Self-Perception | 10 Steps to Improve How You See Yourself

By: Adriane, owner of Put on Your Party Pants

Thanks to the internet, social media, and keyboard warriors, we are inundated with images of beautiful people with lots of accomplishments every day. If you are making comparisons to your life, this flood of information does nothing positive for your self-esteem. You deserve to be happy. What can you do to improve your self-perception?

Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

You know that person you see on social media that makes it look like his or her life is perfect? Guess what? It isn’t.

It is natural to compare oneself to others. If others could accomplish specific things, why couldn’t I? Where did I go wrong?

Each person’s journey is his or her own. Don’t concern yourself with what others are doing. Work toward your own goals. Be your own person. Feel proud of who you are now, what you have done in the past, and what you will accomplish in the future.

Focus on the Positive

Nothing will ever be perfect. Nothing. The sooner you accept this fact, the happier you will be.

Decide to focus on the positive. There are a lot of things you cannot control, but your attitude is not one of them.

Things may not go exactly as you plan. Find a way to feel good about what you have accomplished. Focusing on the positive adds up over time. Your self-perception will slowly improve.

Make Time to Do What Makes You Happy

Are you passionate about something? Does doing something make you feel good? Embrace that. Doing things at which you excel and satisfy you will make you feel proud and improve your self-perception.

What if you don’t have time? You actually do.

Prioritizing your happiness and mental health is extremely important. Make a schedule and plan ahead. You will find time, and you will be glad you did.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

It is important to do things that make you happy, but you can’t control what you have to do every minute of every day. We have to go to work, right? Sometimes one has to do things that are less than fun or at which one does not excel.

It is OK. You don’t have to be good at everything.

Don’t be too hard on yourself if something doesn’t go right. Try your best, hang in there, and don’t give up. You can try again tomorrow.

Surround Yourself with Positive People

You’re already hard enough on yourself. You don’t need assistance.

Surround yourself with positive people who love and support you for who you are. Make time to spend quality time with those you love. People who lift you up to make you feel better about yourself. Toxic people need to go.

Likewise, you should be an agent of positivity for the people in your life. Let people know they are loved, appreciated, and deserving of happiness. Compliment them on their strengths and accept their faults.

Developing happy and trusting relationships is key to a positive self-perception. They may require work, but they are more than worth it.

Take Care of Yourself

Mental health is important, but so is physical health. If you are overtired, eat nothing but junk, and generally feel unwell, you won’t have the energy to accomplish anything. Your self-perception will suffer.

It is hard to make time for your health when you are busy. You must make the time. Get some sleep, eat a vegetable, and meditate for a few minutes a day. You will be amazed at the difference in the way you feel.

Be Grateful

Things may seem bad, but they could be much worse. What and whom do you value? What little things make you happy? What has improved over the last few years? What would you miss if it was gone? You can always find something about which to be grateful. Make an effort to do so.

Gratitude leads to a sense of inner peace and happiness. Your self-perception will benefit as well.

Don’t Take Things Personally

News flash. It’s not always about you.

Sometimes people are rude or treat you poorly. While that hurts, try not to take it personally.

Maybe that person who is being rude to you is having a bad day. Maybe there is something going on about which you do not know. If you believe people are out to get you, you will probably also believe it is because there is something wrong with you. There isn’t.

Treat people with grace and focus on your happiness. You don’t deserve to let someone else bring you down.

Practice Daily Affirmations

Affirmations are reminders you give to yourself. You can choose the message, but make an effort to repeat them daily.

You may choose to remind yourself about what you have done of which you are proud. You can focus on your talents. You might want a daily reminder to give yourself permission to be who you are without judgment.

Whatever it is, daily affirmations are like deposits into your self-perception bank. They add up. Daily affirmations are an easy practice that, when said over time, will help to build self-esteem.

Challenge Yourself

Do you believe you are incapable of accomplishing a specific goal? If that’s the case, you definitely can’t.

Challenge yourself to try something new. You will be amazed at how proud you will feel when you accomplish it.

Work towards a long-term goal. Accept that there will be difficult times. The road may not be easy. Give yourself permission to not master things right away. You may lose the battle, but you will win the war with perseverance.

At the end of this road, you will be amazed how proud you will feel when you accomplish something you didn’t believe you could.

Final Thoughts

You deserve to be happy. If you feel bad about yourself, this will be nearly impossible.

A positive self-perception won’t come overnight. It will require work. There will be setbacks. Things will not be perfect. All of that is OK. Take small steps daily to feel better about yourself. You will be glad that you did.