Categories
Self Esteem/Self Confidence

Is Negativity Ruining Your Self Esteem?

When you have a negative outlook, it tends to affect every aspect of your life. Studies have shown that negative self-talk can cause issues with self-esteem.

With poor self-esteem, you may feel worthless, or like you don’t measure up to everyone else. It can affect your relationships and prevent you from taking on opportunities.

Is negativity ruining your self-esteem? You can discover if negative self-talk is dragging your self-esteem down, as well as what signs you need to watch for.

How Negativity Impacts Self-Esteem

Self-esteem can both be a cause of negativity, and a result of it. When you have a negative mindset, it often stems from feeling inadequate or due to a lack of control over a situation. This leads to negative self-talk, such as you’ll never amount to anything, or you aren’t good enough to achieve success. 

The trouble with negative thoughts is that they multiply quickly. Over time, you’ll find they greatly affect your confidence and cause you to question your value. Negativity is a self-esteem killer, causing you to doubt everything as well as yourself. 

Understanding Negative Self-Talk

Negative self-talk is basically your inner critic reminding you of all the negative things you or others have said about you. Negative self-talk can have a significant impact on your self-esteem, confidence, and overall wellbeing.

Put simply, negative self-talk prevents you from believing in yourself and your abilities. It keeps you from making positive changes and achieving success. 

Signs You Have Low Self-Esteem

So, how do you know if you have low self-esteem? There are some signs to look out for which may suggest your self-esteem could use some work. These include:

  • You have little confidence
  • You compare yourself negatively to others
  • You find it difficult asking for help 
  • You worry a lot 
  • You find it difficult to accept compliments

These are just a small number of the signs of low self-esteem. The question is, how can you eliminate negativity and build up your self-esteem?

Ways To Reduce Negativity and Build Self-Esteem

If you are ready to start combatting your negativity and building up self-esteem, there are a few things you can do. Start by assessing what is contributing towards your negativity.

Perhaps a past experience such as being bullied at school for example?

By figuring out where your negativity stems from, you’ll be able to start working on overcoming it. 

Surrounding yourself with positive people is a great way to challenge negativity. The people you hang out with have a major influence on how you feel so be aware of who you surround yourself with. If you are around negative people, you yourself will end up feeling more negative. 

Looking after yourself, utilizing positive affirmations, and stopping comparing yourself to others are also good tips you can follow.

If you have poor self-esteem, the amount of negativity you experience could be partially to blame. As you focus on becoming more positive, you’ll find that you automatically begin to feel happier and more confident.

Categories
Personal Growth Resilience

5 Steps For Handling Constructive Criticism

Wise people have learned how to handle criticism. They view and handle it like any other feedback, with a calm and judicious attitude. They try and see how they can use it to get ahead and meet their goals.

Many people, however; find it hard not to react defensively or angrily. There is a tendency in human nature to launch a counterattack so as to shift the blame to the critic. Unfortunately that behaviour often inflames the situation, and it certainly does not help you get ahead or win you any friends.

Criticism is a fact of life, and the sooner you learn to handle it positively, the better you can use that feedback for your own success. 

#1 Before you React – Stop!

You will feel the reaction in your body before you can get the words out. And that is where you must stop. Don’t do anything, just breathe…. and take a moment to calm your defences. It’s more than likely the other person won’t even notice, and it will give you time to compose yourself.

#2 Remind Yourself that This is Feedback

Your composure time gives you a chance to remember that this criticism is an opportunity to learn something, possibly something valuable. Say to yourself, “This is not personal,” and repeat it as often as you need to until your initial reaction has passed. 

#3 Practice Your Active Listening

Feedback time is a time to listen, it is not a time to talk. Try to understand what the other person is saying. Maybe it’s an aspect of your project or goal that you haven’t thought of yet. What initially feels like criticism may offer valuable insight. 

Repeat back what you heard and seek clarification if you need to. This is not a time to analyze or push back, it’s a time to understand precisely what is being said. 

#4 Thank Your Critic

Even if it makes you cringe inside, say thank you for the feedback. You don’t have to agree with what they’ve said to be sincerely appreciative of the input. And remember, they took the time and made the effort to give you some advice that they thought my help you in the future.

#5 Process the Feedback

You may need some time to do this, or you might be able to do it on the spot. If your emotions are running high, it’s probably better to take a break and come back to deal with what has been said. Otherwise, it’s fine to ask questions to clarify the feedback, and maybe seek their suggestions on how to move forward. 

Learning to handle and cope with constructive feedback and criticism is a really important skill, and once you learn it you will view feedback in an entirely manner. You’ll be glad you learned it sooner rather than later.