Just because you didn’t have self-esteem as a child, or even up until this moment, doesn’t mean you can never have it.
That is what is so exciting about the science of neuroplasticity, or what the Human Cognition Project calls the “science of our incredible, flexible brain”. According to their website, “Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to create neural pathways and reshape existing ones—even as an adult. Your brain makes these small changes naturally throughout your lifetime. But when neuroplasticity’s potential is thoughtfully and methodically explored, this physical reorganization can make your brain faster and more efficient at performing all manner of tasks–no matter how large or small they may be.” In other words, “the brain has the innate ability to physically change itself when faced with new, challenging experiences.”
This neuro-scientific evidence defies the idea that if you don’t have high self-esteem as a child, you can never have it. It defies the well-known cliché that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Very simply, this relatively new science establishes that the brain is adaptable. It means you can change your negative chatter to positive thoughts about yourself and that your brain will adjust to these new thoughts.
You can change the way you esteem yourself by changing your negative thoughts about yourself to positive ones. As these new positive pathways are strengthened with continued positive thoughts, the positive thought pathways override the negative thought pathways. When the negative thought pathways are no longer being used, they shrink and lose their power. You have created a new default in your brain that is positive!
This new information provides evidence that anyone can attain self-esteem at any time in life by simply changing the way they think about themselves! How exciting! You can gain ownership of your self-esteem as an adult and even as a senior adult. It is doable. It is attainable.
