Self-esteem refers to the liking for self. This love refers to both outward as well as inward. This includes your perception and your belief. Believing in oneself is a way of building high self-esteem. The feeling of positive self-pride comes when you do something good, like scoring highest in the class, winning a competition, etc. But how do you feel when you fail at something? For example, not reaching your goal weight. At that moment you feel like running away, hiding, or wishing you were someone else. This is a sign of negative or low self-esteem. If this trait becomes dominant, then the individual starts losing confidence, then everything seems to be drifting away. Teenagers, due to various changes, as well as peer pressure, are even more susceptible to this. So, to avoid this or to regain the lost self-esteem, here are a few activities to perform. But before moving on to these, let us first have a look at three important tips. Things to Keep in Mind Teenage is the time when lots of confusions and doubts prevail in the mind. The development of the personality at this age, mostly decides the way of life in the future. So, it becomes very important to start giving importance to the self as well. Here are three tips that will help teens to love themselves. » Appearance As we know, there are many pressures during one's teenage years, one of them being one's appearance. Self-image has an important role in building confidence, as it directly affects the studies, social status, and many other things. By paying attention on the looks, one can conquer the feeling of insecurity and hence, get over those feelings. » Peers Your peers can be a source of happiness and anxiety as well. If the peers are cooperative and helpful, then one might develop in a positive way. However, if the friend circle is manipulative, then it might affect you negatively. So, one should not allow the negative forces overpower the self. » Parents Parents never have bad intentions for their kids, but sometimes even good intention can have an adverse effect on the child. This is mostly seen in cases when parents expect too much from their child. This expectation leads to over-burdening the child, and does not give ample space for his self-esteem to grow. So, parents should not thrust their dreams, and should rather be cooperative with the child. What You Can Do Here are some activities designed for teenagers who are undergoing a lot of pressure either because of studies, parents, peers, etc. » Pleasure List It is a kind of worksheet where you have to list the things, like places, activities and people whose thought makes you feel good. So, whenever you feel low or sad, just take out the list and read it. This will divert your mind and make you feel happy. Answer the following questions while preparing your pleasure list.

• People who make me feel happy.
• Places I love visiting the most, or places that I would like to visit.
• Things that I love doing.
• Things that make me feel good.

» Toot Your Horn This is also a worksheet to identify the things that make you feel good and hence, helps in building your confidence. This activity creates a way for the brain to think about oneself, and strengthens the confidence. Whenever you feel low, read this sheet to get personal power. Answer the following thing in the worksheet.

• I like ... in myself.
• I am excellent at ...
• Things that makes me feel happy are ...
• My friends like ... in me.

Apart from these activities, team building activities are also a good way to build your self-esteem. There are several ways to get over negative feelings, because everyone needs self-affirmation to develop confidence and faith in self.