THE 7As in SELF ESTEEM

Psalm 139:13-14

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (NIV)  

One’s self-esteem makes him look at or handle matters in life positively or negatively.

Self esteem reflects a person's overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. Your own self esteem is so intricately woven into who you are that it literally controls your thoughts, which in turn, controls your actions. We are always in the process of either gaining or losing self esteem. 

Hence below are the 7As I think that are very useful as we look at our self esteem

1.      Self-Awareness. Do you understand yourself? Look at your life and learn who you are. Why do you do certain things in life?

2.      Self-Acceptance. Fully accept yourself. If you live in denial, your self-esteem will always be eroded. When you accept yourself, you can then do something about it.

3.      Self-Assertiveness. Speak up, be firm and develop a sense of control over your life. Paying close attention to acknowledging what you have control over and what you cannot control.

4.      Self-Adaptation. Once you have understood yourself well, you can adapt yourself to the environment that you are in. Don’t allow the circumstances to dictate on you. You are uniquely created by God. Note that you are very important and there is nobody like you.

5.      Self- Appreciation. Since you are very important, you have to fully appreciate that. Don’t be put off by issues that you are going to face in life. Appreciate all the abilities that you have.

6.      Self- Adjustment. Don’t be static. Learn new skills and lessons in life and adjust accordingly without undue pressure from anyone.

7.      Self-Assessment. Do an evaluation of yourself in all areas of yourself. This will make you love yourself the more. 

The following are very important to improving your self-esteem

1.      Self-integrity. Learn what is true and live accordingly and determine the best decisions for yourself.

2.      Stop negative self talk. Self talk is the ongoing conversation you have with yourself. Every time you hear yourself saying and affirming negative stuff about yourself to yourself, STOP IT. Don't let one more negative thing about you get planted in your mind.

3.      Say positive things to yourself every single day. Every morning and every night make it a point to say nothing but positive, self esteem building stuff to you. You will be amazed how much better you will feel about yourself and your life.

4.      Stop inflicting negative talk on other people. Every time you say something negative to someone else, if will affect you to. STOP IT. Don't be responsible for filling someone else with negative talk. Showing patience, gentleness, and kindness will go a long ways toward building up the self esteem in someone else.

5.      Don't let yourself get caught up in tearing others down behind their backs. Some of the worst things you can do are gossip, tell negative stories about others, or break the confidence of someone who placed their trust in you. When people find out what you said about them it can be a devastating blow to their self esteem because they believe what they hear, whether it's true or not.

6.      SET the example of right behavior to others. Don't just tell them; show them by building other people up on purpose. Look for positive things to say by using God's Word as a guide. Self esteem improvement in others will only come if you help the process every chance you get.

Change your heart by changing your self esteem. You can lead a better life if you change your self esteem. Look at life positively. See the goodness in all that you do. Love and appreciate people. They are the greatest resources that we have.