Negative self talk is the best way to keep your self esteem on the low end of whatever scale you use.

Many people give themselves messages throughout each day that they are a loser, stupid, foolish, inadequate. You may add your own words. If a parent said those things to a child regularly, what chance would that child have of a good sense of themself, in other words, good self esteem?

Think of yourself as your own child. Everyone makes mistakes; some days just feel down and everything goes wrong. The secret is to know that the YOU inside is always good, intelligent, caring, talented, lovable and worthwhile. Add your own words to this list and replace your negative self talk with these words. Don't base your opinion of yourself on the things that don't work well on any given day. Love and acceptance of yourself unconditionally is the secret to having self esteem.

At the same time devote yourself to personal growth and improvement. As a bonus, develop the ability to laugh at yourself; If you learn to do these things, not only will you have good self esteem, but others will find you much more pleasant to be around. They may even follow your example.