What To Do When You Hate Yourself - 5 Tips

1. Do You Truly Hate Yourself?

Self-hate is a dark, black hole in our soul that can be easy to fall into, but difficult to get out of. Last week I wrote about some of the reasons why people hate themselves. I want to give you some things to do when you feel like you hate yourself and you say things like, "I hate myself, I'm no good, I'm so stupid, or I'm worthless."

The truth is you are NONE of those things. But it's easy to think you are, especially if you have been believing all these negative thoughts about yourself.

So, what do you do to climb out of the dark hole in your soul?

2. Decide what you want to change about yourself

Nobody can make you love you other than you! It's your responsibility to rearrange your thinking away from all the negative stuff you've been thinking and think more positive thoughts about yourself. It's often been said, "If I think better, I will act better. And if I act better, I will feel better."

Cody wrote: I've found that sometimes our greatest enemy is ourselves. And the way we think can hurt worse than any words. And when left with nothing but your own thoughts, and if those thoughts are negative, self-hate is born.

It takes a real effort to turn negative self-defeating thoughts into positive life-changing ones. But try it! And if you stick with it, you soon will see you're feeling better about yourself.

If you don't like something about yourself that you can actually change, start to do that today.

3. Figure out what you CAN change and do it!

IF you hate yourself, is there a specific thing that you hate? If you don't like something about yourself that you can actually change, start to do that today. Maybe you don't like your weight you can start eating properly and getting exercise TODAY! Get involved with a sport or a favorite hobby. You'll be amazed by how good it makes you feel to take care of yourself.

Don't obsess over what you think are your flaws. Work on what you can change and ask God to help you accept the rest. Create the healthy life you desire (and deserve!) some people get trapped living miserable lives, not realizing they have the ability to change their situation. Don't get stuck in that trap!

4. Build up your self-esteem by making a list of your 10 best qualities:

Can't think of 10? There are more than you think but try starting with one. For example, I am a loyal friend or I care about others, or I am in touch with how I feel, or I have a lot to offer my friends, or I am a good listener, etc.

Find out what your friends and family value about you. You might be surprised to find out what the people who love you see in you! As you begin to dwell on the good things you offer, your confidence will grow.

Others will take note of it because you will have made yourself more attractive.

Betsy wrote: Since I stood up for something, people started to respect me and I was able to find confidence in myself. You can't please everyone, so focus on making yourself proud before you expect anyone else to be proud of you.
Each day, find something to do that makes you feel proud of yourself. Discover the things you love, try new things, go to new places. Make some short-term and long-term goals.

Decide that you will never say the words, "I Hate Myself" ever again. Those words are toxic. Why hate yourself? When in reality there is a lot in you worth loving.

5. Use gratitude as a weapon against self-hatred

You will find people who dwell on the positive things in their life...things for which they are grateful, are usually much happier than those who don't.

Negative thoughts, mixed with worry, make a person miserable to live with.

So, if you are tired of hearing the same old, negative thoughts, make a daily list of the things you are grateful for, and you'll be surprised at how quickly your attitude begins to change.

Challenge yourself to reflect each day for just a minute or two about what you feel grateful for that day...maybe it was delicious pancakes for breakfast, a smile from a friend, nice weather, could be something as simple as the color of the grass, or a good grade on a quiz. It doesn't have to be what you know you should be thankful for, but something that you actually feel grateful for.

Remember God loves you

The most powerful way to overcome self-hate is to focus on God's love. After all, if God loves you, and He does with all of your faults and hurts, it should make it easier for us to accept ourselves. Let God change what He wants to change, and you'll feel much better about your life.

God made you very unique. And it's this uniqueness that makes you special.

Please stop hating someone God loves so much. YOU!!

Angie wrote: It's very easy to find reasons to believe I am of no value to anyone, or to God. But I am of value because God loves me, even if no one else does.

As you start believing in yourself more, you'll have more good days than bad. It's easy to find the negative, so look for the positive in each situation. And most importantly, keep your faith in God this will help lead you to the happiness you seek. Please stop hating someone God loves so much. YOU!!

Don't stay in that place of self-hate, it's going to take time to change what you think about yourself but it's possible.  Check out one of my other blogs about self-hate: Why Do You Hate Yourself.

And check out this blog to start to begin to change this part of your life: 6 Steps To Change Your Life.

Dawson McAllister
Dawson McAllister, also known as America's youth pastor, was an author, radio host, speaker, and founder of TheHopeLine. McAllister attended Bethel College in Minnesota for undergraduate work where he graduated in 1968, began graduate studies at Talbot School of Theology in California, and received an honorary doctorate from Biola University.
Keep Reading
Start Your Hope Journey Now!
Step 1:  Choose a topic
Step 2: Explore our resources
Step 3: Chat with a hope coach

More Like This

Subscribe Now

We will not share your information and we will only send you stuff that matters!
Quick Links

432 comments on “What To Do When You Hate Yourself - 5 Tips”

  1. Love is the greatest, no matter what is going on in your life, everyone was created through love. Without love we would never have been on this planet in the first place. All problems are illusion of the mind. No matter how much you hates yourself you can not changed your uniqueness even when you die your inner soul lives on.

  2. "God made you very unique. And it’s this uniqueness that makes you special."- Wow, powerful words! Definitely agree, God loves us so much. And we need to love ourselves too. Its not always easy to do that because of the negative thoughts but if we have God in our lives. We can do everything. We can love ourselves. We can love everyone else. And we can be genuinely happy. Thanks for this!

  3. pointless and useless advice. if we were capable of just flicking a switch from hate to love we would have no problem. These feelings are so deep and have scared who we are so much recovery is not possible. The only hope for people like me is to present a facsimile of normality so I dont upset anyone even more then my existence already does. I am literally waiting from my parents to pass away so I can end this without causing any more misery to others.

    1. Oh no, you have not found the answer yet!! It is out there and available to everyone who wants it. The answer is Jesus, he can and will turn your world right side up. He did it for me ,and he is no respector of persons. If you will seek him with your whole heart, you will most definitely find him, and once you do, your life will never be the same. Find out who you are in Him. You will be amazed.

    2. I completely agree with you. People think its so eash to just decide to feel differently. I know exactly how you feel. If you ever need someone to talk to, I am here.

    3. That is painfully relatable. These tips are good for people in a temporary rut, but for people with chronic mental disorders it can take more than this. Please don’t hurt yourself. I relate to how you feel and am here if you would like to talk.

    4. You’re right, a lot of this information is not helpful. And while I believe in Jesus, church or prayer or bible reading is NOT the answer to this, I’ve been in the depths of despair and wanted to kill myself, I’ve harmed myself, I’ve hated myself. But right now I am in a much better place and I’m so glad I stuck through it and got the help I deserved. Depression lies to you and plays tricks on your brain! Please don’t let the thoughts win, seek help with a psychologist or therapist! Mental illness is treatable just like any other illness is. Even if you don’t love yourself enough to care, I love you enough. I care. Please seek out help, it’s so worth it!

    5. we love u, nothing is permanent.
      roses are red,
      violets are blue,
      this isn't the end
      people love you
      from rosie lydia and georgia xoxo

  4. I can't even stand looking at myself and all of my failures. I hate who I am and that's probably why I have no friends. Sometimes I just feel like I'll never be good enough, for my parents or anyone who I love. I often search for inspiration and motivation, but it just never helps... My heart is broken and my life is a mess. There are so many things I have to achieve and do that I'm just sick of it... I hate being myself 🙁

    1. Oh honey, have I got good news for you!! Jesus is waiting for you with arms wide open, ready to embrace you, and shower you with more love than you could ever imagine. All he is waiting for is you. He wants you to call on him, today. Do not wait another second. He loves you more than you can possibly realize. I urge you to call out to him with your whole heart, mind, strength and body, you will never be sorry. He will turn your life around, trust him, seek him, you will not go away hungry or thirsty, he is the fountain that never runs dry. I am so happy that I finally followed his leading to come here, now I see why, you were waiting to hear the good news, I am so sorry that I hesitated, forgive me Lord. I love you and God loves you more!!

      1. If god loves us then why do we feel like this. There is no point in loving god when we can’t even love ourselves. How do we even know god is real? It’s nit like we can vent to him about our feelings and ask him to help us. It’s all false hope that will never happen

    2. I think the best we can do is try to be there for others that feel like us. Just know that even though you feel alone, there are a lot of us that feel that way. Feel free to hit me up whenever you need someone.

  5. I really hate myself these days, and this is only because I started to have a lot of facial hair and I feel so insecure. It is hard to leave my house, I just feel like sleeping all the time so I dont have to look at my face. The problem is that my facial hair is not that dark so I might not be able to remove it with laser and I dont even have money for it. I have a lot of hair even in my stomach area and hands and for a woman I think it is pretty dark. I just cant live with this body, waiting for my next life

    1. Sara, We want you to know that you are beautiful just the way you are however we understand that you are feeling uncomfortable. Would you be open to signing up for an email mentor to help you through the issues you are having? It would be a woman that you can email back and forth with for as long as you like. You can talk about anything to them and they will listen, encourage and help you. To sign up for a mentor go to https://www.thehopeline.com/emailmentors/

    2. There has to be a way to deal with this, have you tried bleaching the facial hair? or talking to your dr about solutions? or researching it online for solutions? or trying the library for ideas? I really believe you can overcome this!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

POST COMMENTS

Tired of The Problem?  Try the Solution.

Privacy Policy / Terms of Use
© 2024 TheHopeLine, Inc. Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 20-1198064
© 2021 core.oxyninja.com. Powered by OxyNinja Core
magnifiercrosschevron-down