Low Self Esteem - How To Deal With It In The Office

By Jeff Archer

Having a negative self image is a really distressing state to be in. You feel isolated and insecure, paranoid and angry all at the same time. The worst place for low self esteem to rear its head can be in the office where you can feel most vulnerable and judged by those around you. It doesn't always have to be this way you should not accept living with it. It takes time to change your mind about yourself but once you do, your life will be so much easier.

Here are some tips to help you cope with your negative self image. Give them a go rather than dismiss them because you think you may have tried everything. Being open to a solution is the first step to getting past your self esteem problem.

1. Support Network - Think about all your friends and work colleagues. Write down a list of those who make you feel good about yourself and those who you're friendly with but they always make you feel bad about yourself. As difficult as this may be, try spending much less time with those people who bring you down. Toxic Friends or Toxic Work Colleagues are plentiful - most people have them and sometimes you just need a clean out. Spend time with people who are positive and you can start picking up their good habits.

2. Don't Overreact - you'll need strategies in place that will help you to put things into perspective. You can't crumble everytime a colleague is rude or the boss is dismissive. Try asking yourself questions about what's just happened so you don't automatically take it so personally and use it as an excuse to out yourself down. What's going on here? Why is this happening? What does this mean? If your boss has just snapped, it could be that they are under pressure themselves, they may be distracted by something in their personal lives, you may have interrupted them when they were trying to get some work done. Focus on the FACTS and not the FICTION in your head.

3. Pass the Buck Buck- Don't accept responsibility for everything. Feel free to pass it back to others when it needs to be. If you're having work dumped on you, say you're too busy, politely point out that it's theirs to do. Stop helping people out in the office all the time because you want them to like you. You have all the rights in the world to be there and you don't need to keep apologising for it. Look at how much work your colleagues (whom you respect anyway!) do and compare it to your load. Now feel confident getting on with what you need to.

4.Try Something New - Take on a new hobby or have something else in your life apart from work to keep you busy. Life is so much more than just work but most people fall into the trap of letting work consume their minds. Be different and take up kick boxing or dancing or commit to a 10k run. Do something that you can focus on and you'll fantastic once you finish it. You'll realise that you could do it and start to feel good about yourself.

5. Set New Rules - Smile instead of getting cross; Ask questions instead of storming off to moan about what's just happened; From this moment on, you are not allowed to say I Can't....it's a forbidden sentence starter; People judge you by the way you judge yourself so don't put yourself down and say how rubbish you would be at something because then they will think the same about you. Just as putting yourself down is a bad habit, 'bigging' yourself up is a good habit and one you need to get into.

These tips are straight forward but with practice and a little time, you can start to feel better about yourself. You are as good as everyone else, it's only you that doesn't think so. Remember that next time you lay into yourself.

Jeff Archer is the Director of The Tonic, a corporate health and wellness company. Subscribe to http://the-tonic.blogspot.com and get more great tips

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Archer

Self-Esteem - Overcome Low Self-Esteem with Simple Techniques

By Pierre Amyotte

Low self-esteem affects our love lives, careers, family bonds, and, most of all, our internal sense of well-being. High self-esteem, however, exudes confidence, problem-solving abilities and the assertiveness necessary to achieve your goals.

The more you like yourself, the more you act in likable ways. The more you believe you can achieve something, the more likely it is that you will.

It is a well-known fact that we can all take steps to improve our self-esteem. The most important relationship you have is with yourself!

The expression "Self-Esteem" is often used in our everyday life, although most people don't really know the exact meaning of it. Most people think that self esteem is another name for confidence. Certainly, confidence is part of the definition of self esteem but it is a lot more than that. For example, there are numerous people in the world that are at the height of their confidence but have very poor self-esteem. Most of the people in the public eye fall into this category. The most common are actors, comedians and singers who glow on stage, and yet offstage, they feel insecure.

There are a few different ways to improve your self esteem. The most basic of them is that you must realize that you are not alone. There are many others who have this problem. The second fact that you must remember is that you are a very special person and you are an important part of society and you have as much right to live happily and peacefully as everybody else.

Another thing to remember is that everyone makes mistakes. Making mistakes is a fact of life for everyone. No one is perfect. Never forget the saying 'to err is human'. Hopefully most of us will learn from our mistakes. We also have the right to respect ourselves just like we respect others. Most importantly, you have the right to say 'yes' or 'no' for yourself. People with poor self esteem feel that they are inferior to others and are unable to make the right decisions.

Here are some the techniques to help improve your self esteem.

* The ten minute technique: take ten minutes a day and do nothing but just sit and relax. This helps bring back your confidence. Many people find this technique helpful.

* Accentuate the Positive: if you are one of those who tends to go over your mistakes again and again, make sure it is only for one reason: to correct them.

* List 50 things that you like about yourself: then go over them every day. This will help you to focus on your strengths and will keep you on the right track.

To learn the simple secrets to building your self-esteem, visit http://www.selfesteem.healthehelp.com where you'll find everything you need to know about improving your confidence, including self help, self-esteem improvement courses, and much more!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pierre_Amyotte