Self-Esteem was not my strong suit ten years ago when I was in my early twenties—I wasn’t truly my own best friend.

Even though I was doing well academically in college, I was not very content.

I used to spend days or even weeks berating myself for failing or making a mistake.

I rarely took the time to enjoy the little and amazing things about my life and myself, instead concentrating on the bad.

I contrasted my appearance, academic performance, and dating success—or rather, the complete absence of dates—with those of others and their outcomes.

I was mired in a cycle of pessimism and poor self-worth. It is a bad place to be.

But I eventually got out of that rut after several years.

It was not simple. However, I gradually changed my perspective on the world, myself, and how I thought. I made mistakes along the road and frequently reverted to my bad old patterns.

I want to talk about five practices that helped me achieve that significant life transformation and that I still use every day to uphold and boost my self-esteem.

1. Compare yourself to yourself.

Comparing myself and my possessions to those of others was one of the first things I realized I wanted to stop doing.

However, if trying to break a habit is rarely as successful as replacing it, what should one do instead?

Instead, I made the decision to compare myself to myself.

To see how I had changed. How far I had progressed. How I had improved my achievement, whether in minor or major ways.

2. Be kinder toward other people.

One intriguing finding I made was that you are more likely to think and treat yourself well when you are friendlier to the others in your life.

Another benefit of this is that people will generally treat you the same way you treat them over time.

Therefore, concentrating on being kind in my day-to-day activities has been really beneficial to me.

Big things do not have to be the focus of this generosity.

It could just be to:

For a few minutes, just be present and give someone your whole attention while they vent.
Offer a sincere complement.
When driving, let someone into your lane.
Spend a few minutes offering someone practical assistance, such as arranging for a meal at a restaurant, carrying a heavy table, using Google to discover something, or offering advise.

3. When you stumble, be your own best friend.

When you make a mistake, fail, or fall in any manner, instead of criticizing yourself, ask yourself: How would my mom or closest friend encourage and assist me in this circumstance?

Then, just act and speak to yourself as he or she would.

This small shift in viewpoint can help you stay positive and constructive about your future actions rather than sinking into a pit of pessimistic ideas.

4. Leave perfectionism behind.

I frequently wanted things to be flawless, which was one of the main reasons I was so hard on myself.

So, at school and basically in everything I did, I held myself to an inhuman standard.

Naturally, a major issue with this perspective was that I frequently accomplished nothing because I was worried about my ability to execute things flawlessly. Or I gave up before I had begun because I thought it would be too much labor.

I was able to let go of this perspective and change it to a healthier one just by understanding how it was harming me and those around me.

Additionally, I was able to improve my performance in every aspect of my life and achieve greater results by reminding myself that there is a standard known as “good enough” and concentrating on achieving it rather than perfection.

It also enabled me to take much more action to gradually better my life and to stop putting things off so much.

5. Keep in mind why your self-esteem is so, so important.

In the last few years, I have had the following experience with raising my own self-esteem:

Because you will not be making a big deal out of nothing too often, life will become lighter and simpler.
As a person, you will be more steady and less dependent. When your self-esteem and self-likeness increase, you will no longer strive so hard to gain attention and approval from others.
You will be less self-destructive. You will feel more and more worthy of success in every aspect of your life if you can maintain and increase your sense of self-worth. As a result, you will pursue these positive goals more frequently and with greater drive. You will be far less inclined to self-destruct once you have them since you will know that you truly deserve them in your life.
In whatever type of relationship, you will look more appealing. The above advantages will come from having a higher sense of self-worth. And in any type of relationship, all of that is very alluring. Regardless of whether that relationship is with a partner, a friend, coworkers, or students.
My life has also become happier as a result of all these enormous advantages. And I keep these crucial justifications for maintaining and enhancing my self-esteem in the forefront of my thoughts while I go about my days.

My self-esteem and motivation to make it a priority in my life have greatly improved as a result of doing this small act.