Be loyal to yourself

When you’re loyal to yourself, your confidence increases, because there’s no better mood lifter than knowing you’re actively loving yourself.
Loyalty to self can manifest itself at work and in our relationships with family and friends, so I’ve come up with some suggestions related to these core areas, because that’s where most of us get blindsided because of the routine of life.
Remember what you want... and go after it
Think back to the start of the year. Make time. Give yourself the motivational pep talk to get up and go.
Stand by your principles
Each person’s belief system will vary, and it is in these differences that we find ourselves having to stand for what we believe in the most... things like morality, the way we treat people and vice versa, our work ethics, how we view God... and the list goes on.
At the end of the day, you’ll have to make many choices in life, and what will matter most is whether or not you’ll be able to live with the decisions you’ve made.

Remember who you are
This involves ‘cleaning up house’, and yep... you’ll have your work cut out for you. When we get bogged down with the daily stresses of life, we sometimes lose sight of who we are.
At some point, you’ll have to make up your mind to ‘take a five’. Remain loyal to your core needs and desires. Invest a little time reacquainting yourself with all your likes and dislikes, what you’re good at, or the dreams you once had for yourself.
In doing so, you’ll discover a renewed spirit for living, one that allows you to explore all those capabilities you had tucked away.
Be honest about your vice(s)
Behavior like violence or drunkenness, character traits such as lying or cheating, and low self-esteem problems are the direct results of not being honest with ourselves.
Sometimes our egos and laziness get in the way of progress, and then honesty becomes a low priority. We tell ourselves things like “one more cupcake isn’t gonna matter much”, or “she made me hit her”.

Unfortunately, many folks just want to escape from any difficulty, with the least amount of effort, when it comes to accountability and making changes.

Honesty takes work on a daily basis, and, with each vice you conquer, rest assured that your character will become better because of it.
Forgive yourself
Do you ever feel like kicking yourself in the butt because of some of the choices you’ve made? Like past or current relationships, a business deal ‘gone bad’ or things that you’ve said and then regretted later?
Instead of walking around with feelings of shame, guilt or depression because of the bad choices you’ve made, keep your vibrations high so that you’ll be able to navigate out of the situation in the fastest and best way possible.
Don’t be too hard on yourself either. If it were your friend, you’d probably say, “Take it easy; all you can really do now is learn from your mistake”. Right?
Every step you take towards becoming more loyal to yourself is like adding money to your bank account.

Each investment you make in your life will accumulate interest, and with time you’ll become stronger. Being loyal to yourself definitely has benefits, including living a more fulfilled and successful life.

Be with high self-esteem
Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself as a person. Those with high self-esteem believe that they are adequate, strong and worthy of a good life, while those with low self-esteem feel inadequate and worthless.
Low self-esteem can develop in childhood and continue throughout adulthood, causing great emotional pain. Therefore, it’s important to develop a healthy, positive sense of self.
Many people base their self-esteem on external factors, such as how much money they earn, how much they weigh and whether people like and appreciate them.
If one of these external variables change, self-esteem can be broadly affected. For example, if your self-esteem is based on the fact that someone else loves you, then you risk feeling extremely vulnerable and worthless if that person’s love ends.
By the same token, building self-esteem is not an easy task if you have been abused or have suffered years of personal or professional failure.

Building your self-esteem and creating a positive self- awareness comes from taking an inventory of your own strengths and abilities as a human being.

Being at peace with who you are and what you have to offer the world is a major part of having high self- esteem.
This “inner peace” does not mean that you are unaware of your weaknesses; it merely means that you accept who you are and genuinely like the person you have become.
You should think about yourself as deserving of attention, admiration and proper maintenance.
Avoid the pitfall of paying too much attention to the happiness and well-being of others and too little to your own.
Maintaining self-esteem involves becoming fully aware of your strengths and seeing challenges as opportunities to employ those strengths.
Low self-esteem is often linked to depression or anxiety. If your emotions feel overpowering or out of control, one way to build self-esteem around this issue is to learn to manage your mood and gain control over your feelings. Some people are able to do this with the help of friends and family.

Others need to work with a mental health professional to manage the problems that may lie beneath the surface of low self-esteem.
 If you struggle with low self-esteem, it is often helpful to connect with others with the same problem.

Co-Dependents Anonymous, a self-help group, can be helpful in building the skills necessary to believe in your own wishes, needs and feelings.
Other self-help groups may be located by talking with a mental health referral service or by asking a therapist or other health professional for a referral.
In addition, you can contact your local mental health center about individual and group therapy.
Other steps you can take to increase self-esteem include
looking at community bulletin boards and newspapers for opportunities to demonstrate your skills and abilities, working with others to change the things you don’t like about yourself and meditating twice a day to increase your awareness of the current moment and of the goodness of being alive.
Beginning the inner dialogue about who you are and what you have to offer the world is an important process in building self-esteem.
However, it is not unusual to have trouble defining your strengths and abilities. 

Sometimes it is helpful to talk to a therapist about this inner dialogue and about how you might come to the genuine feeling of being a good person who is worthy of the good things in life.
Talking to friends, family and colleagues can also be useful in further defining who you are and what you have to offer.
But remember that the most important conversation you have about self-esteem is with yourself. Become your own personal cheerleader.
Don’t be afraid to celebrate even your smallest successes.
Ask yourself what you fear, and search within yourself for ways you can cope with these worries and fears.
Learning to know and trusting yourself is a long but worthwhile process.
Throughout life you may need to search within yourself again and again to find your own empowerment and strength.