Enhancing Your Self-Esteem

How to Enhance Your Self-Esteem
Your Self-Esteem
The way we feel about ourselves has a huge affect on the way we treat ourselves and others, and on the kinds of choices we make. Here are some things you can do to protect, raise, or reinforce your self-esteem:

● Spend time with people who like you and care about you.

● Ignore (and stay away from) people who put you down or treat you badly.

● Do things that you enjoy or that make you feel good.

● Do things you are good at.

● Reward yourself for your successes.

● Develop your talents.

● Be your own best friend - treat yourself well and do things that are good for you.

● Make good choices for yourself, and don't let others make your choices for you.

● Take responsibility for yourself, your choices, and your actions.

● Always do what you believe is right.

● Be true to yourself and your values.

● Respect other people and treat them right.

● Set goals and work to achieve them.

Discussion Questions

1. We hear a lot of talk these days about self-esteem. Who can tell me what self-esteem is?
2. Is there a difference between self-esteem and smugness or conceit?
3. When we say someone has high self-esteem, what does that mean?
4. Is everybody is entitled to have high self-esteem. Do you agree? Why (or why not)?
5. Do you think you have to "prove yourself" in some way in order to deserve high self-esteem?
- Do you have to be great at something?
- Do you have to be super-popular or part of the "in-crowd?"
- Do you have to be terrifically good-looking?
- Is there any reason why someone should not be entitled to have good self-esteem?
6. Where does high self-esteem come from?
- Why do you think some people have high self esteem and others have low self-esteem?
7. What causes low self-esteem?
8. When you make really good choices for yourself, how does that make you feel? (ask for examples)
- Does that raise your self-esteem?
- Do you think that making good choices for yourself could be one way to help raise your self-esteem?
9. When you make really bad choices for yourself, how does that make you feel? (ask for examples)
- Does that lower your self-esteem?
10. Have you ever made yourself feel bad by comparing yourself with others?
- Is it good to compare yourself with others? Why not?
- What can happen when you compare yourself with others?
11. Is our self-esteem permanent, or does it change?
- Is it ever too late to change the way we feel about ourselves?