Have you ever got up one morning and suddenly felt weak or had a doubt about getting something done well or felt like you just don’t have the confidence, even if you have the expertise or knowledge for the same? Well, Self-esteem and self-confidence seem pretty much the same thing. However, self-esteem is shaped by your thoughts, relationships and experiences. Here are 8 ways to help build your self-esteem.

1. Create a strong Mind – You can create a strong mind by Reading, Meditating, Praying, Exercising and Sleeping. Set time aside to do some positive reading during the day. Even if you read a small paragraph is good enough, and reflect over what you read. Meditation is also another great way to calm your mind. You can do that with light music or in complete silence. Praying silently can strengthen your mind too as it brings in positivity and good thoughts. Exercising and Sleeping relaxes the mind and body and helps it rejuvenate. A strong active mind helps bring in self-esteem.
2. Focus on the Positive – Negative thoughts do crop up right through the day. However, focusing on the positive aspects of any situation will help discard negative thoughts. Training your mind to think of what is positive and by practicing positive behaviour helps. Positive energy builds up with positive thoughts and helps raise your level of confidence and self-esteem.
3. Speak it out – Holding stressful thoughts within yourself will only bring in uneasiness and low self-esteem. Instead, talk it out with someone you trust to ease the feeling. Bouncing off thoughts with another person who understand, helps release stress and channelizes the feeling to something more secure. This in turn leaves rooms for nurturing positive thoughts and helps increase your self-esteem.
4. Learn and self-develop – Learning never ceases! Therefore, learn something new daily that will help you develop yourself further. For example, learning how to write an email, how to eat with chopsticks, how to paint, how to create a power point presentation, etc. At the end of the year, you would have added 365 new things to what you already know. How amazing is that! However small, it is still a learning, and knowledge of doing things by yourself brings in a lot of self-confidence and a feeling of greater self-esteem.
5. Dress for success – When you look good, you feel good and it creates a domino effect on the rest of your day and on how you act with people you meet. Dressing for an occasion, looking neat and tidy brings in added confidence and a sense of self-worth. Therefore, taking care of yourself is one big step to raising your self-esteem.
6. Know and appreciate your brand value – It is important for you to recognize yourself and value your abilities. Making a list of your strengths and blessings is one way to appreciate yourself. Believe in what you have penned down. If you fail to recognize your abilities, others will not be able to see them either. Therefore, look into a mirror and repeat your strengths to yourself, Aloud! You need to believe first. Let it sink in and let it show in your attitude and behaviour.
7. Communicate your brand value – Just knowing about your brand value may not be enough all the time, it is also important to communicate your values, strengths and abilities. People around you become aware of who you are only when you communicate it. Displaying your strengths by participating in activities that showcases your abilities is one way of communicating your brand value. Slowly but surely building brand value builds trust and confidence and helps you improve your self-esteem.
8. Practice, over and over – Repeating a task or an activity makes you perfect with it. When you do something over and over again, you become more and more confident in that activity. Be it dancing, swimming, driving, cooking. Practice makes perfect! Likewise, when you deliver a speech, raise a toast, make a presentation, face an audience, public speak, etc. Repetition is the key to raising your level of confidence in any activity you perform. When you feel confident, you display a higher level of self-esteem.

-Sandra Barros, is an Image Management Consultant, Trainer and Founder of Barros Image Consultancy. She aims to inspire and empower people of all walks of life to create not only a personal brand for themselves, but to feel authentic, carrying with them their own style and persona.

To enhance your confidence with soft-skills and have The Professional Edge at work or to get a Professional Image Makeover, Extracts taken from : www.barrosimageconsultancy.com