Yeah, in comparison to their population, their country's land mass is too small

How people relate with us and judge us often comes down to one concept: are we able to meet the expectations they have?

Our customers or bosses determine what work they’ll trust us with based on how well we meet their expectations. Even friends decide if they want to invest in a relationship with us based on expectation and fulfillment. For example, if you’re meeting someone for the first time and arrive 30 minutes late without notice, the person you meet is unlikely to want to grow the relationship. Alternatively, if you promise a customer that you’ll finish a project in three weeks but finish on budget within a week, they are likely to return. Whether it’s a friend or colleague, everyone around us creates opinions of us based on whether we are reliable or interesting as they expected us to be.

It might sound simple but meeting expectations on time, every time, has become one of the most difficult skills to master. That’s because we have dozens of expectations – and often, we don’t even know what they are.

But how can we learn to master expectations? To mater expectations, understand them. Expectations can be defined as ‘a collection of beliefs about what the future holds’. They come in three forms:

1. Relationships. Someone expects something of you as a friend, neighbor, or a relative. For example, if you are taking care of a friend’s dog, you are expected to feed the dog.

2. Business. A customer or boss expects you to accomplish something by a specific time, or at a specific level of quality. For example, you must meet a sales quota by the end of the quarter to satisfy your boss’s expectations.

3. Your own mind. You expect something of yourself by a specific time. For example, you expect yourself to be financially independent by age 30.

Expectations also come in various levels of formality. At the lowest level, there are expectations built into any relationship. Society defines what it means to be a friend, a sibling, or a lover, and to reject these norms often means fighting an uphill battle.

At the next level, there are informal (often verbal) commitments that you make to friends and colleagues. At the highest level, there are formal expectations put in writing with customers and creditors.

To get better at understanding expectations, we must catalog our expectations regularly. Many people catalog their expectations in lists, but miss critical items. Here are three ways to capture expectations completely:

1. Catalog throughout the day. Carry a paper with you and write down everything that is expected of you as you pass through the day. Making a habit of writing down expectations in context will make you less likely to miss something.

2. Mind map using a whiteboard. Adding a structure or a pattern to the way you produce ideas can significantly improve thinking. A whiteboard is an effective visual tool for drawing expectations. Start with a center circle that says me and branch out with family, friends, investments, health and learning. Then, in each branching idea, you can start to write specific expectations in that context.


3. Contact people who have expectations. Inherent in every expectation is a person who is expecting something to happen. Make a list of the most important people in your life and call them regularly to discuss expectations.

Once cataloged, meeting expectations is a process that can be improved. Here are some ways to improve:

1. Understand each expectation. The first step to meeting an expectation is understanding that expectation. Communicate with the person who has the expectation until you have a level of clarity and can write it down. Having a written expectation will enable you to focus your efforts and outsource some of the work.

2. Organize your time. The most common reasons for missing expectations is lack of time. The best way to maximize time is organizing it. Time can be organized linearly and in blocks. First, organize linearly, using the start and end dates to create a timeline of what needs to get done. Second, block out specific sections of the day to accomplish specific tasks. Treat the blocks as scheduled meetings and don’t allow interruptions.

3. Ask for help early. Two common mistakes are being afraid to ask for help or using Google as a cure-for-all. The best path to answer a question is to ask someone who has done it before. They will be able to explain things better and faster than Google searches. Also, you should ask for help as soon as possible. Although you could find a solution yourself, it is faster to ask someone else.

4. Get the right team in place. Having the wrong team or wrong person on a team is like having a disease. They infect others and make it difficult to get anything done. It is critical to hire slowly and fire quickly. Too many people hold on to bad teams or don’t spend enough time getting people on board. It is better to not have enough excellent people than too much terrible people.

5. Spend resources wisely. It is tempting to use money and resources quickly when they are available. Instead, think of every resources as a meal you have left on a deserted island. You will eventually run out if you don’t use it wisely before escaping or producing more food.

Putting this steps together will help you meet expectations on time, every time.

...

...

Souqwaqif:
Thanks brother for the good work, some will just read and go away rather than appreciating those who can contribute to humanity. Thanks once again.

It's a pleasure. Thanks for reading!

There are traumas that, due to their severity, require psychiatric interventions. Others, not so extreme in their consequences, tend to be barriers to leading a normal life. For these, the following pieces of advice are offered:

1. Accept the past and focus on the future. The past cannot be changed and it is futile to attempt to blame events and persons that have had an adverse influence. If you get stuck in the past, you will not be able to look at the future with the necessary trust.

2. Verbalize the traumatic event. Talking (or writing) about the event that produced the trauma in a relaxing and secure context is an extremely important step. Look for a person you can trust and confide what happened to you. It is also highly beneficial to get involved in group counselling. This entails people who went through the same experience.

3. Look for the positive side. Disasters and calamities tend to draw survivors, families and communities together. Be thankful for the human togetherness caused by misfortune.

4. Resort to forgiveness and reconciliation. Although difficult, it is possible to avoid holding grudges or resentment towards those who produced the trauma. This is an important step for the resolution of the past. It is not only applicable to others, but to oneself as well: self-forgiveness and self-reconciliation.

But forgiveness does not always come easily, as our capacity to love (and forgiving is loving) is limited. Appeal to the source of forgiveness, a God of love who – according to the gospel – longs to make us his friends and can help us to overcome the incapacitating past.

izito:
thank you for this piece

You are welcome!

...

Try the following tips:

1. Seek sufficient social support: Depression is not very common amid circles where there exist strong relational ties – marriage, family, work, friends. It is, therefore, necessary to attain a happy family, be surrounded by good friends, and have a good professional environment, as all these are preventive measures against depression.

2. Keep active: It is amazing how a low mood can vary so quickly when one gets busy with some activity. To avoid depression, become active.

It may seem difficult to go and visit a relative or run some errands, but only at the beginning. Once you start the activity, it will be easy to continue. Put your hands to work on tasks you enjoy and that are productive and edifying: tidy up your room, repair something at work, and make a few phone calls to show care for others.

If you can, practice a sport or aerobic exercise. Exercising is a source of health and good mood.

3. Think correctly: Depending on how people focus on either the dark or the bright side of things, they have more or less proneness to depression.

Thinking is like any other habit and must be cultivated in order to avoid negative analysis of situations.

4. Look sanely at the past: The past may be a source of depression but also the cause of emotional well-being. Instead of focusing on past adversities, enjoy thinking of happy events and stages.

If there is a past trauma (sexual abuse, natural disaster, etc.), consult a psychologist or psychiatrist instead of falling into negativism and irresponsibility.

...

Be Original and Unique

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before… Let’s face it. Following the crowd is easy. Doing what everyone else is doing doesn’t hardly take any effort. Being the same as the people in the crowd prevents you from sticking out. You’re not ridiculed if you are a cookie cutter person. That means being true to yourself, your values and originality is tougher than just going with the flow of the crowd.

So why should you want to be an original and be unique? You are being true to yourself. Not fighting yourself is an ultimate advantage in being true to your originality and uniqueness. You will come up with more fresh ideas and new perspectives on old ideas. Basically, your creativity increases. Learning to navigate with your differences gives you more confidence and self-esteem. People will view you as a person with something interesting to say. You are more apt to try things and expand your world thus making you more interesting and influential. You will also be happier.

The bottom line on being original boils down to one thing. You were born original with a unique set of characteristics, traits, talents and skills. If you go with the flow of the crowd, you will never be who you were born to be… You will be a copy. The same old thing as everyone else. Where’s the excitement in being the same old thing as everyone else? Do you just want to be a copy?

Stepping outside the regular boundaries in order to be unique is not always easy. People may think you are weird and avoid you. It will be harder for people to relate to you, your actions and ideas. Most people won’t agree with you. You may be ridiculed or persecuted. You may spend more time alone and thus find yourself lonely more often than others. But even though there are some big reasons to not be an original and to just follow the crowd, the positives outweighs the negatives in being original.

Think about it. If you’re not going to be you, who will? No one. Your uniqueness won’t ever be known or add to the value of the environment, community and world. That’s sad. Actually, that’s really a waste. So, don’t be anyone else. Be YOU. YES! YOU.

Unlike conventional intelligence, which possesses a strong innate component, emotional intelligence is susceptible to great changes and improvements. The following are tips that cover the different areas for the development of emotional intelligence. Try them and observe whether they cause changes in your life.

1. Know your emotions: You need to start observing your emotions. How do you feel, what type of thoughts go through your mind, how do various events affect you? Write down in a notebook the feelings and emotions you experience: upset, nervous, mistrusting, self-assured, apprehensive, generous, etc. Write down their duration and the internal and external experiences that make changes possible.

2. Learn to control your emotions: Flee from sorrow and make the decision to improve your mood. If you become anxious about the future, learn to change your thinking theme or do something to distract yourself. If you tend to lose your temper, practice ways to speak in a calm manner, breathe deeply and think of something funny. If these things do not work, get out for a moment, to allow the situation to cool down, and return once you are calmed down. If you feel inferior, think of your achievements and your strengths. Whenever you are irritated, encourage yourself: ‘John, relax… The key will appear… and if they don’t, there will be a solution.’

3. Practice self-motivation: Lack of motivation freezes situations. The lack of an attractive aim or goal disorients and achievement is affected. Reject discouraging and depressive thoughts. Practice self-confidence and perseverance. Cultivate the delight for simple and ordinary things.

Learn to enjoy what may not be attractive in the beginning, especially if it is something you must go through. Exercise discipline. Be realistic in your expectations; do not set up goals that are too ambitious or not ambitious enough.

4. Identify other people’s emotions: Practice this very important skill, as it is the origin of empathy. Observe non-verbal messages in others: their tone of voice, facial gestures and appearance. Make every effort to feel like the other person. This is not only useful to attain compassion and understanding, but also to reach appropriate agreements, diplomacy and successful mediations.

5. Nourish your relationships: Make every effort to live together in peace and harmony with people. Join hands with others in their projects and avoid clashes. Be happy, kind, nice, and use words of approval. Be courteous, and willing to help any person. Do not consider yourself superior to others in your attitude or words.

Practice the following social arts in your relationship:

a) Try to give a touch of organization to the group.

b) If there is conflict, offer yourself as mediator, peacemaker or negotiator.

c) Connect with people and make them feel good.

d) Recognize and respect their feelings and interests.

e) Sense and identify the feelings and motives of others.

f) Accept the other person, even though her/his ideas are contrary to yours.

Avoid the following practices in your relationships:

a) Continue with a conversation when the other person has sent signals to finish.

b) Speak repeatedly to yourself.

c) Insist on discussing a topic that your opponent shuns.

d) Ask indiscrete questions.

e) Openly and directly oppose the other person’s ideas.

f) Any form of provocations.

Learn to Identify and Solve Problems

To be a person of value, you have to become genuinely interested in people enough to solve their problems. You see, problem solving itself is at the core of human evolution. It is the methods we use to understand what is happening in our environment, identify things we want to change and then figure out the things that need to be done to create the desired outcome. Problem solving is the source of all new inventions, social and cultural evolution, and the basis for market based economies. It is the basis for continuous improvement, communication and learning.

If this problem-solving thing is so important to daily life, what is it? Problem-solving is the process of observing what is going on in your environment; identifying things that could be changed or improved; diagnosing why the current state is the way it is and the factors and forces that influence it; developing approaches and alternatives to influence change; making decisions about which alternative to select; taking action to implement the changes; and observing impact of those actions in the environment.

Each step in the problem-solving process employs skills and methods that contribute to the overall effectiveness of influencing change and determine the level of problem complexity that can be addressed. Humans learn how to solve simple problems from a very early age (learning to eat, make coordinated movements and communicate) – and as a person goes through life problem-solving skills are refined, matured and become more sophisticated (enabling them to solve more difficult problems). Problem-solving is important both to individuals and organizations because it enables us to exert control over our environment.

1. Fixing things that are broken: Some things wear out and break over time, others are flawed from day-1. Personal and business environments are full of things, activities, interactions and processes that are broken or not operating in the way they are desired to work. Problem-solving gives us a mechanism for identifying these things, figuring out why they are broken and determining a course of action to fix them.

2. Addressing risk: Humans have learned to identify trends and developed an awareness of cause-and-effect relationships in their environment. These skills not only enable us to fix things when they break but also anticipate what may happen in the future (based on past-experience and current events). Problem-solving can be applied to the anticipated future events and used to enable action in the present to influence the likelihood of the event occurring and/or alter the impact if the event does occur.

3. Improving performance: Individuals and organizations do not exist in isolation in the environment. There is a complex and ever-changing web of relationships that exist and as a result, the actions of one person will often have either a direct impact on others or an indirect impact by changing the environment dynamics. These interdependencies enable humans to work together to solve more complex problems but they also create a force that requires everyone to continuously improve performance to adapt to improvements by others. Problem-solving helps us understand relationships and implement the changes and improvements needed to compete and survive in a continually changing environment.

4. Seizing opportunity: Problem solving isn’t just about responding to (and fixing) the environment that exists today. It is also about innovating, creating new things and changing the environment to be more desirable. Problem-solving enables us to identify and exploit opportunities in the environment and exert (some level of) control over the future.

Problem solving skills and the problem-solving process are a critical part of daily life both as individuals and organizations. Developing and refining these skills through training, practice and learning can provide the ability to solve problems more effectively and over time address problems with a greater degree of complexity and difficulty. And also, the more people you help solve their problems, the more valuable and influential you become.

...

Embrace Self-Development

Embracing a lifelong pursuit of self-development is the only path to accelerating your growth and actualizing your potential as a human being. The extent to which you are able to add value and influence others depends on the extent to which you have developed yourself. But here's where things get tricky.

Some people love the idea of self-development and become so obsessed with learning that they never take action. They fall into a self-development trap, where they read a book, listen to a podcast, or watch a YouTube video, and think that they have found the solutions to life’s problems.

Yes, there is value in doing these things, but knowing is not enough. Doing is where the magic lies. I believe that real self-development in life doesn’t occur until you step outside your comfort zone and implement what it is that you have learned. In the words of Abraham Maslow, “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” Which option will you choose?

Unfortunately, most people don't want to grow because growth is uncomfortable. I hate to say it, but the only time that you are actually growing is when you are uncomfortable. A comfort zone feels good, but nothing exciting ever happens there. When you commit to self-development, and learn how to embrace the discomforts of life, you enter into a whole other world of possibilities.

Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo, psychologist and author of Better Than Perfect, says that, “People who regularly seek out fresh experiences tend to be more creative and emotionally resilient than those who remain stuck in routine.”

Don’t avoid difficult things. Rather, push your limits and stretch yourself whenever you can. Your level of value will seldom exceed your level of personal development, because value is something you attract by the person you become.

Iniomor:
Looking for a job? Want to change careers? Do you reside in Edo State and environs? Upload your CV and get connected to your dream job!

Follow the link https://interarcconsultants.com.ng/upload-resume/

Bros please, I beg of you. Stop spamming this thread. That is not the purpose of the thread.

If you want to display such informations, simply create a thread for that purpose. But please, stop posting them here. Thanks!

Being happy and enjoying life joyfully and optimistically is a desirable aim and happens through personal initiative, not by chance.

Twenty-five-year-old Kate considered herself unlucky in almost everything. But she became friends with a peer from work who had the ability to see things in a positive way. This influenced her life. Kate’s attitude changed through her learning new behaviors, as explained below:

1. Exercise in positive thinking: Do not fall into the trap of focusing only on negative aspects, or your life will be bitter. Consider everything in general, but focus on the positive. Whenever you face a problem, apply the corresponding solutions and put it aside for a while. Then, retrieve pleasant memories from the past, such as people you admire, jolly friends, or a funny anecdote that may help draw a smile to your face. Think of these things while you perform routine tasks. This will help you displace adverse thoughts related to your problems.

2. Feel reasonably satisfied with yourself: Self-esteem is closely related to the ability to enjoy life. If you feel inferior, your behaviors will tend to mediocrity and low performance. Seeing the poor results will affirm your belief and, in the end, you will fail. Self-assurance is a good emotional habit that needs to be cultivated in order to obtain further achievements, to nourish self-esteem and to enjoy greater happiness and satisfaction.

3. Nourish good interpersonal relationships: The greatest satisfaction and happy experiences in life tend to be associated with other people. Likewise pain and displeasure come from interpersonal relationships.

In the absence of disagreements and difficulties, when relationships are excellent with your spouse, boss, partners, friends and neighbors, happiness and mental health seem to overflow. But when things go wrong with people, life turns bitter, and sadness, discouragement and uncertainty set in.

4. Look at the funny side of things: Add a pinch of humor to life’s difficulties. Laugh at the stressful situations in order to release tension.

A great barrier that prevent many from experiencing happiness is the tendency to ‘catastrophize’ or exaggerate problems. A sense of humor minimizes the importance of somber things and helps to adopt a more realistic and balanced perspective.

5. Do something to help others: It is a widely accepted fact among mental health professionals that altruism fights depressive symptoms and adds satisfaction and happiness to the lives of those practicing it.

Try to volunteer in an association to help the needy, teach classes in a marginal neighborhood or cooperate in an ecological project. Or perhaps, in a private manner, make plans to visit members of your family or old friends. Visit them to support them and give them the satisfaction of your being the one seeking their friendship and well-being.

6. Practice a healthy lifestyle: Those in good health tend to have a greater chance of experiencing happiness. When physical discomfort is present, it is difficult to enjoy mental well-being. Keeping healthy is a simple process, enjoyable and easy for everyone to attain:

a) Maintain a balanced diet including whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts. Avoid animal foods or use them moderately.

b) Drink plenty of water every day, especially outside of regular meals. Avoid the use of sugar drinks, beer and coffee. They only supply empty calories – no nutritional values.

c) Exercise regularly: Double your effort if you have a sedentary job. Practice a sport or an enjoyable, vigorous activity.

d) Adequate rest: Follows regular exercise. Keep to 7 – 8hours of sleep. It is absolutely necessary to preserve you physical and mental health.

e) Do not use psychoactive substances – drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc., as they affect the central nervous system and your mood. Although they may cause satisfaction in the beginning, they ruin good mood in the end.

7. Keep a hopeful attitude: One of the greatest secrets to happiness is to look at the future with hope. Reflect on the past and how problems were solved. Adopt the confidence that this time they will also be solved.

Dispel ideas of misfortune, and calamity from your mind. If you are a believer, trust in God and you will notice that a great burden is removed and you will start enjoying God-given blessings.

...

Find and Pursue Your Purpose and Passion

The great and influential men and women the world has ever known where those who discovered and pursued their purposes and were driven by their passions. When you are on a path of purpose, it is easier to add significant value to the lives of people. You will hardly be of any significant value to people or influence them when you don’t know where you are headed. Purpose ignites passion which keeps one motivated, inspired and focused. But, let’s start with the basics. Passion… what does that even mean?

We define passion as the thing that lights us up, makes us lose track of time, and leaves us yearning for more. If nothing popped into your mind about your passion when you read that definition, relax. In fact, most people have no idea what sets their soul on fire. Not a clue. It’s more normal to know what you don’t want than to know what you do. So, that should bring you some relief.

While it may seem discouraging to be in this place of confusion, we like to view it as an opportunity; an opportunity for exploration, investigation, and self-discovery. Okay, so we’re down for the passion quest… but, how do we find it? How do we even know what it is? And what do we do with it once we’ve uncovered it?

The first step is let Curiosity lead the way. You need to understand that the tricky thing about passion is that it simply cannot be found, it must be nurtured. And now, before we go any further, I will like you to understand what curiosity really means. It that strong desire to learn something new. That is, our curiosity is simply a yearning to explore. It is playful, excited, and there to direct us toward our soul’s true calling. Curiosity is the missing piece that leads us towards cultivating and nurturing our passion. Instead of getting caught up in trying to figure out our passions, let’s relax, kick our feet up, and follow our innate curiosities.

We all have gems of passion hidden within us, and it is our job to uncover them; we can use our curiosity to lead us there. With passion, there is pressure. But with curiosity, there is excitement. When curiosity leads we are free to roam, conquer, fail, and explore – at great lengths – anything and everything that calls to us.

Some day’s curiosity may seem more abundant than others. On the days that we find it lacking, we have the power to bring it back by simply engaging with ourselves. It’s time to pull out our journals and ask ourselves some simple questions to get our creative juices flowing; here are a few ideas to get us started: Where do I feel happiest? What is something new I’d like to try today? When did I last feel joyful? What idea keeps popping up in my head?

So as you can see, what matters is not that our passions are vitally important, or that they are completely serious, or that that make us tons of money, or that they even impact anyone else. What matters is that we follow them and that they make us happy, that’s it.

Coming soon.....

Thanks

...

Differentiate your self. Why are you different? What's important about you? You've got to visualize where you are headed and be very clear about it.

Everyone loves an overnight success story. Day by day we're inundated with tales of passionate individuals who find instant wealth, fame and success.

We buy into the glamour and often can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy when looking at companies that seem to have it all figured out. That truth, however, is that the easy overnight success is a myth. They're a carefully crafted narrative, which we conveniently buy into as a form of wish fulfilment.

Instead, the road to success is long, twisty, and fraught with hardship.

There comes a time in the life cycle of every Company when it looks as though failure is right around the corner.

Welcome to the "Valley of Death".

You see, when the going gets tough, it's very easy to call it a day and move on. After all, our society loves winners and rarely tolerates losers.

However, when the going gets tough, its important to remember that the overnight success we love to praise are simply the people who managed to navigate through the valley of death.

Trust in your abilities. If you are truly doing all that you can to improve and progress, then you will reach your goals!

Sometimes you will have to sacrifice your spare time and your sleep in order to follow your dreams. But don't worry, it will be worth it!

The purpose of this thread is to equip people with the necessary knowledge that's required for success, happiness and greatness.

...

There are many studies showing the positive effect of music upon various areas of health. These are a few examples. Music has been utilized in clinical settings in the following cases:

1. Pain reduction in geriatric patients with arthritis (McCaffrey, 2003): Participants in this study were administered a 20 – minutes musical session every day and they were compared to a control group exposed to environmental silence during the same time. The elderly people who had been under music condition attained 66% pain reduction according to themselves, and 50% reduction according to the researchers, as compared to the control group that experienced pain at the same level.

2. Stress treatment of elementary teachers (Cheek et al., 2003): A team of researchers carried out a comparison among teachers undergoing clinical psychological treatment for stress. Half of the group received psychotherapy accompanied by music. The other half received the same intervention but without music. The first group achieved stress reduction in a significant greater extent than the second group.

3. Control of anxious responses to coronary angiography (Campbell et al., 2003): This study was carried out at Kingston General Hospital (Ontario, Canada). Music was present before, during and after the performance of coronary angiography. The experiment confirmed the soothing effect of music against the anxiety and pain that normally go along with this procedure.

4. Treatment of migrane in children (Nickel et al., 2002): This study established the effectiveness of musicotherapy for the psychiatric treatment of children suffering from migrane. This was especially manifested in the case of outpatients.

5. Anxiety reduction and increase of well-being in children diagnosed with cancer (Barrera et al., 2002): The study took place in Toronto (Canada) hospital among children with cancer exhibiting hospital anxiety. Young patients were exposed to interactive musical parts. Their mood was assessed. Parents also evaluated the playful behavior of their children. Both evaluations showed the positive effect of music.

It is important to know how to develop self-esteem, as this improves one’s ability to be happy. Self-esteem development comes from two basic sources: persons we interact with and ourselves.

Messages from people close to us, even incidental comments and non-verbal indicators, constantly shape our self-esteem. Here are a few pieces of advice to enhance a balanced development of self-esteem in others:

1. Emphasis positive features in other: Words of approval for the correct actions of others can enhance self-esteem. Praise and congratulations (which must be true and well earned) do not only contribute to the self-esteem of the recipient, but also of the one who offers them.

2. Recognize the special needs of everyone: there are significant differences among people, especially between man and women. For example, men appreciate positive comment about their professional ability and their character traits, and they hope for demonstrations of respect.

On the other hand, women welcome demonstrations of affection and comments on their looks, tact, and sensitivity. Of course, there are always exceptions.

3. Do not joke with or mock the other person: Those inclined to low self-esteem suffer greatly when others tease them. Try to joke only with those who know how to take it.

4. Provide family support: Feeling loved and accepted by family members anchors one’s esteem and smooths out many self-concept deficiencies. Having children contributes (especially in women) to a favorable feeling leading to healthy self-esteem.

5. Ask for forgiveness when appropriate: If the opponent feels offended, his/her self-esteem will suffer.

Self-esteem may also be enhanced on a personal level. Try the following suggestions to help yourself develop self-esteem:

1. Keep fit and healthy: Sports and diet benefits health and makes you feel well with yourself.

2. Look at your strong and positive features: Do not forget your personal achievements and be aware of the areas that need improvement.

3. Be in control of your thoughts: Stop and reject self-depreciating mental messages. Think rationally of yourself.

4. Forgive yourself: Do not continuously blame yourself for the past mistakes or problems that you may have caused others, especially if you have already taken appropriate steps to resolve them.

5. Find support in your family: As seen before, good family relationships provide the ideal context in which to grow and develop a healthy self-esteem.

6. Choose your friends: Avoid those given to criticize others and make friends with those who are positive and affirming to their neighbors.

7. Revive your success: List your past achievements and reflect on them. Read your list often and review it once in a while.

8. Nourish the spiritual dimension: God cares for you. Even if everyone rejects you, God does not. The Bible calls those who accept God and his salvation ‘chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God’ (I peter 2:9).

Note: Although low self-esteem affects many people, an exaggerated concept of oneself is a danger that can become pathological. If you have the tendency to overestimate your abilities, decide to follow the advice of the apostle Paul: ‘Do not be arrogant’ (Rom 11:20).