Welcoming the New Year with Boosted Self-Esteem

The New Year is the time of the year when many people traditionally make resolutions to change for the better. It is the only time of the year that offers new beginnings and fresh opportunities, prompting most people to consciously set goals for life change. The vast majority, however, are not able to accomplish their annual goals. While there is this ideal image in the mind on how to improve the current state of well-being, it often comes with the feeling of anxiety. The very notion of resolutions can be stressful if you are struggling with low self-esteem.

New Year, New Chance to Improve Yourself

The New Year is the first day of the rest of the year. It is the perfect chance to create a better version of you by focusing on life aspects that may need some extra attention, such as family, relationships, careers, academics, etc. This tradition, however, can take a shallow turn if you do not start it right. What can be a more realistic way to improve your well-being than to start within you by raising your self-esteem?

The term self-esteem is used to describe an individual’s overall sense of self-value. It is your own opinion about yourself and how much you like or appreciate yourself. Having a clear sense of who you are, what your beliefs are and what you want in life means having a healthy self-esteem. Feeling great or positive about yourself plays a significant role in your motivation to achieve your goals.

Having a healthy self-esteem can improve every aspect of life. The following are common characteristics of people with high self-esteem:

  • Confidence
  • Positive outlook
  • Feel worthy of love and approval
  • Ability to rise above and bounce back from any negative experience without any impact on the overall perspective
  • Effective communication skills
  • Success-driven
  • Comfortable with change
  • Goal-oriented
  • Take care of their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing

A healthy self-esteem is that “feel good factor” when you know how to strengthen your positive traits and have the ability to work on your weaknesses that prevent you from taking calculated risks to achieve your goals.

On the other hand, if you have a negative perception of yourself, it can lead you to an overwhelming feeling of low self-worth. Low self-esteem can result in your being doubtful of your abilities and judgment, holding you back from doing what you have set your mind to do. As a result, you are prevented from achieving your goals and reaching your full potential.  With lack of or low self-esteem, it can be much more difficult for you to accomplish your New Year’s resolutions, but it can stop you from trying new things the whole year through.

The Impact of Low Self-Esteem

With low self-esteem, there is the tendency to see your own self in a more negative and critical light. It breeds heavy self-criticism wherein the habitual state of self-dissatisfaction can leave you feeling insignificant. As a result, you magnify your mistakes or behaviors to the point of not being able to reach self-forgiveness.

Low self-esteem often originates in childhood, but it can easily carry on into adulthood. In many cases, the negative feeling is heavily influenced by how other people feel about and treat you, including family and peers. Inadequate guidance and attention during the growing years can cause significant self-esteem problems. Experiencing difficult and traumatic life events, whether physical, emotional, sexual or a combination of these can have a negative effect on self-esteem. Any form of abuse experienced from these events can diminish the amount of self-respect, love and care for oneself.

Feeling poorly about yourself can interfere with your ability to lead a fulfilling, productive life. Thinking about yourself negatively can also become a habit if you feel worthless or inferior. Finding the right therapist to boost self-esteem  to break from the cycle of negative thoughts and feelings about your own self may be beneficial.

In the short term, low self-esteem can impel you to avoid challenging and difficult situations in order to feel a lot safer. Unfortunately, it only reinforces your underlying doubts and fears. Apart from becoming an unhelpful coping mechanism, low self-esteem can affect you in the following ways:

  • Social withdrawal
  • Aggression
  • Pretension or denial
  • Clowning around
  • Submissiveness
  • Substance abuse
  • Emotional health issues, such as anxiety and depression

 

Self-Esteem is Important for Emotional Health

In today’s fast-paced world, resolutions tend to focus more on a healthy lifestyle, weight loss diets, financial gains and savings, travel, and other goals related to a happier living. Finding a new diet, learning new skills, planning a vacation, or starting a complete makeover of the house seem to be easier to accomplish, at least at first glance.

It is important to remember that true happiness emanates from within. It takes a significant amount of self-esteem to pursue your goals that can help you become a happier person. Although low self-esteem in itself is not categorized as an emotional health issue, there are clear links between the way you feel about yourself and your overall emotional well-being.

This highlights the importance of building your self-esteem. Learning to love yourself can motivate you to strive for a better life, work for a happier relationship, find a more fulfilling career, recover from an illness, or recover from a loss. Admittedly, it is not an easy task. Making resolutions to improve your emotional health by discovering the underlying reasons behind your negative thoughts and feelings about yourself may seem daunting. As in most cases, experts recommend, it often takes counseling to help in taking steps to improve your self-esteem.

 

A New Year, a Better You                     

Life can constantly throw challenges and changes your way, throughout the whole year. You may not be able to change your experiences of the past year. You are, however, given the opportunity to start with a fresh slate as the New Year comes. The New Year brims with prospects on how you can have a happier, fulfilling and better year ahead.

This is the great thing about the New Year. It is a shift from the old year to a new one. You can throw away all your negative thoughts and feelings about yourself, and hear their echoes dissolve into the vast chasm, setting you free as you embrace the forthcoming year. That is why you make resolutions!

As you define your goals and resolutions, boosting your self-esteem should be a top priority. Fortunately, there is help available, so you do not have to embark on this journey alone. The self-esteem counselors independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Fuquay-Varina, NC are waiting to help you enhance your self-esteem. One of them may be the right fit therapist who can work with you discover your true self-worth.

With improved self-confidence you can start believing in yourself – the right impetus that affords you the motivation to pursue your goals. As your top resolution, a boosted self-esteem can lead to the success of all your other resolutions. You will be greatly surprised, that at the end of the year, you have become a better you and far ahead from where you started at the beginning of the year. Call CCS – Fuquay-Varina, NC now to schedule an appointment.

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