Start Taking Steps to Build Your Self Esteem

 One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to start taking steps to improve your self esteem. Low self esteem can hold you back from so many wonderful things in life. It can keep you stuck in a rut with your career, finances, personal relationships, family and just about every other aspect of your life.

Your personal level of self esteem is certainly influenced by events that happen to you over the course of your life. Childhood events like teasing, being made to feel inferior or unimportant, or growing up in a dysfunctional or addictive family can cause you to start feeling like there is something wrong with you or that you aren't good enough.

Self esteem can also be affected by events that happen later in life such as being in a bad relationship, going through a divorce, losing a job, gaining or losing weight and many other factors.

Even the images that you see on TV and in magazines can negatively affect your view of yourself. When you see "perfect" models or people who seem to have it all it can leave you feeling as though you are inferior or unattractive.

Here's the thing that most people don't realize, though. Yourself Quotes It is not the negative events in your life that do the most damage to your self esteem. Instead, it is how you react to these events and how you think about them that actually does the most damage.

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Eleanor Roosevelt and it's "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent". Those words are so true. Someone may put your down, treat you like garbage, act as though you don't matter or do anything in their power to make you feel inferior or like you aren't good enough.

However, no matter what someone else does or what the circumstances are, you ALWAYS have the power to control how you react to or think about the situation. You can choose to think that there is something wrong with you, or you can choose to focus on your good qualities and view negative situations in a more positive light.

You can choose to stay in a bad relationship or you can choose to leave. You can choose to be around negative people or positive people. You can choose to dwell on bad things from your past or look forward to a brighter future.

When you are stuck in a place where you have low self esteem already, though, it can be hard to shift your focus from negative to positive and to start viewing situations in a different light. The negative voice in your head that tells you things like "your so stupid" or "what is wrong with you" can keep you stuck in a cycle of low self esteem and it can be difficult to see a way out.

The good news is that you can learn change the way you view life and the world...and you can change the way you view yourself. As you let go of things that have harmed you and learn to see yourself differently your whole life will improve. Taking steps to build your self esteem can help you find more success in your relationships, friendships, career, finances, and can dramatically improve your overall happiness level.

If you are ready to truly change your life for the better I'd recommend checking out YOU...Improved - A Guide to Healing Your Self Esteem. It's a complete how-to guide designed to help you change the way you think and give you the tools you need to gain the healthy self esteem that you deserve. You can download a free chapter of the guide to get started healing yourself today.