One of the biggest problems I’ve found with those who have low self-esteem is their tendency to be very self-critical of themselves. Instead of encouraging themselves to try new things or enjoying the small successes in life, those with self esteem issues often hurt themselves with strong self-criticism and an unforgiving evaluation of what they are capable of. On this page I aim to offer hope to those who need to stop self-criticism and start living more positively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learning how to be less self-critical can improve self esteem and build confidence. To be happy and successful it is necessary to accept failure without judgement and maintain a positive attitude through self evaluation and self respect. Less self-criticism will help you achieve your goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to be happy in life and experience well-being, it is necessary to live authentically. According to Maraboli (2009)<\/a>, our success and happiness in life depend on living in an authentic way, according to our values and personal goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Erikson<\/a> also defines being authentic as living according to one’s beliefs and values but adds another component. He also says that being authentic requires a person to commit to living according to one’s personal self-image. Anything that threatens this commitment, appears inauthentic to us. In other words, we decide what is authentic for us according to how we see ourselves. Therefore, self esteem is very much connected to how we believe we should live and to the values that are important for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This way of living is possible only if we let go of the self-criticisms we have of ourselves and acknowledge the values we hold. Living authentically requires self-respect and honest self-evaluation. Without an honest understanding of what you are truly capable of, and what your most important values are, you will never be able to live an authentic and fulfilling life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to be honest with yourself, you must let go of any self-criticism and negative judgment and honestly accept who you are and who you can be. Low self esteem<\/a> can cause self-criticism and can fill you will negative thoughts that may blind you to your own personal reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So often we seem to find ourselves in situations that seem disappointing or downright depressing. When you find yourself in a phase of your life where nothing seems to be going right, or where you are and what you’re doing just doesn’t excite you anymore, then you need to take a long hard look at your thinking and ask yourself the following question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n How self critical am I?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be honest. The first step to showing yourself the self-respect you deserve is, to be honest with yourself. This question is for you to answer to understand how serious your self-criticism is. If you fail at something, (we never really fail until we give up), perhaps we should say, if you haven’t managed to succeed yet at something, then what do you tell yourself? Reflect on the words you use and whether you support yourself or use hurtful language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you suffer from low self esteem, you may have a very poor opinion of yourself, and criticism may seem easy. But it is so damaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem with being a critical person is that you put all your energy and all your focus into what is wrong, which makes you more depressed and more frustrated and this leads to anger and stress. These are all ways to get even more depressed. We all know how depression traps you and clouds your mind with negativity and this makes it impossible to get yourself out of the situation you find yourself in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being self-critical is counterproductive to what you want. If you want to make things better you need to be positive and you need to focus and believe that things will get better.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another reason why you need to start supporting yourself with more positive self-talk and stop the negativity inside you from spiraling out of control is that it will also help to deal better with criticism you may receive from others<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to this article<\/a> by Trumpeter, Watson and O’Leary (2006), many who are critical of themselves are also perfectionists. If you are both self critical and a perfectionist, this combination can be particularly difficult to cope with. As a perfectionist, you will demand the very highest standards, not only of others but also of yourself and when you fail, you will criticize yourself for it. This is a path towards bitterness and low self-esteem, so you need to address this urgently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Self-criticism can be caused by a person having extremely high standards, and so perfectionists who criticize themselves can become depressed, suffer from anxiety, and even eating disorders. If this is a problem you suffer from, you really need to get help so that you can start to become kinder to yourself.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having said that there are many potential negative consequences of being self-critical, it is also important to understand that it is possible to become less critical of oneself. This study<\/a> published in NeuroImage (2010), helps us to understand the nature of self-criticism and suggests how it might be treated as a mood disorder. The study also concludes that being critical of yourself is due to incorrect self-evaluation based on a negative focus on mistakes and failure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some tips for changing self-critical thinking and behavior into more supportive thinking and behavior, so that life becomes less of a burden and much more enjoyable: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Good luck and I wish you success! let me know how you liked this page and do share it with others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest problems I’ve found with those who have low self-esteem is their tendency to be very self-critical of themselves. Instead of encouraging themselves to try new things<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13668,"parent":8741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10202"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13786,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10202\/revisions\/13786"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How Self Criticism Can prevent You From Living Authentically<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How Self-Critical Are You?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Self Criticism is Linked to Perfectionism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How can you learn to be less critical of yourself?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n