Respect your opinion of yourself Entertain feedback from others, but do not depend on their opinions. Rely on your own values when making decisions and deciding what is right for you. You are your own best support system. A lack of self esteem is often a manifestation of a lack of self respect. A healthy respect for one's self has a profound impact on your self esteem. Having a clear understanding of your valuesand where you want to go and who you want to be leads to a greater level of self respect. When self respect is lacking, it is easy to get down on yourself and begin to believe you are not worthy of the good things life has to offer. "The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own." - Eric Hoffer A major benefit derived from respecting yourself, is the increased trust you have within yourself. As in any relationship, trust is one of the primary building blocks. The most important relationship you have is the one you have with yourself. This relationship impacts every other relationships you have - with your spouse, your children, your God, your co-workers, etc. When you have inner trust, you can be confident in the decisions you make and know they are right for you. Others may not always agree with you and your decisions, but you will have their respect and the respect of yourself. "I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence." - Frederick Douglass "When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self Esteem Tip Take time to do things you enjoy. You may be so busy, or feel so badly about yourself, that you spend little or no time doing things you enjoy--things like playing a musical instrument, doing a craft project, flying a kite, or going fishing. Make a list of things you enjoy doing. Then do something from that list every day. Add to the list anything new that you discover you enjoy doing.