Self-Image and Self-Esteem
Are you aware of how you see yourself? Why you see yourself the way you do? And how your views impact your life?
With this tip today, you’ll need a pen and some paper.
Take a moment and list how you see yourself. Not just your physical traits, what you see in the mirror, but internally too. Your personality, character, behavior, how you evaluate your intelligence, social and technical skills, how you evaluate your values and principles, and how you fit into society’s social norms regarding gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, etc. List the positive traits first and then the not so positive traits. Pause video to give yourself one minute to do this. You can go back to this later if you want to give yourself more time to explore this. But for now this is to notice what first comes to mind on how you view yourself.
Now list how others see you, what you have heard people say and how you interpret the way they see you from how they treat you. Give yourself one minute.
Looking at the traits take time to answer the following questions.
What makes the positive traits positive and the not so positive traits negative?
Does one side have more traits filled in than the other or are they even?
What or who influenced you to believe those are your traits, positive or not so positive? What did you experience, what did people tell you or how did they treat you for why you see yourself the way you do? Or how did you see the way certain people were represented in the media to influence the way you see yourself?
Does the way you see yourself affect the decisions you make? If yes, how?
Do the way others see you affect the decisions you make? If yes, how?
If your views/beliefs are influencing you to make decisions that don’t make you happy do you want to change the way you see yourself? Why or why not?
If you want to change the way you see yourself, how do you want to see yourself? Who do you need to be to make choices that will create the experiences you want in life?
Looking back at the traits on how you see yourself and how others see you provides a great visual for assessing if you see yourself in a more positive or less positive way. This is not to judge, but gauge if or where thinking needs to be shifted so you can align yourself with who you want to be, what you want to do, and design the kind of life you want.
For an example, do you have a positive perception of self where you feel confident in who you are, your thoughts and actions? Or do you have negative views where you don’t believe in yourself, doubt your capabilities, wear clothes to camouflage your believed flaws, excessively exercise to lose weight in a way that may detrimental to your health, are you isolating yourself from others for fear of rejection or abandonment, are you feeling shameful or experiencing depression?
Be aware of how you see yourself and why, because knowing where those views came from, if they are damaging you can consciously choose to no longer accept those views as truth. Then you can begin to construct a confident perception of self that influences you to value yourself and make choices that reflect that.
If you need to have a more positive self-image and healthy self-esteem look at that list of the positive traits you have, write ten or more things you love about yourself. Listing more things you love about your appearance, skills you possess, achievements you accomplished, adversities you overcame, how you have helped others, what you’re grateful for in your life, acknowledging all of those attributes, actions, and appreciations gives you an opportunity to see what’s great about you and what you’re thankful for. What we focus on increases so continue to look at this list and add to it in order to boost your self-esteem and shift your views of self to be predominately more healthy.
Also, journal what your grateful for, write down what you experience and write you learned from them, explore your strengths and how they have helped you achieve what you have in life in order to remember what you’re capable of. Do what is necessary for you to continue building your positive views of yourself so it becomes a habit for you to notice the best of yourself and be the person you want to be.
That’s it for this tip of the day. In the comments share how you have noticed seeing yourself has impacted your life.
If you or your loved ones are interested in counseling, therapy, support groups, or other resources for managing life challenges, please visit https://www.dissolvingtheanchor.com/wellness-resources