Quote: (09-07-2014 04:43 PM)Checkmat Wrote:
My question is, how do you actually program or RE-program yourself to have these beliefs?
I was looking up affirmations just now (repeating phrases over and over again to yourself, ie "I am a lovable person", or "I accept myself completely as I am") and this study came up: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/med...9/wood.cfm
"As it turned out, the individuals with low self-esteem felt worse after repeating the positive self-statement compared to another low self-esteem group who did not repeat the self-statement. The individuals with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive self-statement--but only slightly."
If affirmations won't work on people who already have low self-esteem then what practical things can somebody do to change their beliefs?
To change the way you see yourself you need to get results. Success leads to success. Accomplish things that will make you proud of yourself. Do what you've always been afraid to do, and that's it, you have broken the cycle, you can build on that.
Personnaly, I started by quitting smoking. I was a heavy smoker (two packs a day) but i managed to quit by going cold turkey (and with the help of the Allen Carr method). That made me proud, it triggered something in me ; I came to think that I could accomplish thongs if I wanted to. Then I lost a lot of weight, began to workout regularly, learned nutrition and acquired some cooking skills...
Imo, you need to find your trigger, the thing that will make you feel good about yourself. You can't fake it though, it has to be real to work.