An illustrated self help guide: Enhance your self esteem with TFT (and a few other tricks)

...but it is easier said than done and most of us could use a little help to get better at it.

There is this small (or loud) judging voice in our minds, reminding us of our faults and mistakes and telling us that we are not good enough. Sometimes we notice the voice and we are able to talk back and take action, which is what the "famous failures" did (watch the video). At other times we barely notice the voice, probably because it is a reinforcement of a well established belief in the subconscious mind. The reinforcement works in mysterious ways creating various symptoms depending on our individual mind and experience from life. When we think of ourselves as failures or not good enough, for most of us the result is doubt. Doubt about being loved or being lovable. These doubts penetrates our thoughts and behaviour and doubt inhibits making choices, which again inhibits action. Doubting thoughts gives birth to a range of emotional limitations like shame, shyness, feeling ugly, feeling ridiculed to anxiety and anger - just to mention a few. These emotions then provokes the "judge" to set us up and we compensate through unloving and strange behaviours like eating unhealthy foods, drinking too much alcohol or simply thinking so many negative thoughts about one self that we literally "get sick of it".

When we feel good our energy system as well as our body, mind and spirit is strengthened. We can all change the perception of ourselves by using fairly simple techniques. As a metaphor, imagine fixing your computer...

Dissolve energetic disturbances - run a "scan disk" of body, mind and spirit: Use the Thought Field Therapy guide below while thinking of the emotion which arises from the judge's words. You can read more about Thought Field Therapy on this hubpage.

Stop "The Judge" - run an anti-virus program of your mind: Whenever the judge speaks, stop the train of thought. Do not argue with the voice. Simply silence it. By practising and with patience and persistence it is possible to dissolve it. Check out the Louise Hay video for inspiration.

Positive commenting - install new cool software : Be aware of your beliefs about yourself and about others too. What you think of others is a reflection of yourself; all your judgemental thoughts represent a part of you that you either don't like, or someone you once were, or is afraid of becoming. Changing a belief takes practise. A good place to begin is by reversing the negative belief. So if my belief is "I am not good enough at writing English to get started on Hubpages", the reverse would be: "I am good enough to write in English at Hubpages". Principles on creating affirmations deserves a hubpage of its own (which is in the pipeline). And there are many terrific books on the subject. A great place to start is with Florence Scovell Shin's complete writings. See the video for a taste of her affirmations.

See yourself differently - change the graphic card: Perhaps you have heard of successful sports people enhancing their performance by envisaging themselves winning rather than training extremely hard. You can use this technique to enhance your self esteem. Take a few moments every day to close your eyes and imagine yourself filled with love. Love for you and love for others. Leave everything else out of your thoughts, just keep returning to love whenever anything else turns up.

Please prepare yourself by reading the full instructions before you start.

Step 1 Have pen and paper within reach. Think about your self confidence. Rate the level on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is high self esteem and confidence and 10 is the lowest possible. Note the number on a piece of paper.

Step 2 While thinking of your level of self worth and feeling any unwanted emotions, take two fingers and start tapping as outlined below. It makes no difference which hand you use or which side of the body you treat.

Step 3 Tap the PR spot which is located where you would hit if you were to do a karate chop with the side of your hand. (No. 1 on the image). Tap 5-10 times.

Step 4 Tap the beginning of your eyebrow 5-10 times (No. 2 on the image).

Step 5 Tap 5-10 times under your eye on the top of your cheek bone (No. 3 on the image).

Step 6 Tap 5-10 times under your arm approximately a hand's breadth below the arm pit. (No. 4 on the image).

Step 7 Tap 5-10 times under your collarbone approximately 1.5" from the center of your body. (No. 5 on the image).

Step 8 Tap 5-10 times on the index finger at the corner where the nail meets the skin (No. 6 on the image).

Step 9 Tap 5-10 times under your collarbone approximately 1.5" from the center of your body. (No. 5 on the image).

Step 10 Tap 5-10 times under your nose. (No. 7 on the image).

Step 11 Tap 5-10 times on your chin. (No. 8 on the image).

Step 12 The Nine Gamut series. Keep your head perfectly still throughout the Series and gaze straight ahead. Tap your Gamut point on the surface of your hand in the indent between your little finger and your ring finger (where Gamut is located on the image). Keep tapping as you proceed with the exercises outlined below. Tap 5-10 times per step.

1. Look straight ahead.
2. Close your eyes.
3. With your eyes only look down to the right.
4. With your eyes only look down to the left.
5. Roll your eyes around in a big circle.
6. Repeat rolling your eyes the opposite way around.
7. Hum a few tones with your mouth closed.
8. Count aloud to five. Remember to tap all the time.
9. Hum again.

Step 13 Repeat step 4-11 tapping the beginning of your eyebrow (No. 2), under your eye (No. 3), under your arm (No.4), under your collarbone (No. 5.), index finger (No.6), under your collarbone (No. 7), under your nose (No. 8) and on your chin (No. 9).

Step 14 Reconnect to your unwanted feeling and rate the level on the scale from 1 to 10. If the discomfort is at 2 or lower; Continue to Step 15. If the discomfort is unchanged or if it has not decreased by at least 2 points on the scale; Repeat the procedure from the beginning. If going through the procedure several times isn't helping, I would advise you to seek further help.

Step 15 Final step is finishing the treatment with the eye-roll exercise. Hold your head perfectly still and start tapping the Gamut point on the surface of your hand as indicated on the image. Keep tapping and while keeping your head still, let your eyes roll in slow motion from the floor all the way to the ceiling (at least for 6 seconds).

Congratulations! You finished the TFT self help tool for enhancing your self confidence.

Thought Field Therapy (TFT) supports medical and psychological treatment and is not intended to replace medical treatment.

Being aware of your jeopardizing thoughts and consciously releasing them is obviously vital for loving your "self" and taking the next step forward and into well-being.

♥ Catherina

Take a look at this inspirational video showing a man who was determined to play guitar. He just had one problem: no arms!