5 Tips to Help Someone With Low Self-Esteem
Self-esteem affects our relationships, career success, and general happiness. But what happens when someone you love has low self-esteem? It’s not easy to watch someone you care about have difficulty believing in themselves and their abilities. You might worry that they won’t be able to get past this or that seeing them struggle might make you feel like your own struggles with self-esteem are more evident than you thought. Here are 5 tips to help someone with low self-esteem from the couch.
Don’t Try to Fix Everything or Judge Them
Helpful as it is to listen and encourage, when you try to fix everything for someone with low self-esteem, you send the message that they can’t do it themselves. While it’s essential to help your loved one brainstorm ideas and strategies to overcome their struggles, it’s also important to let them try things on their own and make their own mistakes. If you’re constantly trying to “fix” things for them, they might never actually figure out how to do it themselves.
Encourage Them to Take Care of Themselves
As you’re helping your loved one with low self-esteem, you might notice that they’re not taking care of themselves in meaningful ways. Some people with quiet self-esteem struggle with self-sabotaging behaviors like eating disorders, substance abuse, or self-harm. If your loved one is struggling with eating disorders, you can help by speaking up about healthy and unhealthy food choices and joining them for healthy meals. If your loved one is struggling with substance abuse, you can help by joining support groups, calling for help if needed, and joining them for sober activities.
Celebrate Small Victories
People with low self-esteem might have trouble celebrating their successes, but you can help them. If you notice someone with low self-esteem celebrating another person’s success but not their own, you can help by celebrating their accomplishments. If you see someone with low self-esteem celebrating another person’s success but not their own, you can help by encouraging them to celebrate their achievements.
Help them Build Confidence
People with low self-esteem might have trouble building confidence, but you can help by joining them for positive, self-affirming activities. In that case, you can help by entering them into actions more appropriate for their current skill level. If you notice someone with low self-esteem joining activities that are too easy or uninteresting, you can help by joining them for more engaging and positive actions. You can also help by joining them for more challenging activities as a way to help them build self-confidence.
Help Them Build Self-Care Rituals
Some people with low self-esteem might not even realize they neglect their self-care. Suppose you notice someone with low self-esteem engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors like using substances, eating disorders, or engaging in self-harm. In that case, you can help them by encouraging them to develop self-care rituals instead. If you notice someone with low self-esteem engaging in self-destructive or harmful behaviors, you can help by encouraging them to build self-care rituals.
Some people with low self-esteem might not even realize they neglect their self-care. Suppose you notice someone with low self-esteem engaging in self-sabotaging behaviors like using substances, eating disorders, or engaging in self-harm. In that case, you can help them by encouraging them to develop self-care routines. If you notice someone with low self-esteem engaging in self-destructive or harmful behaviors, you can help them develop positive self-care routines by joining them in positive activities.
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