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Ten ways to boost your self-esteem

Hands up if you suffer from a lack of self-confidence. Well, that pretty much covers everyone. So what can you do about it? Quite a lot, says life coach Judith Verity

If you aren’t happy with your life at the moment, don’t worry, because you have the power to change it. It might not feel like it right now, but even small changes can make a very big difference.

If you don’t think you can manage all ten of these confidence-boosting ideas straight away, just choose one and, when you’ve got the hang of it, do another one. In fact, you could even set yourself a two-week change programme and take one of the options each day.

1. De-bug your system
If you work on a computer, you probably save your valuable, creative files, delete all the rubbish and check for bugs. Our brains are the most sophisticated computers we’ll ever own, but we don’t look after them as well as we look after our PCs. However, did you know you can programme your brain to boost your self-esteem?

• Use the right programming language and be positive when you talk to yourself. Instead of saying ‘I shouldn’t eat so much’, ‘I mustn’t be so lazy’, ‘I can’t cope under pressure’, use phrases such as ‘I can eat healthy food’, ‘I will take regular exercise’, ‘I am getting more confident’.
  
• Congratulate yourself when things go right – even little things like getting to work on time or remembering to call a friend on their birthday.
  
• If something is bothering you, whether it’s a person, an incident, or something you did or didn’t do, acknowledge it, learn from it and then delete it. It’s taking up valuable mind space and undermining your self-esteem.
  
• Before you go to sleep, think of six things that made you happy during the day. It could be a smile, a piece of music, sunshine on your back or a cuddle.
  
• Use your sleeping time positively. If something’s bothering you, ask yourself some questions about it before you go to sleep. Make sure you phrase those questions positively – don’t ask yourself ‘why am I such a failure?’ before you close your eyes. Ask ‘how can I be more successful/confident/happy?’

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