Here comes the common worry of many people – low self esteem. The discussion – steps to tackle low self esteem is pointless if you don’t understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the problem.

Esteem is pride, esteem is value and appreciation, but all this are the positive aspects of the word esteem. Every man has at least on one occasion in his life evaluated himself. This evaluation of oneself is self esteem. Self esteem is actually is a psychological concept (a common personality trait) which gives an indication of how a particular person evaluates himself or his worth.

Self esteem is a compilation of beliefs, emotions, others’ feedback, and comparisons along with a certain type of manipulations where a person forces you to think away from the reality. Self esteem can be of 2 types:

• Healthy Self Esteem
• Low Self Esteem

As there is no measure, there is no such concept of high self esteem. It is actually called as healthy self esteem wherein a person thinks well about himself (when the result of self evaluation is good).

Every coin has 2 sides, so the negative aspect in terms of self esteem is known as low self esteem. It is a feeling where we lack faith in our overall abilities. That is why we evaluate ourselves that ways.

Symptoms of Low Self Esteem

• First thing to be noted is that low self esteem is not necessarily about the way a person looks. No doubt looks are a factor but not the only factor resulting in a situation of low self esteem.
• The most important symptom of low esteem is ‘denial’ which helps us to skip the blame.
• Another common symptom is blaming/complain. Such types of people complain about anything and everything.
• Such people are fond of comparisons and self analysis. Analysis is fine, but constant self analysis won’t help in any way.
• Such people are very pessimistic. They will always choose the bad version of reality.
• Such people find it hard to smile and like to be left alone.
• Taking risks is a big no- no.
• Such people avoid eye contact and don’t trust others easily. But they do manage to trust their pessimism.
• In many cases, such people avoid talking or being with authority figures like policemen, managers etc.

Lastly, people with low self esteem lack qualities like sympathy, empathy and compassion. They do not forgive others and even themselves.

Low Self Esteem Help

Low self esteem help involves taking measures to avoid the above symptoms. This will take time but is possible. Some methods include:

• Make new friends
• Smile more often
• Believe in yourself
• Stop comparisons
• Make goals and plan effectively to achieve these goals

Lastly, low self esteem help requires a person to have more positivity in his life. Always remember that no one is perfect and more things are possible that what are willing to believe.