Building Self Esteem -- You're Getting Better Every Day!

How do we go about building self esteem? That is a good question. When we feel bad about ourselves it is difficult to think positive. However, there are things we can do to prevent negative feelings from taking over our lives. Let's look at some of those options.

One technique for building self esteem is reading motivational books and articles. These can be online in forms of e-books, BLOGS, and articles or they can be in print. Your local library is a great place to get these types of books. Many have made best seller lists at one time or another. Books of this type are wonderful for keeping a positive attitude, even when things are not going very well for you.

A really good pamphlet on self esteem is available online from the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. The URL is rather long, I would suggest looking it up in a search engine. The title is "Building Self Esteem -- A Self Help Guide". It is definitely worth reading.

Another option for building self esteem is personal life coaches. A lot of these life coaches can be found online. Some charge a fee some do not. Life coaches help you improve the areas of your life that you fell you need work on. For example if you feel awkward and shy in social situations a life coach can help you find methods to alleviate these feelings. They may look into why you feel that way and work on those issues. Find out from your friends if any of them use life coaches. If they do, see if they can recommend one.

Finally there is a spiritual way to go about building self esteem. The goal of this article is not to preach about any particular religion or faith. I am talking about finding inner peace. This can be through religion or through meditation or by some other means. When you are at peace with yourself, you will feel better. Some people like yoga, others martial arts, other will turn toward their clergy and see a higher power. It does not matter how you achieve this, but it is something you should try. Having a positive self image will benefit every aspect of your life.

A Self Esteem Activity - For Kids Through Adults

Feeling good about ourselves is very important. All too often in the classroom and in the workplace, some of us feel left out, awkward, or disliked. Allowing cliques to form definitely promotes these kinds of feelings. This self esteem activity is a simple one. As long as a child can hold a pencil, they can participate.

This first self esteem activity is for the workplace. Managers and employees alike participate. It is great for building team spirit and cooperation. You need a plastic cup for everyone and some brightly colored note pads. Label each cup with an employees name. Include the team lead or manager. Here is how it works; every day before you leave, you must write at least 1 person a note telling them how they did something well that day.

You could say something like "… you are really good talking to customers on the phone, you make them feel special…" or "… you tried very hard today, thanks for sticking with it…". The only two rules are that everyone must get a note every day they are at the office and that all notes must be positive. Trashing other people is prohibited! The notes are placed in the cups, which should be left in the employees area. It's good way to make everyone feel welcome and useful.

This next self esteem activity is basically the same on but geared toward children in the classroom. For classrooms that are always tight on space, use a hanging closet organizer, the plastic ones that go on the door and have lots of pockets. Put a child's name on each pocket. Same rules as above. The children can either draw a picture or write a note. something very simple such as "… I think you are really smart…" or "… it was nice of you to help Sally …" or just draw a nice picture if writing is an issue (like with preschoolers or those with writing disabilities).

We all need to know that people like us. When we are having a really bad day, a little note that says "…we like you…" can make all the difference in the world.

Self Esteem Clothing -- A Fashion Statement

Clothing that promotes self esteem! This is a really unique concept. Today's teens are talking all about it -- that's right teenage girls know about self esteem clothing!

What is self esteem clothing? It is a line of trendy clothing for teenage girls packaged with a positive image. They have a website. Personally, I like the business model. Let teens express themselves, find their own unique look, and put an I like me spin on the whole thing! With teenage girls being the segment of the population that has the lowest self esteem of all this product line is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Many companies have started to pick up on this business idea. Some of your major department stores are now carrying self esteem clothing. These clothes are young looking, some of it is very retro, and it is all being sold with a boost your self image spin. It's about time the fashion industry realized that most of us could use a boost to our self image. Especially when it comes to clothing.

Does this concept work? Can clothing really make you feel better about yourself. I think so. I love to shop and clothes definitely can make the person. If you feel good about what you buy, then every time you wear that item, you'll fell good about it and yourself for making such an incredibly good purchase. The really nice thing about all of this self esteem clothing is that it is not only being sold in sizes that teeny tiny teenage girls can fit into. It can also be found in sizes that normal size people wear. Even some of us more robust women can find clothing to boos our self esteem.

I love it. Self esteem clothing in plus sizes (women's sizes) . It does not get any better than this. Has the fashion industry finally gotten it through their heads that real women have curves? Is the day when the six foot tall, 105 pound model the ideal woman over? For all our sake let's hope so. I like clothing that promotes positive self esteem. Buy lots of it for us and for our daughters. Anything that teaches young girls that they are wonderful worth while people is a great thing.

Self Esteem Quotes

Many people like self esteem quotes. They are uplifting and inspirational. We feel good after reading them. Look around you, these quotes are everywhere!

Lance Armstrong has had one of the most successful self esteem quotes campaigns ever. His message was extremely positive, yet it was short and simple -- Live Strong! His message was clear. It started with those wristbands that everyone is wearing. Those wristbands were copied by just about everyone. His goal was to send a positive message and raise money for cancer research. He has accomplished both. Why has Live Strong worked so well? It is a powerful phrase. It is also short and easy to remember.

That makes it very marketable. Lance himself is an inspiration. His accomplishments are amazing. He is a positive roll model for kids and adults. It's not about winning a bike race. It's about triumph over adversity. His message is to persevere, be strong, and you can accomplish anything. No wonder we all want to be a part of that. We should all teach our children to "Live Strong".

What about other self esteem quotes? How can we use them in our lives? These quotes have many uses. Motivational speakers use them all of the time. Leadership training also has a fair number of quotations in it. Many workshops use a quote by Zig Ziglar "… its does not matter if you think you can or if you think you cannot, either way you are right…" This quotation is used to demonstrate the power of positive thinking. Many people have these quotes on desk calendars, in their PDA's, and they receive them in emails. These quotes help us through tough times, inspire us to do our best, help us organize and motivate our teams, children and families. Overall, you could consider them little pick me ups.

Self esteem quotes are one of those nice little things we can do for ourselves. A quick reminder that we are going to be OK. Some higher end restaurants are now serving small sized portions called tapas. Consider these inspirational quotations to be "tapas" for your self esteem.

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"Self Motivation Quotes for Encouragement"

Self Esteem Exercises - The Experts Disagree

Self esteem exercises are tasks that we do to help improve our overall happiness and feeling of well being. When we do things that make us feel good about ourselves we are improving our self esteem. However, there are a number of experts who feel that these exercises are very over rated and that they actually do more harm than good.

Self esteem exercises are helpful. That is one school of thought. Children are taught to think positively through games and exercises, it's I'm OK -- you're OK and nothing is ever bad. Teaching children to be kind to one another is a good thing. I do not believe any normal adult would advocate children being mean or hostile to each other.

The exercises that they do in many schools may actually help peer situations, by keeping negative behaviors to a minimum (at least with respect and name calling and such). As adults, performing self esteem exercises can make us feel better. This is a positive thing. Feeling well and happy is what life should be about.

The other school of thought is that self esteem exercises are useless, possibly even harmful. These experts cite the increase in depression rates -- in particular how much younger people are becoming clinically depressed. They say that children need to fail and to feel bad in order to learn how to deal with these issues. Experts of this school of thought believe that detaching how you feel from how successful you are is bad for the persona and it reinforces negative behaviors.

Are self esteem exercises helpful or are they going to lead me down a path of psychological destruction? You need to do what works for you. I have yet to see anyone have a breakdown from going through one of these exercises. If you feel better doing these exercises, and by feeling better you become a more productive and happier person then these exercises have done their job.

Each individual has to decide what is best for them. People with high self esteem do better in life than those that have poor self esteem. You need to do what makes you feel more confident and better about yourself.

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"Benefits Of Self Motivation Exercises"
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Self Esteem Worksheets

Self esteem worksheets are designed to help us focus on what part of our self esteem needs work. These worksheets can be found everywhere; on the Internet, in books, in stores, etc. For those of us who need to have everything written down, these worksheets are a great tool.

How can self esteem worksheets help us? They are a tool to help us focus in on our feelings and thoughts. This is done through a series of questions on the worksheet. After answering the questions, you analyze the results and this will show you your unique strengths and weaknesses. Now that you are aware of your strengths, you can be sure to make decisions that coincide with those qualities.

The same goes for weaknesses. By understanding the areas where we need improvement we can make informed decisions about our life based on the information. For example, if your worksheet shows that you are a passive person and are not usually assertive, then your career choice should be in an area where it does not require you to be highly assertive or competitive. Professional hockey would be a poor career choice for you.

We can gain a lot of personal insight by using self esteem worksheets. Our weaker points are pointed out and this gives us the opportunity to decide if we need to make some changes. Have you ever been upset with yourself because you felt you should have been more assertive in a situation?

We all have, however, if this happens often and you worksheet results note that you are not usually assertive, then maybe you could take action to improve this. This does not mean that you should go from being nice all of the time to becoming downright obnoxious. What this means is that you go from not feeling good about certain situations to being more in control, and being able to firmly but nicely stand your ground.

Self esteem worksheets help us learn more about who we really are. They give us an outline of our strengths and weaknesses. All in all, they are a tool to be used on our path to self improvement.

Teen Self Esteem -- Are Girls At Higher Risk?

The teenage years are tough, no doubt. There is so much going on with them. Physical changes, peer pressure, grades, preparing for college, and more. Coping with all of these pressures can wreak havoc on teen self esteem, especially if one area or another is not going well. Teenage girls seem to be at a substantially higher risk than teenage boys for low self esteem. Why?

All teens have pressure. However, teen self esteem seems to run particularly low in girls. A lot of this has to do with the way teenage girls view themselves. With the physical changes the teenage years bring, girls are trying to fit into their image of being a woman. The media's constant influx of super thin, tall, acne free, beautiful models is an impossible roll for the majority of teenage girls to fit into.

The fact that printed media is air brushed to perfection also adds to this problem. Add to this the peer pressure to date, and the internal pressure of trying to figure out how to deal with boys as boyfriends can be overwhelming. Even if they get good grades, have friends and do everything right, sometimes they just do not have a boyfriend and that can rock their world. As adults we would love to teach our girls that their happiness should not be dependent on any man (or boy).

How do we improve teen self esteem?

First, never compare them to anyone else. If they are doing well in school, socially, or where ever, let them know that you acknowledge how well they are doing. Keep communication open. Problems with boys, no matter how minor we perceive them to be, are huge issues to a teenage girl. If an unkind remark was said, the hurt is very real. Let your teenage daughter know that you understand because you have been there. Tell her that you are there to help. Also, get her involved in things that make her feel good about herself. Instill as sense of "girl power" in her.

Teen self esteem is a delicate thing. Keeping it positive is a challenge because they have so many life changes going on without a lot of experience to deal with these changes. The best things we can do as parents of teens is to try to instill in then a sense of self worth that is firmly rooted in who they are, not in how they look at the moment.