In my experience, there are two fundamental issues that lead to low self-esteem that when changed, can dramatically improve one's self perception and gain momentum in a positive direction.
1. One issue is having no purpose - lacking a vision of where you want to go in your life, how you fit in with society, and what you feel you can contribute to this world
2. The second issue is, after finally gaining a good sense of this purpose, you find yourself unable to execute on this vision due to various obstacles including fear, past programming, anxiety, etc...
Both of these situations will inevitably lead to poor personal self-esteem, but do require different solutions. First question is to ask yourself which one of these you fall into?
To address #1, I've found a combination of introspection through meditation and yoga can be extremely powerful ways to see what is inside of you and gain an understanding of WHY. Once you gain a firm feeling and understanding of your WHY, you will feel an almost unstoppable energy come over you resulting in more energy, more confidence, increased creativity and an amazing ability to attract people and situations toward your purpose.
Addressing #2 (once you've got your purpose) involves tactically addressing the obstacles in your life. For fear, understanding what triggers fear in your life and putting that fear into perspective (rather than letting it irrationally control your every minute) is highly effective.
There is so much you can do to improve your self-esteem - like you, the most important step for me occurred back almost 15-years ago in understanding that self-esteem IS the key, underlying symptom to achieving much higher levels of fulfillment, happiness and achievement in our lives.
Once you've licked this problem, it's like the clouds making way for the sunshine after 5-days of continuous rain.
Jeff
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