Self Esteem; how do you view yourself?

Self esteem or a self analysis?

If I were to ask you, how do you feel about yourself today? How would you respond? Some people would say, ‘I feel good about who I am, I feel like I’m on top of the world’. Someone else might respond, ‘I don’t know who I am anymore’. There might be someone else who would just ignore the question and not justify it with an answer. 

All of the above answers can be understood as different shades of a concept known as ‘self esteem’. 

“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.”

― C.G. Jung

Simply put, self-esteem is your opinion of your own self. It’s usually shaped up by our past experiences, feelings, interpersonal relationships, and the society one lives in, as a whole. It is, in no way, dependent on what others think of you. Self-esteem is purely based on what you think about your own self. 

Self esteem, as a whole, can usually be understood by dividing it into two major categories; High self esteem and Low self esteem.

A healthy, well-adjusted individual will fall in-between these two categories of self esteem.

Here are some tips that you can try at home to reach your highest potential and consciously work towards building a well-adjusted self esteem.

1. Stop the comparison

Each person is different in all capacities. What works for one, might not for others and how one reacts in a particular situation, can be completely different from another. 

Hence, comparing yourself to others with do nothing, apart from bringing you to dispair. Try to give your 100% in all realms of life and accept the fact that it might not always work in your favour. And that’s ok 🙂

2. Celebrate all of your big and small wins & losses

Wise men said that no win is small and no loss is big. Always make a conscious effort to celebrate your big and small wins & losses. Celebrating your wins will bring about a sense of empowerment and celebrating your own losses will rob your critiques of a chance to bring you down. Win-win?

3. Choose your friends wisely

Do not forget that we live in a uber-competitive world where there are fewer friends and more pretend-friends. Selecting the right sort of company, that can uplift you when you are down and not laugh at you, can make a huge difference in the way you view your self. In hindsight, we can look at ‘family by blood’ and ‘family by choice’

4. Forgive and Forget

Throughout the journey called life, you will come across circumstances that will either disappoint you or leave you frustrated and full of anger. In such cases, it is best to apply the rule of forgive and forget. Why give yourself unnecessary burden, to be carried on your shoulders. Even though this is a piece of extremely difficult advice to follow and some might even disagree, research has shown that people how do not tend to hold grudges are more likely to experience contentment during the course of their lives.

5. See yourself as a whole

You are not a person driven by your circumstances. If you failed in one task, that does not mean that you have failed as an individual. Likewise, if you experience a huge win, that does not mean that you have achieved it all and now there is no need to work hard anymore. Striking a balance and viewing yourself as a whole and not as a product of your circumstances can actually affect your self-esteem.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts that will help you identify your strengths and also guide you start your self esteem journaling process. Click here if you would like to know more about how you can boost your self esteem as explained by Dr Burns in his book – Feeling Good; The New Mood Therapy.

Do let us know in the comments below if this article was helpful and if there are any more areas you will like us to cover.

References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/self-esteem/art-20047976
www.exploringyourmind.com/know-3-types-self-esteem/