How to Stop Demeaning Yourself

If you have low self-esteem, chances are you demean yourself either out loud or within your own thought patterns. Viewing yourself negatively affects many areas of your life, including your relationships, work and even your health. Demeaning yourself can become a terrible habit that you do almost unconsciously. Once you learn to identify negative thoughts about yourself, you can take measures to transform the way you feel about and talk about yourself.

Instructions

• 1

  Pay attention to the thoughts about yourself that come into your mind over the course of a few days. Jot down negative thoughts that either remain private or are actually spoken.

• 2

  Write down any perceived "triggers" that prompt you to demean yourself. For example, you may demean yourself when you look in the mirror and see wrinkles.

• 3

  Write down ways in which these demeaning thoughts affect your actions and life in general. For instance, you may notice that when you don't perform as well at work as you'd like, you overeat.

• 4

  Replace a negative thought or statement with a positive one each time you demean yourself. This may seem forced at first, but it will become more natural the longer you do it. For example, if you demean yourself over being impatient with your children, remind yourself of how you did something kind for someone that same day. Also turn demeaning thoughts into productive ones. For instance, if you were impatient with your children, think of a positive way to show them your patience and love in the near future.

• 5

  Learn to forgive yourself and accept change as a process. You probably won't change overnight, but each day brings a new start and new opportunities to develop a more positive self-esteem.

• 6

  Surround yourself with people who treat you kindly and who have healthy self-esteems. If you spend the majority of your time around negative people, it makes it easier to be hard on yourself.