It sounds silly,
but a mirror can
be one of the
most powerful
tools for knowing
how to raise self
esteem. No,
you’re not going
to look into it and
tell yourself how
amazing you look
all the time.
However, there
are exercises that
you can use when
it comes to self-
improvement and,
more importantly,
raising your self-
esteem, that will
help you to break through barriers and continue down the
road toward becoming the man you want to be.
Posture
It’s a scientific fact: Good, strong posture will make you feel
more confident (and it is one of the easiest ways when it
comes to understanding how to raise self esteem). And the
best way to practice your posture is by standing in front of a
mirror. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Stand in the mirror as your normally would.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Picture a piece of string pulling your head up.
4. Picture a magnet pulling your feet down.
5. Let the tension between the two straighten you out until
you’re standing up tall.
6. Open your eyes.
7. Make small adjustments to your posture: Hold your
shoulders back and your head straight.
8. Relax into a more natural, but no less straight, posture.
9. “Scan” your body for what it feels like to stand like this.
Try to make a memory of it.
Practice this a couple times a week and you’ll find that
you’ll be able to stand up straight better when you need to.
Do that enough and you’re going to start busting self-
confidence from every seam.
Smile
Smile big, smile broadly and smile with your whole face —
and practice it in the mirror:
1. Remember something that you once found wildly
hilarious.
2. Start laughing. Don’t worry if you have to fake it a little
at first.
3. Let your laughter become loud and boisterous.
4. Form an exaggerated smile on your face, now thinking of
something that makes you happy.
5. Slowly let the smile go from exaggerated to natural, but
beaming.
6. Scan your face. Form a memory of what this feels like.
Believe me when I tell you that you’re going to know what
your winning smile feels like when you see it. The trick is to
smile with your whole face, especially your eyes.
Affirmations
Let’s face it: If you don’t
have high self-esteem, no amount of telling yourself how
great you are is going to change that.
What will change that is crafting the right kind of
affirmation. That can be telling yourself something positive
about yourself that you actually believe. It can also be a
reminder of why you need to do something — what’s in it for
you.
Questions often work better in this regard. Rather than
telling yourself to do something like a drill sergeant, ask
yourself what the reward of doing something is.
Now you know how to raise self esteem, you just have to
start practicing.

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