Self Empowered People

Characteristics of Self Empowered People
They display high levels of optimism and confidence.
They possess vision and passion in their dreams and convictions.
They ensure that they surround themselves with other like-minded people.
They're highly resourceful, creative and inventive.
They seize opportunities and create their own whenever possible.
They know what motivates them.
They have a strong sense of personal identity.
They have spent a substantial amount of time on introspection and self discovery.
They take responsibility for their happiness.
They spin challenges into their greatest motivators—and sometimes biggest
advantages!
They refuse to let other people dictate how they should live.
*This statement reminds me of a quote that is commonly used in the counselling field: “It's better to be hated for who you are, than loved for someone your not.” A few different ways to think about this are: a) Someone else's dream for you may not be your dream b) Not suppressing or trading who you are for what you think is a more "acceptable" version of yourself c) Not pretending to be someone you're not so that people will like you or approve of you.

Step into Your Own Skin

Healthy Self Esteem
Self esteem isn't something that you have, it is something that you DO. Learn how to cultivate compassion for yourself. When you step into your own skin and take care of yourself you are giving yourself the all important message that you matter. Start taking action. The universe rewards action. Backing away and avoiding challenges means that your self esteem muscles become weak and flabby. When you start to take action,regardless of the outcome - you will start to feel better about yourself, develop your self confidence and raise 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 supportive positive people who 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.

What is Healthy Self Esteem

What is healthy self esteem like?
Healthy self esteem does not imply over confidence. People who have an OK level of self esteem are:
• confident without being overbearing
• not devastated by criticism
• not overly defensive when questioned
• active and achievement orientated without being driven
• mostly happy with themselves as they are
• not easily defeated by setbacks and obstacles
• able to accept and learn from their own mistakes
• unlikely to feel a need to put others down
• open and assertive in communicating their needs
• self reliant and resourceful without refusing help
• not overly worried about failing or looking foolish
• not harshly or destructively critical of themselves
• not aggressively driven to prove themselves - people with normal self esteem are happy with themselves as they are
• able to laugh at themselves, not taking themselves too seriously
People with normal self esteem might doubt themselves from time to time but their sense of self worth consistently reverts to a balanced state. Having healthy self esteem does not mean feeling perfect. It is just not being continually plagued by self doubt. Having normal self esteem means not being excessively high one minute and feeling completely worthless the next.