1. Physical factors often have a lot to do with our self-image. Now, not all of us are born beautiful; not all of us are born handsome; not all of us are born attractive in the least; but: we can work out, we can eat healthily, we can do as much as possible to look, feel, and smell attractive to others and to ourselves. This is one way of improving your self-image that seems to work consistently.

2. Self-image is often tied to accomplishment. Now, accomplishment doesn't necessarily mean "success at work" in this case. It's important that we work as hard as we can at our jobs, as being lazy or dishonest will definitely subtract from our self-image. But we can do things outside of the workplace, too, that will go a long ways in improving our self-image. We can develop a skill or an art, for, example, that will bring us hours of pleasure and satisfaction and perhaps help others feel pleasure and satisfaction to. Is there something you've always wanted to do, but didn't have the time, money, or courage to do it? Now may be the time to act. There's nothing like positive accomplishment for improving the self-image.

3. Self-image can improve when we make good friends. To make good friends, we need to be in places where we're likely to meet people with similar interests to ours, etc. Whether this is in a church, a community theatre group, a reading club, an Internet chat site, or whatever, we need to be in those places where people with similar interests to ours gather frequently. We need to gather with them frequently to discuss our interests and our lives.

4. There's nothing like charity to improve self-image. In this case, admittedly, you're not doing something that you'll want to broadcast to others, as that would take away the entire point of the activity. But charity works subtly on you; charity works deeply in you. Volunteer to read to children at a local children's hospital, volunteer to visit and entertain the elderly, organize a food drive, etc. Even if it just comes to making someone feel better (say, a guy or gal at work who's recently lost a loved one), your self-image will improve immeasurably. When we forget about ourselves, and focus on others, our self-image improves because we stop focusing on ourselves so much.

5. A last thing to consider about improving self-image is therapy or counseling. Now, therapy isn't always the answer; in fact, sometimes therapy can be a problem. You don't want a doctor who's going to sit there and make you blame your problems on others. But a good therapist can help you see where your talents and strengths lie, and offer you good advice on improving your lifestyle in such a way that your self-image improves along with it.