How can positive affirmations improve your self-esteem? (2024)

Your mindset is programmed by the words you use.When you feed your mind positive messages, it impacts your attitude, demeanor, and body language.Positive affirmations set the stage for positive results.

Before reaping benefits of positive affirmations, it would be extremely helpful to recognize and end negative self-talk (or self-judgment). It can be sneaky and subtle, such as:- How could I have done that, what was I thinking?- Why didn't I listen to others?- It's horrible of me to think this but ____.- I should have known or done better.- Why didn't I see that coming?Once you stop the self-judgment, then ask yourself more helpful questions"- What do I want to learn from this?- What was going on with me when I did that one thing?- How will I use this to prevent similar situations?- What if everything always went my way, how would I learn new things?- What if everything always went my way, how would I develop myself?

To create effective affirmations: 1. Use present tense. 2. Stay positive; avoid negatives. 3. Be specific and realistic. 4. Make it personal and meaningful to you.

Through my life coaching sessions, I have found that in order for the positive self-statements to be effective, they must be real and the person must already be convinced that they apply to him/her. An effective tool for strengthening self-esteem through positive self-statements is COMET.

There is a counter argument against positive affirmations in that they can actually be quite negative for a person experiencing low self esteem and can even make them feel worse 😳 Personally I like to focus on gratitude and have a great mantra about “vibrations” that I repeat 5x each morning #randomdialogues

Don't try to go from one extremem to another. That might backfire.First, start and accept where you are. It is critical to accept yourself before you change yourself. Second, take baby steps, at your own pace, to transform your mindset. Here is a short example:Today: "I am a failure."Tomorrow: "I feel like a failure."In a few days: "I feel like a failure but I know feelings can change."Next week: "I know I can feel better."Next week: "I am very capable of figuring out how to feel better."The week after: "I am starting to feel better."Eventually reach: "Now I'm ready to tackle success."

We all struggle with either low self-esteen or negative self-talk from time to time.The stronger the relationship you build with yourself, the more resilience you create. Thus, bouts of low self-esteem or negative self-talk won't have much effect, if at all.For those who are less resilient, it would worth answering:- Why do I struggle with my esteem or confidence in the first place? - How do I feel about me, and how can I work toward cherishing myself unconditionally?

Given, as Gina said - we all struggle with low self esteem or negative self-talk, I don't believe the solution for that is to try to combat it with positive evaluations of yourself (self-esteem). I think that further reinforces the binary lens through which we interpret ourselves and our actions (negative / positive ... good / bad). Instead of self-esteem, I find self-compassion to be a much more useful concept to cultivate. This isn't based on positive or negative evaluations of self and is associated with greater emotional resilience than self-esteem.