individual (Greg) is on the company’s short list. The two resumes look quite similar, but Sarah has worked hard to build up her self-esteem and self-confidence over the last 12 months and Greg hasn’t, which becomes even clearer in the interview process. Who gets the job?

Sarah does, though it actually doesn’t matter, because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be fazed. Why? The person with strong self-esteem will keep going, while the one without it will give up.

While self-esteem and self-confidence are undeniably linked, they aren’t exactly the same. Self-esteem is the way you see yourself according to your worth and overall value. Self-confidence is trusting your own abilities, qualities, and judgment. Both self-esteem and self-confidence are essential ingredients for healthy living.

If you don’t have strong self-esteem in who you are and self-confidence in what you can do, you will feel unfulfilled, insecure, and a sense of despair, and will be ultimately unhappy. You will disapprove of the things you do accomplish because you’re “not good enough.” You’ll believe you can’t do anything right, which makes you stumble and fall in your endeavors.

But you can improve your self-esteem and self-confidence—now. Take the Action Steps below to get started:

Action Steps:

1. Face your fears. Don’t let them overpower you. Fears are rarely as bad as you think they are. You will definitely boost your confidence if you effectively face your fears and eventually conquer them. FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real.

2. Learn from your mistakes. It’s okay to make a mistake. Just make sure you learn from those mistakes to avoid making the same ones in the future. Learning from your mistakes will make you wiser and stronger when you face other challenges.

3. Assert yourself. Know what you want and determine how to get it. You can make your dreams come true. Do what it takes to reach your goals.

4. Reward yourself. You need to approve of yourself, just as you are. If you don’t accept yourself, no one else will. Find ways to reward yourself when you achieve desired accomplishments.

5. Ask and know. Do you feel uncomfortable about something? Ask yourself why, and then deal with it. Do what it takes to rid yourself of the discomfort you feel. Only then will your real confidence shine.

6. Don’t allow yourself to fail. Failure is not making mistakes; failure happens when you let yourself be defeated. If you stay standing each time you are disappointed, you are not beaten yet. It’s when you stop fighting that you lose.

7. Get help. When nothing seems to be going right, remember that help is available. A lot of excellent materials and people can help you increase your esteem and confidence. Consider seeking the help of a professional therapist or counselor.

Research proves that self-worth levels highly influence productivity, capacity to engage, happiness, wellness and stress, propensity for addictions, ability to embrace change, willingness to take personal responsibility for outcomes, and much more.

Reference: CRG Leader