4.3

Building Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself, while self-image is your mental picture of yourself, including your appearance, skills, abilities, and weaknesses.
• Self-esteem is influenced by many factors, including self-image, experiences, and interactions with others.

Importance of Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem has a major impact on many aspects of your life, including academic performance, relationships, and how you manage disappointments and frustrations.
• Having healthy self-esteem drives you to care for yourself and take steps to reach your full potential.

Healthy Self-Esteem

• People with healthy self-esteem have realistic views of themselves and feel good about themselves, including their skills and abilities.
• They know they have worth, feel good about their relationships, and feel loved, appreciated, and accepted by others.
• Characteristics of people with healthy self-esteem include:
  • Liking themselves
  • Feeling worthy of love and respect
  • Being proud of accomplishments and weaknesses
  • Not worrying about others' opinions
  • Viewing negative events as experiences, not failures
  • Being willing to ask for help
  • Making decisions based on their own values
  • Embracing challenges
  • Accepting responsibility for actions
  • Managing frustration and using problem-solving strategies

Low Self-Esteem

• People with low self-esteem doubt their worth, may feel negatively about their traits, skills, and abilities, and wish they could change themselves.
• They may feel left out of social groups, disconnected from others, and question whether others like or respect them.
• Characteristics of people with low self-esteem include:
  • Disliking themselves
  • Feeling insecure and unworthy of love and respect
  • Criticizing their abilities and skills
  • Being extremely sensitive to criticism
  • Acting to show others they are worthy of love
  • Viewing negative events as failures
  • Being afraid to ask for help
  • Making decisions to avoid rejection
  • Avoiding new activities due to fear of failure
  • Blaming others for mistakes and problems
  • Regretting the past and worrying about the future

Factors Affecting Self-Esteem

• Interactions with others, especially during early childhood, can significantly impact self-esteem.
• A supportive environment can boost self-esteem, while a negative environment can tear it down.
• Personal perceptions greatly affect how people feel about themselves, and social media can negatively impact self-esteem.

Improving Self-Esteem

• Strategies focus on modifying factors that affect self-esteem.
• Improve self-esteem by changing your perceptions and bettering your environment.
• Focus on your strengths, celebrate your successes, and practice daily affirmations.
• Taking care of yourself physically also contributes to healthy self-esteem.

Learn about self-esteem, its importance, and how to improve it. Understand the difference between self-image and self-esteem, and identify factors that influence self-esteem.