10 Ways to Boost Self-Esteem

1.     Dance!

Whether it’s by yourself or with a group, dancing does all the right things for your brain to boost your mood and self-esteem. By yourself, you dance to whatever music you want, however you want, which allows you to express yourself freely. Group dancing is better, in my opinion. First, it forces you to meet new people, which makes you feel more worthwhile and wanted. Second, once you learn it, you have a great sense of accomplishment. Now you can dance, and that’s something that not everyone can say! Third, Moving to music makes people happier. It’s just a thing. And being happier will help with self-esteem.

2.     Do a good deed

This one’s another commonly mentioned tip. Even if it’s writing a letter to your grandparents, doing something good for someone else will make you feel like a better person, which can raise self-esteem.

3.     Paint your nails

Feeling like you look your best helps raise confidence, which is a self-esteem booster. Wearing fancy clothes isn’t always an option though, and sometimes I don’t want to risk standing out too much. But having painted nails is always fun, and unless you pick  booger-green as your color, it never makes you look bad.

4.     Do some art

Art is easy because there’s no wrong way to do it. When I’m feeling bad taking out a pencil and paper and drawing something allows me to get my mind off things and at the end I also feel good because I’ve created something beautiful. Hang up your stuff too, because if people see it, they’ll compliment it. And compliments make people feel good.

5.     Read Failblog

You’ll laugh, and knowing that other people can be stupider than you can be a good self-esteem boost.

6.     Listen to Positive Music

People have different tastes in music, so I don’t know if this would work for everyone, but listening to songs by Josh Groban and Michael W Smith can really lift my spirits. More importantly, I tried to put myself in the position of the person being sung to, and the lyrics became words of encouragement and love.

7.     Write words of encouragement to a nonexistent person who shares the qualities that you hate in yourself.

In treatment, other girls with bulimia would say outlandish things about their appearance and personalities. One girl confided that she was sure everyone thought that she was stupid because of some comment or other that she’d made earlier in the day. The other girls and I took part in trying to convince her that even if what she said was stupid, people didn’t think she was stupid because of it. And moreover, what she said really wasn’t stupid.

I’m pretty sure a lot of us have called ourselves stupid over something insignificant. I realized how hypocritical it was of me to be able to believe that this other girl is above being stupid, when I call myself stupid for the same reason, and don’t even fight against the belief. Sometimes talking to someone else like you can help you talk to yourself.

8.     Ask to hear stories of yourself as a kid

Assuming the person you ask will be nice, of course. Even if you think you’re a horrible, rotten, disgusting person now, you can’t dispute what you were like as a little kid, because you don’t remember yourself! And people only remember stories that are cute and fun about little kids, so you’ll get to hear about how you told a really funny story in kindergarten instead of about how got suspended for bringing a lighter to school in ninth grade. This can help remind you that at least you were ONCE an amazing person, even if you aren’t now. (although you’re all amazing people)

9.     Write down the worst thing you did.

Every detail, every feeling. Journaling oftentimes gives people a sense of purity after they’re done writing down all the bad feelings. I wrote in my diary about how I was having feelings for a guy other than my bf and I felt guilty, and as soon as I was done writing the entry the feelings for the guy and the guilt went away. I don’t know why it works, but it does. And getting the bad feelings out is a great way to open yourself up to more positive ones.

10. Babysit for a little kid

Kids are adorable, and if they’re little enough, they’ll look up to you for no other reason than that their mom said they have to, or that you’re older than them. There’s no need to prove yourself, no need to impress anyone, because no matter what you do, little kids will love you. Plus it’s additional positive social interaction.