The truth is: we all have our bad days. But with these self esteem activities & exercises, you can build your self esteem back up in no time!
For some people, those bad days will eventually end and a new dawn will bring clearer skies and fuller hearts. For others, those bad days will stretch into weeks, then months, and even years. A low self esteem can actually turn a bad day into a bad life.
If you feel that you’ve found yourself in this frightening rut, then you need some tools with which you can break free into a life of love and light, instead of fear and shadows.
Self Esteem Activities | Goodbye, Old Paradigm
For too many years, we have been living in the oppressive shadow of the Old Paradigm. This is a system of life that has forced us into believing that we are only as successful as the amount of money we have saved, that we can never be truly happy unless we acquire power, and that the answers to life’s most serious questions must be sought after out in the big world (but good luck ever getting your hands on them).
All of the tenets of the Old Paradigm promote poor self esteem. Most people simply cannot live up to the expectations of the Old Paradigm–and that was the intention. As long as your self esteem is low, you can’t upset the balance of power.
Well, it’s time to upset it. Big time.
By learning how to build self esteem with various activities and exercises, you are starting to turn your back on the Old Paradigm. You are starting to see the virtues of the New Paradigm. This is where we live in the light, trade in joy, and count our successes with love and laughter.
So, say goodbye to the Old Paradigm, that dingy place where self esteem is a tool for rebellion and come into the light, where feeling good about yourself is the way of life.
Self Esteem Exercises | #1 – List of Appreciation
There are several activities you can take part in to learn how to build self confidence and self esteem. The first and easiest one, in my opinion, is called the List of Appreciation.
The basic idea is that once you begin to see just how many things in your life fill you with joy, love, pride, or hope, your outlook on your world will brighten and you will gain back a certain amount of confidence you had lost.
The activity is easy to do:
- Get a piece of paper and pen and find a nice, quiet place to be alone and reflective
- Try to think about your life from an objective point of view, removing your personal prejudices and biased opinions
- Write down every little thing you can think of about your life that you appreciate, that fills you with joy, that makes you smile, that you have succeeded in, and that you feel proud of (This can be anything from a desert sunset to a sixth-grade geography bee ribbon)
- Look at your list and marvel at how long it is–if you’ve been thorough, you will find that it is very long indeed
By making this list, you can see that life has meaning for you, that there are things you have done that have made you feel really good, and that not everything is lost. Sure, it takes more than making a list to reverse your low self esteem, but every little bit helps.
Self Esteem Building Activities | #2 – Opening Your Eyes
This may seem like an easy self esteem test, but in truth, it’s a much more advanced exercise than making lists or developing affirmations.
This activity involves you opening your eyes to the world around you, seeing people not just for how they want to be seen, but for How They Really Are. Because once you can recognize the effects of low self esteem on others–and see just how detrimental it can be–then you can rediscover how important it is for you to mend yours.
This exercise simply requires you to pay attention to your friends, co-workers, family members, fellow city bus riders, and everyone else you come into contact with. Look for signs that someone is dealing with a low self-esteem and see how that is affecting his/her relationships, emotional responses, and even physical life.
By opening your eyes to the pain of others, you’ll find that you no longer want to live that way. You’ll battle your new low self esteem with a heightened vigor and stick with it to the end–which, in itself, is a great show of self esteem, is it not?
If you’d like to learn about more self esteem activities you can do on your own, please contact me today.