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Letting Go of Old Things and Thoughts Will Build Self-Esteem

October 5, 2020 Jessica Kaley

Sometimes building stronger self-esteem is about letting go of things that have been with us for much of our life. In addition to adding new skills to our tool kit, it's important to look carefully at the people, things, and attitudes that we carry with us from the past and decide if they are still relevant to who we are today and who we want to be in the future.

Letting Go Is Important Sometimes

When we are children, our parents teach us things to keep us safe, like "Don't touch the stove, it's hot!" and, "Don't touch the knife, it's sharp!"

However, as we grow, we must let go of these rules the first time we prepare ourselves a hot meal. The rules no longer serve the person we are, and we learn to let them go.

We continue to grow every day of our life, although the changes may not be as noticeable to us as learning to slice and cook our own food. Therefore, we owe it to ourselves to continue to question what we might want to let go of as a way of recognizing and honoring our growth. In today's video, I talk about three things in my own life that went through this review in my mind, with varying results.

Letting Go of Some Thoughts to Build Self-Esteem

When I tried decluttering my house all in one weekend, I became overwhelmed and failed. When I made the decision to declutter one item each day instead, I became successful. The easy things to let go of made me used to letting go, and soon enough, the harder things weren't as hard to bid farewell to. We can look at our thoughts in the same way.

We don't need to change everything at once. As we practice trying some new things and letting go of some old ones, it gets easier, like every other skill set. If we know we want to change, we need to be prepared to evaluate the needs and desires of the new self we have created. Your self-esteem will grow when you let go of limiting thoughts and behaviors.

What old thought patterns do you feel would be best left by the roadside? Share your thoughts in the comment section and let that be your declaration that you are ready to let go of old thoughts for growth and healthy self-esteem.

Tags: letting go

APA Reference
Kaley, J. (2020, October 5). Letting Go of Old Things and Thoughts Will Build Self-Esteem, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, November 22 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/buildingselfesteem/2020/10/letting-go-of-old-things-and-thoughts-will-build-self-esteem



Author: Jessica Kaley

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Caroline
June, 28 2021 at 6:52 am

I just fell upon your great articles and this brides of letting go.
Although I am in the process of letting go of things ( feels great in many ways), I am still trying to let go of old thought patterns which is harder). Thank you for your kind and inspiring words.

Lizanne Corbit
October, 6 2020 at 8:51 pm

Yahoo for this post and video! I absolutely love this line when you talk about letting go, "...as a way of recognizing and honoring our growth." How beautiful and true this is! We often struggle with letting go because it feels like a negative, a loss, but to see it as a way of recognizing and honoring our growth is a really beautiful day. As you go on to say we don't need to let go of all the things, all at once. We can take small steps here and there and that is so powerful.

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