*BUILDING STUDENTS SELF-ESTEEM; AN IRKSOME LADDER* by Sulaimon MOSHOOD
According to the words of Robert Greene, "Good things flock to a confident man just as people flock to an oasis in the deserts"
A high Self-esteem always bring an outright positive aura to the person wearing it.
In a nutshell, self-esteem is your opinion about yourself and your abilities. It can be high, low or somewhere in between. While everyone occasionally harbours doubts about themselves, low self-esteem can leave you feeling insecure and unmotivated.
*Where does self esteem comes from?*
Parents, teachers and other people in our lives can affect how we feel about ourselves. When they focus on what is good about us, we feel good about ourselves. When they are patient when we make mistakes, we learn to accept our individuality.
But if they scold more than they praise, it's hard for us to feel good about ourselves. Bullying and mean teasing by siblings or peers can hurt self esteem too. Harsh words can stick and become part of how children think about themselves.
Luckily, it doesn't have to stay that way, the voice is in your heads, the things you say about yourself play a big part in how you feel about yourself. Most times the voice in your head is based on harsh words others have said to you or on bad times you have faced. Sometimes its just you being hard on yourself. But we can gradually change the voice in our head. We can live to think better of ourselves by following the 7 principles that are highlighted below;
* _Don't over compete;_ comparing yourself to other people is a sure-fire way to start feeling crumbly. Try to focus on your own goal and achievements rather than measuring them against someone else
* _Perfection is a mirage, don't chase it;_ always strive to be the best version of yourself, but it is also important to accept that perfection is an unrealistic goal.
* _Focus on what you can change_ ; its easy to get hung up on all the things that are out of your control, but it won't achieve much. Instead, try to focus your energy on identifying the things within your reach and see what you can do about it.
* _Celebrate the small achievements;_ celebrating the small victory is a great way to build confidence and start feeling better about yourself
* _Lend a helping hand;_ not necessarily in material things, but majorly in charity service and cause that makes you proud of who you are. Tutoring colleagues or siblings, helping to clean up the neighborhood are not bad ideas.
* _Surround yourself with supportive squad;_ Find people who make you feel good about yourself and avoid those who tend to trigger your negative thinking.
*THANK YOU FOR READING*