Feeling down about yourself? Use the ripple effect to improve your self-esteem ✨

Are these thoughts familiar?

"I'm just not good enough."

"I can't believe I said that."

"I don't deserve that job."

Sometimes we all have low self-esteem and need a boost. It sounds hard, but you can do it — and you can use the ripple effect to help!

It's an action that causes more and more actions and spreads out like ripples on a pond.

Photo by Koen Emmers on Unsplash

A small stone tossed in a pond ripples out to a large area, much larger than the initial small toss. As a result, an action can become more significant and have a much greater impact than the initial action or event.

Positive examples of the ripple effect...

A smile: You smile at someone, and they smile back at you. Then maybe they smile at the next person they see, and so on... One smile becomes many smiles and spreads happiness.

Lifestyle change: You decide to start exercising, which improves your energy. Then you start eating healthier, etc.

Sometimes the ripple effect can make things worse...

Layoffs at work: An event like widespread layoffs may cause people to save more and spend less. This can reduce sales/profit for other businesses, which impacts the economy.

Covid: Yup, even Covid. One person who has Covid can cause many other people to become sick.

Self-esteem is often defined as your self-confidence.

It's an opinion that comes from how you see and value yourself.

But these beliefs and perceptions aren't easy to change.

How does your self-esteem affect you? It can influence:

• Your decision-making skills

• Whether you feel comfortable trying something new or challenging

• If you can be kind with yourself and "move past mistakes without blaming yourself unfairly"

• Your belief that "you matter and are good enough", and that "you deserve happiness"

Here's another Byte about why high self-esteem is important for your life.

Unfortunately, you can't just snap your fingers and improve your self-esteem. But using the ripple effect can help you get there easier and faster!

Ripple #1: Start with a small, attainable change. Since it's attainable, you'll feel confident and accomplished for achieving it.

Example: You decide you're going to start every morning with positive affirmations.

Ripple #2: You're feeling some self-worth and confidence now, so you use that small ripple to move to another change.

Example: You pay attention to the negative voice inside your head and give it a silly name. This reminds you not to take the comments seriously.

Ripple #3: Using the momentum from the first 2 ripples, you decide to add another change.

Example: You step out of your comfort zone and try something new. A new hobby? Talking to a stranger?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

You keep adding to these small changes using the self-esteem you've cultivated along the way to keep you moving forward.

Each step feels tiny on its own, but over time, your self-esteem grows as you move through these small changes and gather the positive feelings along the way to improve your self-esteem!

Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 on Unsplash

Romaine graduated from school 3 months ago. It's been challenging to find work. He's had one interview but no offers. He's starting to get really down about it and is lacking confidence about what he learned at college, his resume, and now his interview skills. And all of this has taken a toll on his self-esteem.

Romaine needs to boost his self-esteem.

He buys some new clothes that he feels good in. The ripple effect? This gives him some confidence as he walks into an interview. He'll have a great interview with more confidence and self-esteem.

He helps his classmates with their resumes. The ripple effect? It feels good to help his friends, and it also gives him confidence in his own resume.

He decides to volunteer somewhere where he can practice his skills. The ripple effect? He feels better about what he knows and also feels good about giving back.

Celebrate! Romaine treats himself with a nice lunch out when he completes each of these actions. The ripple effect? He boosts his sense of accomplishment which further increases to his self-esteem.

All of these small steps accumulate and build your self-esteem along the way!

Which of the following best shows how to use the ripple effect to help improve your self-esteem?

A. Wait until you feel confident before you try anything new.

B. Make one small positive change and let the success build your confidence to move ahead.

C. Focus on your major goals so you don't lose sight of them.

D. See how others are doing and compare yourself along the way.