Self-acceptance has two major components: 1) Recognizing and enjoying your strengths and successes, and 2) Recognizing, being comfortable with, and not berating yourself for weaknesses, mistakes, and failures. Self-acceptance is not incompatible with trying to do better. People can accept themselves as they are right now and still strive to be more competent and successful in the future.

Of course it's okay to have ups and downs in your feelings, but having low self-esteem isn't a good feeling. Feeling like you're not important can make you sad and can keep you from trying new things. It can keep you from making friends or hurt how you do at work or school. Having strong self-esteem is also a very big part of life.

As we get older and face tough decisions - especially under peer pressure - the more self-esteem we have, the better. It's important to know our self-worth. If you think you might have low self-esteem, try talking to a counselor you trust about it. He or she may be able to help you come up with some good ideas for building your self-esteem.

Cognitive behavior therapy techniques are helpful and teach you to re-arrange your thought patterns that result in low self-esteem. Cognitive behavior therapy techniques are especially helpful in re aligning, re-arranging and changing unhealthy behavior and thought patterns. These techniques are based on the assumption that your feelings and behavior result from how you think about yourself and the life you lead. These techniques help you because they teach you to recognize, challenge and in the end replace negative thoughts with more positive, realistic thoughts. Here are a few things that you can try to increase your self-esteem:

• Make a list of the stuff you're good at. It can be anything from drawing or singing to playing a sport or telling a good joke. If you're having trouble with your list, ask a friend to help you with it. Then add a few things to the list that you'd like to be good at. Your frirnds can help you plan a way to work on those skills or talents.
• Give yourself three compliments every day. Don't just say, "I'm so great." Be specific about something good about yourself, like, "I was a good friend to Bill today" or "I did better on that test than I thought I would." While you're at it, before you go to bed every night, list three things in your day that really made you happy.
• Remember that your body is your own, no matter what shape, size, or color it is. If you are worried about your weight or size, you can check with your doctor to make sure that things are okay. Remind yourself of things about your body that you like.
• Remind yourself that there are things about yourself you can't change. You should accept and love these things - such as skin color and shoe size - because they are part of you.
• When you hear negative comments in your head, tell yourself to stop. When you do this, you take the power away from the voice inside that discourages you.

References
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