This ONE Thing Can Determine Your Success or Your Failure: Self-Esteem

 Self-esteem is at the root of more success stories and more failures than any other personality trait. Why is self-esteem so important? Because it controls the results of everything you do. It's always with you, and it can be your strongest supporter or greatest enemy. Most of us operate at the level of our self-esteem.

 If you think you deserve something and your self-esteem is at a level for you to get it, your self-esteem will unconsciously help you achieve what you want by guiding you in every action you take. But if your self-esteem is at a level where you cannot see yourself achieving something, it will make sure that you don't achieve it. No matter how hard you try.

 Research has shown this many times. That's why taking care of your self-esteem is one of the most important things you can do to be successful. Luckily, if you didn't happen to grow up with strong self-esteem, as an adult you can raise your self-esteem or even create it.

 One way to raise your self-esteem is to take an honest look at yourself – your good points and your bad points. Concentrate on identifying your strengths. This works because it's been found that most people with low self-esteem have an inaccurate picture of themselves – a picture that causes them to see themselves as lacking and potentially failing.

 In order to be successful, you must see yourself as successfully turning challenges into opportunities and you must trust your ability to enhance your life in positive ways. When you feel this way about yourself, it will show up in every area of your life.

 This is not just a philosophical idea; studies have shown that our level of self-esteem actually creates our body and brain chemistry. Good self-esteem comes from three sources:

• Hearing good things about yourself.
• Thinking good things about yourself.
• Doing things that make you proud of yourself.

 Once you know that practicing these things will raise your self-esteem, it's really not that hard to, is it? For instance, saying affirmations about yourself to yourself really works, provided they are true. And don't you know from your own experience how good it feels to do something positive for someone else?

 Every thought that you say to yourself is programming your brain. Studies have shown that as much as 87% of what people say to themselves is negative. But you can consciously train yourself to resist negative thinking and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. This is completely within your control, so be sure that your self-talk builds you up rather than tears you down.

 Every morning when you get up decide that this will be a day when you build your self-esteem with positive self talk. This will affect everything else that you do each day.

 Avoid negative situations such as unhealthy or bad habits, arguing, hurting someone else, or failing to take positive action when you have a chance to. All of these things diminish good self-esteem. Instead, be good to yourself, treat yourself with respect, and treat other people with respect. Tell the truth; be honest with yourself and others. This creates high self-esteem, while negative things like lying or taking advantage of other people create low self-esteem.

 Build other people up because when you do that, it's a cue to your self-esteem to build you up too. Every negative thing you do to yourself or others brings your self-esteem down, while every positive thing you do to yourself or others brings your self-esteem up.

 Most people don't understand the direct relationship between self-esteem and success. Now that you understand it, make the right choices to keep your self-esteem high. Remember, you can’t control what others say and do, but you can control how you choose to respond...choose wisely.

Until next time...

Lisa

P.S. This post shares 7 TIPS to Capitalize on your strengths...a huge step in boosting your self-esteem  https://www.lisamcgrath.me/blog/capitalize-on-your-strengths