How to Build Self-Esteem & Love Life with 10 Simple Life Changes

If you’re not happy with yourself, you don’t have to live like that forever. Learning how to build self-esteem is possible with these life changes.

If you think you’re the only person to ever suffer from a lack of self-confidence, you might just be crazy. We’ve all dealt with it to some degree or another. But you don’t have to struggle with it for your whole life. You can easily learn how to build self-esteem with a few simple, but very powerful life changes.

Getting rid of old habits is only half the battle

Before you can really learn how to build self-esteem, you have to get rid of all the bad habits that have contributed to the problem. Holding on to toxic behavior might feel like your norm by now but that way of life is only making your self-confidence a lot worse.

Your job before even trying to gain confidence is to ditch the bad habits. Stop being so negative all the time. If you feel the need to complain, look for the positive. Stop insulting yourself when you feel down about how you look or feel.

These might seem like normal things for people to do but on a high level, they could be responsible for derailing your self-esteem. You could feel awful about yourself every day because of those things, so make an effort to change them. [Read: Is negative thinking ruining your life?]

How to build self-esteem with some simple life changes

Just because these changes are simple doesn’t mean they’ll be easy or have a large impact right away. Self-esteem is one of those things that is harder to fix than it is to destroy.

You really have to work hard and be willing to put forth the mental effort in order to rebuild your self-esteem. These life changes can make a huge difference in how you think, see, and feel about yourself.

#1 Wake up and think about something positive every day. Even if you’re not a morning person, do this. Most of the time, we wake up and think about how awful it is to be awake and how much we want to go back to sleep.

We don’t often see a new day as a new opportunity because we take it for granted. In order to build self-esteem, start each day on a positive note. Be thankful to have another day. Wake up and immediately tell yourself something positive that can stick with you throughout the day. [Read: How to be more positive and increase the quality of your life]

#2 Stop looking in the mirror more than you have to. This will be extremely difficult even though it’s a simple concept. Just look in the mirror when you need to. Instead of going to the bathroom to check on your makeup or whatnot, don’t.

Obviously, if you’ve just eaten and want to check to make sure you didn’t get anything on your face, that’s fine. The goal is to reduce the amount you look at yourself to pick yourself apart. Stop looking in the mirror for flaws.

#3 Smile more. Your brain is a very powerful tool. If you smile more, it’ll trick your mind into being happier and more positive. Not only does this help you gain confidence by boosting your mood, it’ll also help you enjoy life a bit more.

When you’re happy with life and enjoying yourself, you’ll naturally have more self-esteem. Even if you’re not 100% happy with yourself, you’ll still be more positive and that can give you hope and a better outlook on yourself and life. [Read: How to smile more and change your life forever]

#4 Work on your health and fitness. This actually has nothing to do with what your body looks like at all, even though it might seem that way. The idea with working out and eating well is that you’re treating your body better.

When you’re nicer to your body and give it what it wants, it’ll be nice to you. The better you eat, the better you feel. Not only will your confidence benefit from the physical changes, but when you feel healthier and stronger, you’ll feel great about yourself.

#5 Compliment others whenever you think something nice. People with low self-esteem often hold compliments in. They don’t want to tell someone how much they like their skin or outfit or hair. Why? Because it often makes them compare what they like about that person to what they don’t like about themselves.

Don’t let this stop you from complimenting other people. In fact, telling someone what you like about them can actually make you feel better. You’ll feel great about yourself just by making someone else happy. [Read: 50 complimenting words and their true meanings]

#6 Spend more time around those who care about you. Stop surrounding yourself with people who don’t value you. That’s a good way to always feel down about yourself. Instead, only keep people who make you feel good around.

Those are the people who actually care about you and are worth sticking with. They can help you see your strengths and they’ll help you see your value far more than people who don’t appreciate you.

#7 Do more of what you really love. What’s something you absolutely love doing? Your passion is very closely tied to your self-esteem. If you’re happy and enjoying life because you get to do the one thing that brings you joy, you’ll be more confident.

It’s all about your mental state. Being more positive and happy naturally aids in your self-esteem. If you’re happier, you tend to put yourself down less and you’ll be more likely to see the great things about yourself. So do more of what you love. [Read: How to be happy in life and live it to the fullest]

#8 Thank people when they compliment you. Those with low self-esteem often make excuses or try to justify why someone is complimenting them instead of just saying thank you. It’s as if they have to make up a reason as to why someone would say something nice.

Just thank people. When someone compliments you, believe them and realize that they’re being genuine. There’s no excuse that’ll discredit their compliment. Say thank you and take a moment to recognize the thing they’re complimenting you about. [Read: How to accept compliments without feeling awkward about it]

#9 Stop comparing yourself to people on social media. This might also be one you’ll have trouble with and that’s mainly because so much is done through social media nowadays. You get your news there, keep up with friends through it, but it’s also hurting your self-esteem.

We see these dolled up people on Instagram and they’re all beautiful and seemingly flawless – keyword here is SEEMINGLY. The pictures they post aren’t representative of their real life and you have to remember that.

Getting away from social media can help you see that you are amazing and beautiful. The “Instacelebs” on social media have makeup artists and teams of people to make them look great. It’s not real. [Read: Why social media is dangerous and makes you feel insecure]

#10 Figure out what you love about yourself, and love it harder. Make a list of your greatest attributes. Memorize it and start loving those things even more. When you recognize your strengths and the things you truly like about yourself, they start to overshadow all the things you don’t.

So find out what you love and make sure you pay extra attention to those things and ignore the stuff you don’t.

[Read: How to gain confidence and turn your life around for the better]

Learning how to build self-esteem won’t be that easy. Even though these tips are simple, it might take a lot of effort and determination on your part to do them long enough to see a difference. Don’t give up.