The word ‘esteem’ is defined as “appreciating the value of”. The term self-esteem means giving high regard for oneself and treating the self more importantly than anyone else regardless of cultural or personal differences. Self-esteem is synonymous to self-respect. Self-esteem is about believing that you are a valuable and worthy person not just to yourself but to other people as well. It is one important attribute that every one of us should cultivate.
Our personal value is a crucial foundation of personal success. It always starts out with loving yourself and nurturing what you are capable of. Before you can even reach out to others and offer them love, care, or respect, these things should start with you. The key to a healthy self-esteem is acceptance of our individuality. This is acceptance of our flaws and strengths, and understanding our own imperfections in life, but still believing that we are valuable.
The value of self-esteem can boost a person’s positive thinking. On the other hand, low self-esteem can put you down. More often than not, it is our own negative thoughts that cause us to despise our very own selves. When you dislike and loathe yourself for not being as good and impressive as others are, you are causing your own worthlessness. Changing the way you think from the negative to positive attitude will slowly build your self-esteem.
Characteristics of People with High Self-Esteem
People with high self-esteem feel good about themselves. They project a good level of confidence in their strengths and abilities. They feel secure of their own personality or totality as an individual. They are open and honest in revealing true emotions to other people. In the aspect of relationships, those with high self-esteem seldom encounter egoistic issues. Because they accept themselves for who they are, they can easily take pride in personal accomplishments, big or small, and also respect their own shortcomings.
People with high self-esteem understand not just their personal limitations but those of others as well. That is why it is easy for people with high self esteem to forgive others for their flaws. Most importantly, these people have developed a good level of positive thinking.
Traits of People with Low Self-Esteem
How much do you love yourself? Did you ever hate yourself because you feel you are not a worthy person to anyone? If you are feeling this way internally, that is an obvious sign of low self-worth. Additionally, you have low self-esteem if you manifest any of the following:
1. You do not trust your own abilities.
2. You feel insecure about yourself and others
3. You either keep your true feelings to yourself or you hesitate to let them show
4. You do not recognize yourself for your achievements and even feel that you are still a mediocre despite people’s compliments.
5. Forgiving yourself and others is something that so hard to do.
6. You are not open to change
7. You think more of negative thoughts about you and others.
8. You lack social skills and manifest poor level of confidence.
Improving Self-Esteem through Positive Thinking
Self-esteem and positive thinking work both ways: positive thinking increases self-worth, and having high regard for oneself stimulates positive thinking. Encouraging positive thoughts will change your perceptions about life. It is the first step to getting rid of personal hatred and loathing. You can start by giving yourself a positive comment daily. Always find something nice and good about yourself and what you did for the day.
Be mindful of your negative statements. You might want to replace them with more encouraging and affirmative words. Think of your talent and abilities and how these can contribute if you will only use them. Do not hate yourself for a failure. Rather, understand that you are not perfect and that there are things you are good at and there are also things you do not excel in.
Although the people around you and the situations that you encounter are important factors in learning to appreciate your value as a person, a huge part of it still comes from you. You need to make a deeper connection to your inner self and truly realize that you are as valuable and as important as any other person could be.
