2 Tips to Start Your Journey to Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem

Tanya J. Peterson

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2 Tips to Start Your Journey to Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem
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Self-esteem is one of the building blocks of mental health. Sadly, so many of us find it difficult to embrace who we are. Often, struggling with mental health challenges can make us really hard on ourselves at the time when what we need most is self-acceptance and self-love.

Learning to hold yourself in positive regard is a process. Try these two tips to start thinking about yourself in a realistic, positive, healthy new way.

Pay attention to how you talk to yourself. How many times do you instantly berate yourself when something goes wrong? We often criticize ourselves instantly, sometimes without even realizing what we’re saying to ourselves. The first step in changing the way you think about yourself is to catch those negative comments and labels.
Distance yourself from your negative thoughts. Just because we think something doesn’t make it true. You may think all sorts of terrible things about yourself, and they probably feel true because you say them so often. That doesn’t mean that they’re accurate, though. Put some distance between your real self and your negative thoughts and self-talk by first catching those harsh words and then telling yourself, “I’m having the thought that….” Changing “I always ruin everything” to “I’m having the thought that I always ruin everything” is a small shift that, when done consistently, makes a big difference in your relationship with yourself.

Starting your journey to healthy self-esteem with these two initial steps will help make your path a bit easier.

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