You want to raise your self esteem, you know it will help you to lead a happier and more fulfilled life, but you are trapped by fear. Fear of failure, fear that you might be "found out", fear that you are inadequate, fear of success, fear of what others might think … Fear can run your life when you have low self esteem, you need to over your fears.
The effect of fear on self esteem is that it erodes your self-confidence. You end up thinking that you are incapable of making the right decisions, doing the right things or saying the right things. So you do not do any of these things.
When you do not take any actions, circumstances usually work out to be that you feel worried about yourself. Maybe someone else takes the action you've just thought about and gets results. You end up convincing yourself that you've made a mess of the same thing.
The problem with low self esteem is not this it affects your thinking – you are still working out what you need to do, you can carry out your normal tasks of day to day life. The problem with low self esteem is that you become emotionally opposed against action – fear is one of the emotions that can paralyse you completely.
The almost crippling levels of negative emotion are what makes taking the first steps to build your self esteem so difficult. You believe you can not therefore you can not. You need to start believing you can!
Understanding that it's not your own abilities that are stopping you can help you to overcome this barrier. Understanding that it's your emotions means that you can start to take action. Small steps are best at first.
Identify areas where you are more confident in your own abilities and focus on them. As you start to achieve positive results, recognize and celebrate your abilities. Tell yourself "I am good at this". As you do this, look at other areas where you want to improve your confidence and start to work on them as well. The chances are you are just as good as the next person, you just need to believe it!
Would you like to learn more about the six pillows of self esteem ?