Self-esteem is your ability to believe in yourself and self-worth. You may be curious to see if you have low self-esteem. If you do, it is okay, you are not alone. Exploring this topic may seem intimidating, but it is the first step to becoming a happier, more authentic version of yourself.

1. You refuse to accept complements.

As a person who has low self-esteem, I find myself never accepting compliments from anyone. Not even from my loved ones. A person that has low self esteem refuses to accept complements because they do not believe they deserve them. Every time someone gives you a compliment such as, “Wow, you are so smart!” And your response is usually along the lines of “No, you are!” or “I’m not that smart” may indicate that you cannot accept that person’s perspective of you because you already have a negative perspective of yourself already. This indicates low self-esteem.

2. You automatically label yourself

When you make a mistake or are feel imperfect in some way do you automatically label yourself? If you make a mistake do you “Wow I am such an idiot, I can never do anything right.” That is a sign you are labeling yourself because you truly believe you are that label and always will be.

3. Feeling unloved and unwanted

Feeling unloved and unwanted can definitely bring down your low self esteem. Humans are social creatures. We all crave interaction with others. If you are not feeling connected to your loved ones or feel like you don’t have a purpose, this can be a sign of low self esteem.

4. Inability to tolerate day to day frustrations

People with low self esteem are unable to handle day to day frustrations that happen in life because they do not believe they have the capability to do so. So when something goes wrong, they may panic because they think they cannot handle it.

5. Hyperaware of others

When I say this it can include sensitivity criticism and constantly comparing yourself to other people. When someone criticizes you, even if it constructive, you may take the critique very personally and are unable to understand the true intentions of the person’s comment. Criticism from strangers to loved ones make you feel the same, attacked and belittled. This may stem from the inability to believe in yourself and your skills, so everything you hear from others are blows to your self esteem.

I have low self esteem and I can only recall a few instances in my life when I felt happy with who I am.  Keep trying. And remember you are not alone! I like to journal when I feeling those negative thoughts about myself. This website right here will also has some great self reflection worksheets regarding self esteem and learning about oneself. The more we learn about ourselves, we can grow into the people we want to be!