Everyone faces moments of highs and lows, some get depressed, and have trouble believing in themselves, while others just lose their focus. Self-esteem refers to how you're feeling regarding yourself, or your perception of yourself.

If such temporary feelings are left unattended, it may result in harsh consequences, such as deteriorating mental health, and other complex emotions such as sorrow or anxiety, that may turn chronic as well.

Self-esteem is built over time, and usually defining events in childhood play a major role in determining, how a child’s esteem will grow. None the less, it is possible to boost self-esteem at any age.

For some people, self-esteem is their inner voice - the voice that informs you whether you are capable of doing or achieving something, while for others, self-esteem refers to our perceptions of who we are, what we are capable of, and how we regard ourselves.

People that have high self-esteem are often optimistic about themselves and their lives. They become considerably more resilient as a result, and are better equipped to deal with life's ups and downs. While, those with low self-esteem, on the other hand, are bottom performers, and relatively harsher on themselves. They have a tougher time recovering from failures and hardships.

The below article is aimed at stressing the importance of building self-esteem, advices and methods as to how to build self-esteem early in childhood/ youth.

Advices to Build Self-Esteem

Identify and Challenge Your Negative Personality Image

The first stage is to recognize and then question your unfavorable personality. Take note of your self-perceptions.

For example, you can believe in yourself, "I'm not smart enough to do that" or "I don't have any friends." When you've done that, look for proof that either validate or disproves those thoughts. Be empirical about yourself, not just whimsical.

Write down both the statement and the facts, and refer to it to remind yourself that your negative self-perceptions are incoherent with the facts.

Identify and Endorse/ Reinforce the Positive Aspects About Your Personality

It's also a good idea to make notes of positive aspects of yourself, such as your athletic ability or compliments you've received.

Once you are feeling down, bear in mind these facts and inform yourself that you simply have plenty of positive qualities. Internal dialogue that is positive is an important part of improving your self-esteem in general.

For instance, if you find yourself thinking things like "I'm not smart enough" or "I'm a loser," tell yourself "I can overcome this" or "By seeing myself in a more favorable perspective, I can become stronger."

At first, you might find yourself reverting to old negative behaviors, but with constant effort, you can start to feel more optimistic and enhance your personality.

Give Yourself a Break

You don't have to be perfect at all times of the day. You don't have to be pleased with yourself all the time.

The scenario, the day, and the hour all affect one's self-esteem. For instance, being around with friends and coworkers, you can feel relaxed and assured, while being with strangers, one may feel nervous and perplexed.

Allow yourself to relax, and settle. We all have had moments when we've felt a little low, or found it difficult to retain our self-confidence. The objective here is to treat oneself with kindness, and avoid being too harsh on oneself. 

Also, avoid criticizing yourself in front of others, as it will just reinforce your negative thoughts, and leave people with a (perhaps inaccurate) negative image of you.

Finally, do not forget to treat yourself whenever you get yourself through a tough situation, or simply for getting over an obstacle. This will facilitate to lift your vanity.

Take On Challenges

People who have poor self-esteem tend to avoid difficult or challenging situations. Taking on a challenge could be an honest approach to spice up your superficiality.

This does not imply you have got to try and do everything yourself—win or lose does not matter—but to fall down 7 times and stand-up 8, is the real kick over here. One should be willing to try and do things that one recognizes to be tough.

Finally, if you succeed, you demonstrate your ability to succeed.

Methods to Build Self-Esteem

Identify Triggers

Consider the circumstances or situations that make you feel low about yourself. You must first recognize what people, places, and things promote negative thinking in order to enhance your degree of positive thinking in your daily life.

Maybe it's the amount of money in your bank account, or maybe it's a disgruntled employee, it can be anything.

You can't control how you react to and comprehend certain events, but you can change how you react to and understand them. Paying attention to what makes you sad or worried is the first step.

Here are some examples of popular triggers:

• At work or at school, make a presentation.
• Whether it's at work or at home, there's a difficulty.
• A conflict with a spouse, a loved one, a coworker, or any person with whom you have regular contact
• A shift in duties or life circumstances, such as the loss of a job or the departure of a kid.

Take Notes

As you go about your day, your brain is always engaged in a dialogue, or "self-talk." This self-talk considers the environment and forms judgments about yourself and others.

So start observing any noteworthy patterns in this conversation. Is this thinking supported by evidence? Or is it more likely to be illogical, assuming the worst in every situation?

Challenging Negatives and Personal Biases

Your initial opinions might not be the only way to look at a problem, so double-check them.

Examine whether your point of view is supported by facts and logic, or whether there are alternative possible explanations for the issue. Be mindful that it can be difficult to spot mistakes in one's reasoning.

Even though many of our long-held beliefs and attitudes are merely opinions or perceptions, they might feel normal and true.

Pay attention to self-defeating mental processes as well.

A mere tweak in your inner space or thought patterns, can bring radical changes at the outside.

1. Thinking that is all-or-nothing: You either see things as all nice or all terrible. "If I don't do this task, I'll be a complete default," for example.

2. Mental filtering: You focus solely on the bad aspects of a person or situation, altering your perception of them. I created an error on it report, and currently everybody can see I am not up to the present position," as an example.

3. 'Should' and 'must' expressions should be avoided: If these words frequently appear in your mind, you may be placing unfair demands on yourself - or others. Removing these terms from your mind will help you set more realistic goals.

Optimism - Using Hopeful and Reinsuring Statements

Kindness and encouragement are the best things you can do for yourself. Rather than worrying regarding however your presentation can go, tell yourself things like, "Even though' it's tough, I will handle this circumstance."

Conclusion

In conclusion, what you feed to the inside, will determine your outside. Before asking for gratification from the outside world, one should build their inner so strong that they do not require any affirmation from others. However, in due time an individual does earn respect and honor, but that should not define one self-perception. Making children aware of self-esteem issues at an early age is a necessary exercise, setting right expectations, and believing in yourself are the corner stones of the modern successful men.