How to Deal With Low Self Esteem at Work

Having a negative self image is a really distressing state to be in. You feel isolated and insecure, paranoid and angry all at the same time. The worst place for low self esteem to rear its head can be in the office where you can feel most vulnerable and judged by those around you. It doesn't always have to be this way you should not accept living with it. It takes time to change your mind about yourself but once you do, your life will be so much easier.

Here are some tips to help you cope with your negative self image. Give them a go rather than dismiss them because you think you may have tried everything. Being open to a solution is the first step to getting past your self esteem problem.

1. Support Network - Think about all your friends and work colleagues. Write down a list of those who make you feel good about yourself and those who you're friendly with but they always make you feel bad about yourself. As difficult as this may be, try spending much less time with those people who bring you down. Toxic Friends or Toxic Work Colleagues are plentiful - most people have them and sometimes you just need a clean out. Spend time with people who are positive and you can start picking up their good habits.

2. Don't Overreact - you'll need strategies in place that will help you to put things into perspective. You can't crumble everytime a colleague is rude or the boss is dismissive. Try asking yourself questions about what's just happened so you don't automatically take it so personally and use it as an excuse to out yourself down. What's going on here? Why is this happening? What does this mean? If your boss has just snapped, it could be that they are under pressure themselves, they may be distracted by something in their personal lives, you may have interrupted them when they were trying to get some work done. Focus on the FACTS and not the FICTION in your head.

3. Pass the Buck Buck- Don't accept responsibility for everything. Feel free to pass it back to others when it needs to be. If you're having work dumped on you, say you're too busy, politely point out that it's theirs to do. Stop helping people out in the office all the time because you want them to like you. You have all the rights in the world to be there and you don't need to keep apologising for it. Look at how much work your colleagues (whom you respect anyway!) do and compare it to your load. Now feel confident getting on with what you need to.

4. Try Something New - Take on a new hobby or have something else in your life apart from work to keep you busy. Life is so much more than just work but most people fall into the trap of letting work consume their minds. Be different and take up kick boxing or dancing or commit to a 10k run. Do something that you can focus on and you'll fantastic once you finish it. You'll realise that you could do it and start to feel good about yourself.

5. Set New Rules - Smile instead of getting cross; Ask questions instead of storming off to moan about what's just happened; From this moment on, you are not allowed to say I Can't....it's a forbidden sentence starter; People judge you by the way you judge yourself so don't put yourself down and say how rubbish you would be at something because then they will think the same about you. Just as putting yourself down is a bad habit, 'bigging' yourself up is a good habit and one you need to get into.

These tips are straight forward but with practice and a little time, you can start to feel better about yourself. You are as good as everyone else, it's only you that doesn't think so. Remember that next time you lay into yourself.


Photograph by xoxoryan (Flickr)