What is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is the inner capacity of a human being which is contained with beliefs that guides your abilities and limitation. It is formed by your thoughts, relationships, experience, culture, religion, and other factors including socioeconomic status. Self-esteem is confidence on own worth and abilities. It encompasses beliefs about oneself that present a person’s emotional states, like pride, glory, despair, shame, etc. Smith and Mackie (2007) defined it by saying “The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it.” Self-esteem is a psychological concept that predicts certain outcomes, such as academic achievement, happiness, satisfaction, and positive or negative behavior. Self-esteem has applied to a specific attribute or globally. Synonyms of self-esteem are self-worth, self-regard, self-respect, and self-integrity. It depends on how we value and perceive ourselves.

It is founded on our opinions and beliefs that are often difficult to change. We can know of this as self-confidence. Self-confidence in one’s value as a human being is a psychological resource and generally a highly positive factor in life; it is contained with achievement, good relationships, and satisfaction. People have experienced difficulties, but over the rest of their lives, self-esteem seems to rise and fall in predictable, systematic ways. Research shows that self-esteem grows, by varying degrees, until the age of 60, when it remains steady before beginning to decline in old age. It can cause life in different ways from academic and professional success to relationships and mental health. However, it is not an immutable distinction; success or failure in personal and professional phenomena can ignite fluctuations in feelings of self-dignity. Self-confidence links to self-actualization which represents the pursuit of reaching one’s full potential.

The concept of ‘Self-actualization was founded in a theory established in 1943 by Abraham Maslow. Self-actualization is a fulfillment of basic needs or in the process of being fulfilled and becomes possible to strive for existence through creativity, intellectual growth, and socioeconomic progress. As Maslow himself stated, “What a man can be, he must be. This needs we may call self-actualization.” Moreover, he defined self-actualization to be “self-fulfillment, namely the tendency for him (the individual) to become actualized in what he is potential. The process of self-actualization is constant as the maturity of an individual into a socially competent, interdependent autonomy, and is ongoing throughout the life cycle. According to an American psychologist Carl Ransom Rogers’ theory self-actualization is not the end-point; it is the process that can, in conducive circumstances (in particular the presence of positive self-regard and the emphatic understanding of others), lead to the individual becoming more “fully-functioning”.

Self-esteem is the real consciousness of overall personal worth and value. It is similar to self-respect and self-dignity which describes the level of confidence in your abilities and attributes. Healthy self-esteem can cause your motivation, your mental well-being, and your overall quality of life. However, self-esteem that is either too high or too low can be ineffective in your life. Unique level of self-esteem that can help you strike a balance that is just right for you. It impacts the decision-making process, relationships, emotional health, and overall well-being of life. It also causes motivation, as a person with a healthy, positive view of oneself about potentiality may feel inspired to take on new challenges.

Types of Self-esteem 

Self-esteem can be influenced by your beliefs on the nature of the person you are, what you can do, what are strengths and weaknesses and the expectations of your future. Your personality traits of schooling and environmental factors can also influence your self-esteem. However, you can balance your self-esteem in systematic ways and in a disciplined manner which should be a healthy self-esteem. There are three types or levels of self-esteem: ‘healthy’, ‘high’, and ‘low’.

1. High Self Esteem

High self-esteem is your belief system in yourself and knowing that you are a great addition to this world. In high self-esteem, you perceive that you might have a few weaknesses, but you have also a lot of strengths that guide who you are. Saying from a learning perspective, your glass is always half full. Your strengths are recognized by a group of friends and family that support your self-esteem. It realizes people, everybody has strengths and weaknesses which is needed to find out oneself for your self-esteem.

High self-esteem assists your mental well-being, helps you to handle adversity positively, and helps you to develop healthy coping skills. High self-esteem is your inner feeling of love, value, dignity, and respect afforded by yourself. Positive self-esteem is also your capability and autonomy to do things on your determination. High self-esteem is a frame of mind that you can perceive your strengths, weakness, and challenges and feel good about yourself and your life. High self-esteem helps you perceive that everything isn’t about you, enabling you not to take everything personally and not be overly reactive. High self-esteem also helps you see beyond yourself and feel confident about your place in the world.

Major Characteristics of High Self-esteem

1. You are a feature with a Clear Vision
2. You are guided by Principles
3. You are Goal-Oriented
4. You believe in yourself
5. You take care of yourself
6. You are a problem solver
7. You are great with people
8. You are honest and transparent
9. You are flexible
10. You live in the present

2. Low Self Esteem

Low self-esteem means that you don’t believe in yourself. You often compare yourself to other people and find that you are weak which is discouraging. You focus on your weaknesses and don’t recognize your strengths. At this time your glass is always “half empty” from the learning perspective. If you have self-esteem, you see yourself, the world, and your future more negatively and critically. You may fill anxious, unpleasant, sad, and discouraged. You can’t encounter challenges that could be great for your life. You might think to yourself telling things from a negative perspective. In short, low self-esteem is the negative beliefs and opinions you temp in your mind. Nobody is born with beliefs that develop and you experience throughout your life. It depends on how other people treat you, particularly when you are growing up, which can affect how you see yourself. You can assess your self-esteem yourself, when you have high self-esteem, you will in general ponder about yourself and hopefully about existence overall.

Common Characteristics of Low Self-esteem 

1. Anxieties/depression/sadness/low mood
2. Comparing yourself negatively to others
3. Low ambition and low expectations
4. Low level of confidence
5. Far away from social gatherings and situations
6. Complications in making and maintaining relationships
7. Distrust/ negative thoughts/self-doubt/exhaustion
8. Rejection/prejudice/lack of attention/ humiliation

High Self-esteem Versus Low Self-esteem 

According to the book entitled ‘You Can Win’ written by Shiva Kheda, the following are some characteristics of people that determine their level of self-esteem “ High Self-esteem or Low Self-esteem.

3. Healthy Self-esteem 

You know, self-esteem is the opinion you have of yourself. When you have healthy self-esteem, you think positively about yourself. Healthy self-esteem makes people very worthy and secure. Healthy self-esteem is related to the matter of accurate judgment and balanced self-view. People who have self-esteem recognize and accept their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. They hold realistic ambitions and expectations for themselves and others. Healthy self-esteem is confidence in one’s worth or abilities. Your confidence enables you to do your best at work. When you have healthy self-esteem you feel optimistic about yourself and life. It makes us better to be able to deal with life’s ups and downs. When you have healthy self-esteem, you believe you are valued, competent, worthy, loved, and accepted. Unhealthy self-esteem exists when you believe yourself to be incompetent, rejected, unworthy, unloved, and lacking in value to others. People with healthy self-esteem develop a healthy balanced thought that recognizes and accepts their abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and challenges and takes a calculated risk.

Major Characteristics of Healthy Self-esteem:

1. Assertive in expressing needs and opinions
2. Confident in the ability to make decisions
3. Able to form secure and honest relationships
4. Realistic in ambition and expectations
5. More resilient; able to endure stress and setbacks
6. Worthy of personal competency

20 Ways to Improve Your Self-esteem

Low self-esteem can negatively affect the rest of life, including school, work, relationships, and health. Thus, improving your self-esteem is a very worthwhile task, which you can keep in high priority to do so. Here are some ideas to help you achieve higher self-esteem:

1. Love and value yourself as a person
2. Adjust your thoughts and beliefs
3. Encourage yourself and be self-motivated.
4. Take a calculated risk and develop learning attitudes
5. Recognize your strengths and weakness
6. Learn from mistakes and experience
7. Believe you deserve happiness
8. Set realistic goals
9. Be persistent, consistent, and patience
10. Energize yourself with positive self-talk
11. Utilize positive affirmations
12. Make decisions and assert yourself
13. Give yourself a challenge
14. Avoid comparisons and kill the ego
15. Step outside your comfort zone
16. Pay attention to self-care
17. Stay in a disciplined manner
18. Avoid drug and alcohol abuse
19. Get moving and stay active
20. Focus on what you can change

Conclusion

Self-esteem is the inner capacity of a human being that contains beliefs that guide your abilities and limitations. It is confidence on own worth and abilities. Self-esteem is a psychological concept that predicts certain outcomes, such as academic achievement, happiness, satisfaction, and positive or negative behavior. It depends on how we value and perceive ourselves. It can cause life in different ways from academic and professional success to relationships and mental health. Self-confidence links to self-actualization which represents the pursuit of reaching one’s full potential. It is the real consciousness of overall personal worth and value. It is similar to self-respect and self-dignity which describes the level of confidence in your abilities and attributes. Healthy self-esteem can improve your motivation, your mental well-being, and your overall quality of life. Unique level of self-esteem that can help you strike a balance that is just right for you. Self-esteem impacts the decision-making process, relationships, emotional health, and overall well-being of life.

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