If you find yourself feeling like a failure, inadequate or unsuccessful in life, then it’s time for a perspective change and a positivity boost. I hate to be an inspirational Facebook post, but it’s never too late to turn things around and start feeling like you’re a winner. Although a total change in cognition and self-esteem can take some time, there are a few things you can do to jump-start this change:

Pick Up a Hobby

It’s important to invest time into doing things solely because we intrinsically want to. Finding a hobby (preferably one that you’re good at, or have done in the past) can do wonders for your self-esteem, mental health, and stress levels. Life can’t be all work, finding some sort of emotional or stress relief is important for our wellbeing. So much so the most successful people in the world are known for their quirky and interesting hobbies. 

What’s Really the Problem

Feeling like a failure is stemmed from much deeper issues. Every person has a few character traits- laziness, controlling, narcissism, etc- that bring in negativity and problems. It’s important to reflect and analyze your life to discover what your tendencies are. Self-sabotaging behavior is often caused by unsettles problems that live inside us. A true way to stop feeling like a failure is to mend these problems so that they don’t resurface in your life. Self-reflection and analyzing your problems can help you identify your self sabotaging tendencies so that you can move forward. 

Build Your Own Motivation and Self-esteem

There are plentiful resources online that can help you manifest motivation and self-love. This is so important because being in a state of feeling like a failure throws your self-esteem and motivation in a pit. This world seems to beat us down to a pulp, so it’s important to intentionally bring yourself up- unapologetically. And if you identify as a failure then you’re in need of a serious lift. How are you supposed to pull yourself out of the failure-hole without out first believing that you can?

Practice Visualization

This is, in my opinion, one of the most important tools for success- visualizing yourself as a success. Our thoughts are so much more powerful than we think- every thought that enters that skull of yours has an effect on you and your mental and physical health, especially the bad ones. Creating a literal image of success and happiness is an essential step in achieving it. This can even be practiced on an everyday level, visualize each aspect of your day going perfectly when you wake up in the morning. Even when things go wrong, it’s important to keep that image of success at the forefront of your mind. This is also how you set the right goals and make the right moves, by following what you think is your own personal path to your specialized, custom version of success. 

Feeling like a failure is a systematic problem that is by no means easy to reverse, but it can be done. In order to feel like a success, set goals and accomplish them. When that happens, set even bigger goals. If you feel like you’re a failure, you’re probably still climbing the mountain of success. But when we tell ourselves we’re failures, any possibility of success is lost. So if you find yourself feeling like a failure, stop.