Reaching your full potential is dependent on the creation and maintenance of a healthy self-image. It’s not possible to be highly successful if you don’t believe in yourself. The way you view yourself is either uplifting or a hindrance. Regardless of your childhood experiences, past failings, or current level of self-esteem, you can possess a healthy self-image.

Avoid underestimating the impact of your self-image on other areas of your life. To reach your full potential, you must respect yourself and believe you can do great things.

Add value to yourself, and your self-image will flourish:

1.     Overcome any limiting beliefs. Think about something you’d like to accomplish, but are unable to do because of a limiting belief. Make a list of how that belief is negatively impacting your life. Now, focus on how much your life would be enhanced if you were able to remove this belief from your life.

• Create five affirmations you can repeat to yourself throughout the day. The affirmations should be stated in the positive and address the new belief you’d like to install.

2.     Recognize the small victories. It’s not necessary to earn a million dollars or lose 50 pounds before you have the right to feel proud and excited. Any progress is worthy of recognizing. Large successes are the culmination of many smaller successes.

3.     Take full responsibility for your current situation. Is it your fault that your parents mistreated you or that your boss is a jerk? Of course not, but no one else is going to fix the situation. It’s all on you. When you take responsibility, you have control. Self-esteem is elusive when you believe you don’t have control over your life.

4.     Do something for others. It’s easy to feel selfish when all of your thoughts and activities are centered on yourself. Spend part of your time enhancing the lives of others. Demonstrate to yourself that you’re a good person.

5.     Take a step each day toward your ideal self. We all have a vision of the person we’d like to be. That ideal version of ourselves might seem too far away to even consider, but take a small step each day. Each small improvement will raise your self-image. Start today by listing all the qualities you’d like to have.

6.     Manage your self-talk. We all talk to ourselves. You’re not the only one! The greatest thing about this is that we can control what we say to ourselves. Is your self-talk positive or negative? Negative self-talk chips away at your feelings of self-worth. Be kind to yourself. Be encouraging, positive, and patient.

7.     Get started on the bigger projects in your life. Your self-image is damaged when you fail to control yourself. Big projects are intimidating. Focus on getting started. Take at least a few minutes each day to tackle the bigger goals in your life. Sustained progress is the key.

8.     Avoid comparing yourself to others. We all have different skills and talents. It’s unfair to compare yourself to other people. You’re doomed to be either too hard or too easy on yourself.

• Compare yourself to your past. Are you doing better than you were last month? When you can consistently answer “yes,” you’ll be well on your way to maximizing your self-image.

Begin to build a healthy self-image today. Regardless of your past or current impressions of yourself, you can learn to view yourself in a more positive light. A healthy self-image is the springboard to happiness and success. Focus on the small victories in your life and be proud of your progress. You deserve to be successful and happy.