If you are constantly feeling inadequate at the office, how could you reach a level of self-esteem that can help you with your professional growth? Let’s examine what potentially causes this low opinion of self, and from there, find steps that you can do in order to improve your self-esteem at the workplace.

First, you may need to understand what self-esteem is all about. Self-esteem, defined simply is how you see yourself. It is a composite of the image you have created of yourself, your opinions about your strengths and weaknesses, your beliefs and how you define yourself. We often radiate our own images of ourselves to others through the messages we send when we interact with other people. These messages may be explicit or may be non-verbal messages that people perceive. If we have such a low opinion of ourselves, chances are, other people will have the same.

What Causes Low Self-Esteem?

This is quite a complicated question because the answers would differ from one person to the next. Low self-esteem may be caused by the pre-conditioning that we received when we were younger, from people whom we looked at as authorities- our parents, our teachers, our supervisors, etc. It can also stem from not being able to reach our goals when we were younger, or not getting enough motivation from people who have much influence on our lives. Often, it may be caused by constantly comparing ourselves to others, and seeing ourselves inferior from them. There are also deep-seated issues that can affect a person’s self-esteem; a person who suffered from abuse early on in life would often have to struggle with feelings of guilt, fear and anger.

What You Can Do To Improve Your Self-Esteem

At the workplace especially, the need for improving your self-esteem is so evident, because it is the key to your professional success. Here are some suggestions on how you can work on your self-esteem at the workplace, although you can also apply most of these steps in your relationships:

In the workplace especially, the need for improving your self-esteem is so evident, because it is the key to your professional success. Here are some suggestions on how you can work on your self-esteem at the workplace, although you can also apply most of these steps in your relationships:

1. Know that you are not alone. You are not the only one who suffers from low self-esteem. There are also people who try to cover up their insecurities by bullying or putting airs on others.

2. Remember your achievements, cheer yourself on and do not dwell on times when you had performed below your own or somebody else’s expectations.

3. Go the extra mile. Volunteer to do tasks, and do your best in performing them. Feel good about your achievements, no matter how small they may be.

4. Create some new challenges for yourself. Make yourself indispensable and show that you are someone who is reliable and an important member of the team.

5. Have a sincere interest in your job and the people you work with. This is not only essential for building your own self-esteem but also building camaraderie and harmony among your fellow office workers. Look at your co-workers as teammates, not as competitors. Stop comparing yourself with others, but simply see that each person has his or her own strengths and weaknesses.

Self-esteem at the workplace can help you progress from an insignificant person to someone who can be trusted to do well on assigned tasks. Do an honest sincere analysis on how you can improve your own image of yourself and see other’s image of you improve as well.

Live Blissfully,

YvonneB