Health Facts and Tips

Self Empowering Affirmations to Help Gain Self Confidence and Esteem

Positive affirmations can boost confidence and revive your hibernating self esteem. An affirmation is statement that asserts or confirms facts or the truth about something. It is not simply a thought or feeling, but it has to be expressed and highlighted in some way.

The positive part is drawing out the positive things in the sea of negative thoughts and attitudes we may have developed about ourselves. When we affirm the good things about ourselves and what we have achieved, it is empowering because it builds self confidence and self esteem.

It helps make us feel good about ourselves and this feeds a process where we are more confident, get more things done successfully and have more things to be assertive about. 

This article is about turning the page on negativity, doubt and low self esteem for a more positive and assertive outlook.

It provides a practical guide and great tips for building self confidence.

Why We Feel Bad about Ourselves

Most people occasionally have doubts their ability or feel poorly about themselves and their performance and achievements. This is normal and most people bounce out of it and the smiley face returns.

However, low self-esteem can become a habit and permanent attitude due to depression, anxiety, negative comments from colleagues or loved ones, degrading thinking, ill health, tiredness. It is a fact of life that having a low self esteem is a habit, like being over-weight. It can be changed, it takes a lot of effort, but if you do nothing the habit remain and nothing changes.

Many people go through life with a bad self image that is unjustified and needlessly means that they miss out on the good things in life. If you have no personal goals you may have little to affirm to build self confidence.

Making a Start to Building Self Confidence

If you have major depression issues then it is time to get some help. Being assertive and making positive affirmations may be impossible if you are seriously depressed. Seek professional guidance. 

The first affirmation: Recognise that you are a unique, special and valuable persons who has a lot to offer and contribute. You deserve to feel good about yourself for what you are now, what you can be and what you have achieved in your life.

The second affirmation: Listen to what your body, your feelings, instincts, mind and your heart are telling you. For example:

• If your body is warning that you that you are tired and bored, and have been sitting down too long - stand up and stretch.
• If your heart is urging you to spend some more time with a friend, do it.
• If your mind is telling you to reorganise your office, re-decorate your living room, do it If you feel that just are being too harsh on yourself, stop it and add up the positive things about yourself and what you have achieved. 

Tips for Positive Affirmations and Changes in Your Life to Boost Self Confidence and Self Esteem

Change the Environment and Circumstances Pulling You Down

Taking better care of yourself - This can be a major cause of problems as being unfit, unhealthy, overtired, overweight and lack of grooming and being poorly dressed all add up to destroy the chance of feeling good about yourself. Some of the obvious tips are:

Eat good, healthy foods and resist junk foods (foods containing a lot of fat, sugar, salt) - Also try to break the habit of gorging on comfort foods when you are feeling tired, depressed or 'down'.

Regular exercise is known to help improve your mood and stave off feelings of depression - Research has shown that quick intense workouts can be very effective and so there is no need to devote boring hours running on a treadmill. Taking a walk, run, bike ride, swim, playing a sport, climb up and down stairs, and even dancing can make you feels good. 

Maintain your personal hygiene and appearance - You always feel better about yourself by taking regular showers or bathes, washing, trimming your nails, styling your hair, brushing and flossing your teeth. Get a hear cut, a pedicure, a massage a face lift - whatever. 

Dress in clothes that make you feel good about yourself and confidence - Always dress one level above what you think may be required to create a good impression.

Positive Changes to Turn the Page on Negative Attitudes and Bad Habits

• Take time for things you enjoy doing - This is about balance. You may simply be spending too little doing things you are good at and you enjoy the most.
• Stop procrastinating about things - Just Do It. Your confused pile of things not done need to be organised into a list of things that you will actually do and the date you will finish them by. Clean out that drawer. Wash that window. Write that letter. Pay that bill.
• Find things that best use all of your special talents, skills and abilities.Don't know what they are - make a list, write them down and update them.
• Give yourself rewards and plan to reward yourself as you finish things.
• Spend time with positive people especially those who make you feel good about yourself.
• Make your living space, work environment better organised and a place that you are proud of and can celebrate. Display items that remind you of your achievements and abilities
• Make all of your meals special and memorable. Take the small extra time to follow a great recipe and to serve the food in an attractive way on your plate. Share meals you prepare with pride with your friends.
• Take the initiative to learn something new, get new qualifications and improve your skills. Many adult education programs are available that are very inexpensive. Improving your skills means you have better outcomes that you an be proud about. Build on your strengths, but improve the things that you are weak at.
• Do nice things for other people - be polite and friendly to everyone. Smiling and being pleasant generates positive feedback. Volunteer for a community organization.
• Be persistent is making the switch to positive assertions - Only regular practice and determination will guarantee success. Sow the seed make the changes and positive will breed more positives. You affirmations will become more effective because you will become more assertive and you will have more to be positive about.
• Make daily affirmations to be more assertive and positive - The key to success is to make positive statements regularly, not just statement - but say them out loud and write them down. Make a habit of going through the positive things you have done at the end of each day. When you wake up go through the good things about yourself and what you are going to achieve during the coming day or days.
• Use visualization to make positive affirmations more effective - Imagine the 'new you' in the future. Imagine how a self-confident person would behave that had a high self-esteem and a positive outlook. Get excited about how better you will feel.

Tips for Changing the Negatives into Positives

You may have developed habits and learnt to always give yourself negative feedback in various ways. You may have learnt this from parents, teachers or 'superior' friends. Once you have learned these attitudes they become ingrained and you may find that you repeat them over and over again, and may actually to believe them. This must stop as it can be a major source of feel bad about yourself, lack of confidence. It requires an effort to be more assertive.

Take stock and ask yourself the following questions every time these negative thoughts pop into your head.

• Is this really true?
• Is there another take on this?
• Was I really at fault?
• What's the point of thinking in this negative way?
• What are the positive things about this?

The trick to changing negative into positives is partially about language, and the words you use.

Replace negative words and concepts such as

• worried, frightened, upset, tired, bored, not, never, can't, if only, may be next time

with positive words like

• happy, productive, useful, fulfilling, interesting, engaging, valuable peaceful, loving, enthusiastic, warm.

You can actively change your negative thoughts to positive ones by questioning and evaluating every negative thought with a positive one and repeating them out loud if possible.

Some examples are shown below:

Acentuate the Positives

Negative Thought	Positive Thought
I am not worth anything	I am a valuable person
I have never accomplished anything	I have accomplished many things
I always make mistakes.	I do many things well.
I am a jerk.	I am a great person.
I don't deserve a good life.	I deserve to be happy and healthy.
I am stupid.	I am smart.
I'm fat and ugly	I choose to live a healthy life and start to eat healthy food
I'm uninteresting and boring	I have undertaken courses and started reading about interesting things and videos that my friends talk about
If only	I can do that now
I can't decide	I will just do it now