S1 CES Booklet 1 (SV) PDF

  **Module 1.1** **Self-understanding and Life Skills** **Part 1:** **Self-understanding,** **Self-esteem and** **Self-confidence** **Name: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ( ) Class: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_** **Learning Obj...

  **Module 1.1** **Self-understanding and Life Skills** **Part 1:** **Self-understanding,** **Self-esteem and** **Self-confidence** **Name: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ( ) Class: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_** **Learning Objectives** 1. 2. 3. **Contents** **Page** ------------------------- ---------- **Preface** **1.1 Self concept** **1.2 Self-esteem** **1.3 Self-confidence** **Chapter summary** **Chapter mind map** **Preface**  Congratulations on entering a new stage of life! Psychologist Erik Erikson divided human life into eight stages, and there is a special task for each stage. The growing task for teenagers is to establish self-identity and resolve the crisis of self-identity confusion. +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | Age | Birth | 1-3 | 3-6 | 6-11 | 11-18 | 18-30 | 31-50 | 50 | | | to 1 | years | years | years | years | years | years | | | | year | old | old | old | old | old | old | years | | | old | | | | | | | old | | | | | | | | | | and | | | | | | | | | | above | +=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+=======+ | Stage | Infan | Babyh | Presc | Schoo | Adole | Early | Middl | Late | | | cy | ood | hoole | l | scenc | adult | e | adult | | | | | rs | age | e | hood | adult | hood | | | | | | | | | hood | | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ **Fig. 1 Erikson's 8 stages of psychosocial development** Source: Newman and Newman (2017), Development through life: A psychosocial approach（13th ed. ）. 1. **Self-concept** **What is self-concept?** Self-concept is a person\'s overall view of his/her appearance, character, abilities, preferences, strengths and weaknesses, family background, social role and status, etc. Since childhood, we have started to realise that we are unique individuals, and we thus develop our self-concept. Our personal characteristics, growth experiences, upbringing and interaction with others all affect the development of self-concept. **Activity 1: Who am I?** 1. How much do you know yourself? This activity will assist us in attaining a preliminary understanding of "Who I am". - - Put down **key words about yourself or describing yourself** in the following boxes and the more, the better. If necessary, you can use an extra sheet(s) of paper to fill in more words. [Reflective questions]: 1. Can you find a classmate who has written exactly the same contents in the 12 squares as you did? If yes, please give him/her a high-five. Do you think both of you are the same? If you can't find one, can you explain why? -- -- 2. Do you know yourself better after Activity 1? If yes, in which aspect(s)? If no, what are the reasons? -- -- 3. Do you know yourself well? Please try to provide one reason to support your answer. -- -- **Know more: Multiple intelligences** The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, in 1995. It applied multiple approaches to find out the special talents of each person, emphasising that each person has his/her own combination of intelligences, and the aptitude of different people in different intelligences varies. For example, some people have strong sports ability, but their language ability is weak; some people have strong logic and mathematical ability, but they are not good at delivering speeches. As the saying goes, "Everyone is born with talents". This theory reminds us that everyone has natural-born potential, and as long as we work hard, we can definitely become a person who can make a unique contribution in life. **Logical-mathematical intelligence** --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Verbal-linguistic intelligence** Having a good command in oral and written language. Persons with great verbal-linguistic intelligence could be poets, writers, teachers, politicians, etc. **Visual-spatial intelligence** The ability to accurately feel visual space and express perceptions (images). Persons with great visual-spatial intelligence could be photographers, architects, industrial designers, etc. **Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence** The ability to make good use of one's own body to express ideas and feelings and produce or transform things skilfully with hands. Persons with great bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence could be dancers, athletes, actors, etc. **Interpersonal intelligence** The ability to easily recognise other people's emotional motivations and moods. Persons with great interpersonal intelligence are sensitive to emotions and they could be practitioners, politicians, teachers, social workers etc. **Intrapersonal intelligence** Knowing their own limitations, persons with great intrapersonal intelligence will conduct self-examination by collecting opinions from various channels and accordingly they will act properly. They could be psychiatrists, philosophers etc. **Musical intelligence** The ability to keenly distinguish, change and express music. Persons with great musical intelligence could be singers, performers, etc. **Naturalistic intelligence** Being good at distinguishing, observing, classifying and experimenting various things and exploring, persons with great naturalistic intelligence could be biologists, archaeologists, etc. [Excerpted and adapted from:] 王淑俐 (2016), 《生涯發展與規劃：為職涯發展 做準備》（第三版）. 2. Finish the following tasks of writing a self-introduction and painting a self-portrait according to question 1. \(1) My self-introduction: - - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | *For example:* | | | | *My name is WONG Yat Yat, a boy, and there are three members in my | | family. I am the only child of my family. My face is round, and my | | body\...* | | | | *As to my character, I am easy-going but very shy. I like to chat and | | tell jokes with my friends but I don't like to talk to strangers\...* | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2. - - **My self-portrait:** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Key words about yourself or describing yourself:**  The German philosopher Leibniz once said that **"no two leaves are identical in the world". Each one of us is unique and no two persons in the world are the same. As the saying goes, "everyone is born with talents".** It tells us that everyone is unique and valuable. Our value lies in our unlimited potential. **If we accept our own limitations, strive to overcome our shortcomings, and seize opportunities to develop our strengths, we can become a better person.** In addition, if we can support each other in the journey of discovering ourselves, it can help us know ourselves in a more objective and comprehensive way through learning the ideas of others. More importantly, we can also encourage and affirm each other to live a fulfilling life. Source: 李珊 (2016), 《做一個內心豁達的女人》. Self-portraits in art works are not only a channel for artists to present their inner consciousness and express themselves, but also a kind of self-narration to reflect their feelings. When we appreciate self-portraits, apart from appreciating the painting styles, we may also feel the painters' moods, ideas, experiences, and their circumstances affected by the environment of that time. Self-portraits reflect the thoughts, feelings, attitudes and even lives of the painters.  **Activity 2: Self in the eyes of others** - Pre-lesson preparation: - **[Card sample]** - - - - [Reflective questions]: 1. If you have found some new views about yourself from the cards, please go to Question (1)(i) or (ii) and Questions 2-5. If you do not find new views about yourself from the cards, please go to Questions 3-5 directly. i. -- -- ii. -- -- 2. If there are views from others that are the same as your existing views: How many of them are the same? What are these same views? What does this reflect? If views from others are different from your existing views: What does this reflect? -- -- 3. What do you think you can do to make others have a better understanding of yourself, which in turn will make you know yourself better? -- -- **Activity 3: Ideal self: The self-portrait of my ideal self** Do you know anyone whom you admire, respect, or look up to? You may regard him/her as your goal and role model because you admire his/her merits, talents, or character. And you may even unconsciously copy his/her words, imitate his/her behaviours, and share his/her **values**. 1. The person I admire i. **The person I admire, respect or look up to is\...** **Three of his/her qualities that I want to have** ------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- ii. -- -- 2. The self-portrait of my ideal self [Reflective questions]: 1. Please take a look at your portrait. Is this your ideal self? If not, what qualities do you lack? Try to list it/them and use **a blue pen** to add this quality/these qualities to "My self-portrait" in question 2(2) of Activity 1 in Worksheet 1. -- -- 2. Please take a look at "My self-portrait" in question 2(2) of Activity 1 in Worksheet 1 and compare the "me" (true self) drawn with pencil and the "me" (ideal self) with the new qualities added highlighted with blue pen, to see how different these two "me" are? How do you feel about the difference? -- -- 3. How would you narrow the gaps\*? Try to set a goal for yourself and move towards a more ideal self. \*Tip: Can all the gaps be narrowed? If not, how should we deal with these gaps? -- --  **What is self-concept?** Self-concept is a person\'s overall view of his/her appearance, character, abilities, preferences, strengths and weaknesses, family background, social role and status, etc. Since childhood, we have started to realise that we are unique individuals, and we thus develop our self-concept. Our personal characteristics, growth experiences, upbringing and interaction with others all affect the development of self-concept. **In short, self-concept is about the views that a person has on himself/herself.** **Self-concept** comprises "**true self**", "**self in the eyes of others**" and "**ideal self**". - True self refers to our views on every aspect of our own characteristics. These views come from comparisons with others during the process of growing up, others' perceptions of us and different life experiences. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Example of 'True Self' | | | | Jim have never cheated in exams or keep others' lost property, so his | | classmates think he is a honest person. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+  - Self in the eyes of others refers to how a person sees and evaluates himself/ herself based on his/ her understanding of others' opinion and attitudes towards him/ her. It is formed through interacting with others. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Example of 'Self in the eyes of others' | | | | Bill's friends think he is funny, so Bill think he is a person with a | | sense of humour in the eyes of others. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+  - Ideal self refers to the kind of person we want to be. It is based on the person's life experiences, social expectations and people he/ she admires. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Example of 'Ideal self' | | | | Alice's role model is an Olympic gold medallist. She wants to become | | an athlete and bring glory to Hong Kong. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ [Question for discussion]: 1. What constitutes self-concept? Try to explain the contents of each part. **Self-concept** **Definition** ------------------ ---------------- 2. "True self" and "self in the eyes of others" are sometimes different. Please explain why it is so with an example from your experience or a friend's experience. -- -- 3. The greater the gap between the "true self" and the "ideal self", the more likely we will feel uneasy and depressed. Please explain why it is so with an example from -- --  **The gap between 'true self' and 'self in the eyes of others'** - Sometimes, the way we see ourselves is different from how others see us. One reason for this is that we often show our better side to others and hide our less good side, because we worry that others won\'t like us if they see our less good side. Some of us also act in a way that we think others will like, to try to get recognition from them. These reasons are about hiding our true selves to meet other people\'s expectations. Another reason is that some people don\'t know their own characteristics very well, and they show those characteristics without meaning to when they talk to others, which makes how others see them different from their true selves. **The gap between 'true self' and 'ideal self'** - The closer the "true self" is to the "ideal self", the more satisfied we are with our own states; on the contrary, the greater the gap between the two, the more likely we will feel uneasy and depressed. For example, Alice hopes that she could be a sociable person. However, after entering secondary school, she always finds it difficult to start a conversation with her classmates.  - Due to the gap between ideal and reality, she feels depressed. However, some people will regard this as a driving force to improve and upgrade themselves and take this as an opportunity to establish their ideal selves. For example, Alice becomes more active in learning different social skills and takes the initiative to talk to her classmates. **Importance of self-concept** Adolescents at puberty face many rapid changes and may experience anxiety. A clear and accurate self-concept helps them understand themselves better, in areas such as character, abilities, strengths and weaknesses. It also helps them recognise their own value and uniqueness. In the long run, it brings the following benefits: +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | **Case study (1)** | | | | Benny feels unsure about himself. He starts to explore his \"true | | self\" by reflecting on his love for art and science. Benny also | | considers how others see him and what he wants to achieve in the | | future. By understanding these aspects of his self-concept, he begins | | to unlock his potential and grow as a person. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Which aspect of benefits? Explanation --------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It helps them unlock their potentials and develop their strengths. It also facilities self-reflection and helps them overcome the weaknesses. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | **Case study (2)** | | | | May often feels overwhelmed and struggles with feelings of | | inferiority. After exploring her interests and strengths, she begins | | to understand herself better. This self-discovery helps May feel | | relieved and more positive about her life. By appreciating who she | | is, she learns to manage her emotions and build a healthier | | self-image. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Which aspect of benefits? Explanation --------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It helps them appreciate and identify with themselves, accept their limitations and avoid negative emotions, such as the feeling of inferiority. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | **Case study (3)** | | | | Peter struggles to share his thoughts and often feels misunderstood. | | He starts asking his friends how they see him, which helps him learn | | more about himself. By expressing his likes and dislikes clearly, | | Peter strengthens his relationships and shows how importance of | | self-concept is for connecting with others. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Which aspect of benefits? Explanation --------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It helps them express their thoughts, likes and dislikes more clearly so that others know more about them. **Ways to build a positive self-concept** A positive self-concept means a positive view of oneself. Adolescents with a positive self-concept are more willing to take on challenges and face adversity with a positive attitude. This is essential for their healthy development. Adolescents can develop a positive self-concept in the following ways: Develop personal strengths Identify your personal strengths and develop them through participating in related activities. When you gain recognition from other people, you are more able to build a positive self-concept. ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accept other people\'s opinions where appropriate Analyse other people\'s views of yourself rationally and ignore unreasonable comments. Narrow the gap between ideal self\' and \'real self\' Adjust your \'ideal self\' according to your characteristics and abilities; or get closer to your \'ideal self\' by adding value to yourself. Accept limitations and shortcomings Identify your weaknesses accurately and accept them. Learn from your failures and improve yourself. Text Description automatically generated**Summary about self-concept** A clear self-concept helps us understand our own uniqueness and value, as well as our own limitations and weaknesses. Let's appreciate ourselves, accept our own limitations, manage our weaknesses and make improvement accordingly so as to develop our strengths to their full potential and become better persons. During this long and continuous process of development, we can deepen understanding of ourselves from knowing the different parts that make up our self-concept, namely "true self", "self in the eyes of others" and "ideal self". Besides, we will know more about how to adjust our mindset and become better persons. For example, if it is found that there is a great difference between the "ideal self" and the "real self", we will reflect on our limitations and also collect views from others to improve ourselves.  We will also remind ourselves that there are aspects of ourselves which are worth appreciating. When we begin to appreciate and encourage ourselves, our self-concept will also improve. Our "true self" will be closer to our "ideal self"; and there will be a better balance in how we see ourselves. Therefore, it is very important for us to have a positive self-concept. We should know how to improve ourselves, develop ourselves according to our potential and make greater achievements. Apart from our attitudes, growth experiences and evaluations from others, self-concept is often affected by our self-confidence and self-esteem. Therefore, we will discuss how to elevate self-esteem and self-confidence in the coming lesson so that we can build a better self-concept. **1.2. Self-esteem** **What is self-esteem?** Self-esteem is a person's evaluation of his/ her self-worth. It is how much a person appreciates, accepts and affirms himself/ herself. The higher our self-esteem, the more positive our self-concept. **Activity 1: The self-esteem scale** The following quiz will help you understand your self-esteem level. Read the following sentences carefully and answer honestly. Do you agree with the following descriptions of yourself? Please tick "✔" the appropriate boxes. +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | | Strongly | Disagree | Agree | Strongly | | | disagree | | | agree | +=============+=============+=============+=============+=============+ | 1. \[Affil | | | | | | iation\]Whe | | | | | | n | | | | | | I am | | | | | | praised | | | | | | , | | | | | | I will | | | | | | take it | | | | | | well. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 2. \[Compe | | | | | | tence\] | | | | | | Sometim | | | | | | es | | | | | | I feel | | | | | | I am | | | | | | not | | | | | | good at | | | | | | anythin | | | | | | g. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 3. \[Compe | | | | | | tence\] | | | | | | I think | | | | | | I have | | | | | | many | | | | | | strengt | | | | | | hs. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 4. \[Compe | | | | | | tence\] | | | | | | I am | | | | | | willing | | | | | | to | | | | | | overcom | | | | | | e | | | | | | my | | | | | | weaknes | | | | | | ses. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 5. \[Selfh | | | | | | ood\] | | | | | | I do | | | | | | not | | | | | | think I | | | | | | have | | | | | | anythin | | | | | | g | | | | | | to be | | | | | | proud | | | | | | of. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 6. \[Selfh | | | | | | ood\] | | | | | | Sometim | | | | | | es | | | | | | I feel | | | | | | I am | | | | | | useless | | | | | |. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 7. \[Selfh | | | | | | ood\] | | | | | | I think | | | | | | I am a | | | | | | valuabl | | | | | | e | | | | | | person, | | | | | | at | | | | | | least | | | | | | as | | | | | | valuabl | | | | | | e | | | | | | as | | | | | | others. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 8. \[Selfh | | | | | | ood\] | | | | | | I wish | | | | | | I could | | | | | | have | | | | | | more | | | | | | respect | | | | | | for | | | | | | myself. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 9. \[Selfh | | | | | | ood\] | | | | | | I tend | | | | | | to | | | | | | conside | | | | | | r | | | | | | myself | | | | | | a loser | | | | | | in many | | | | | | aspects | | | | | | of | | | | | | life. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ | 10. On the | | | | | | whole, | | | | | | I\'m | | | | | | satisfi | | | | | | ed | | | | | | with | | | | | | myself. | | | | | +-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+ **Scoring method:** Description number: **１** **３** **４** **７** **１０** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- ----------------------------- ***1 point for strongly disagree; 2 points for disagree; 3 points for agree and 4 points for strongly agree.*** Point(s) \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＝ **Score（Ａ）：**\_\_\_\_\_ Description number: **２** **５** **６** **８** **９** ***4 point for strongly disagree; 3 points for disagree; 2 points for agree and 1 point for strongly agree.*** Point(s) \_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＋ \_\_\_\_\_＝ **Score（Ｂ）：**\_\_\_\_\_ **Total score（Ａ＋Ｂ）：** Source: Rosenberg (1965), Society and the adolescent self-image. **Score interpretation:** This assessment is on a 40-point scale. The higher the total score, the higher the sense of self-esteem. **Elements of self-esteem** **The self-esteem theory** of Michele Borba divides self-esteem into five components, namely **security, mission, competence, selfhood and affiliation**. These five components are called the five building blocks of self-esteem. By strengthening these elements, we can be more confident in meeting challenges in life, thus boosting our self-esteem. **Fig. 4 Five building blocks of self-esteem** Source: Borba (1989), Esteem builders; Shotton & Burton (2018), Emotional wellbeing: An introductory handbook for schools（2nd ed.）. **Activity 2: Analysing a person's self-esteem** **Case 1** I am a very ordinary person and no one ever pays me any attention. My thin body has made me feel inferior. I really want to have a strong body like celebrities. I want to do more exercise to get in shape, but I am not willing to go through the hardship of exercising. Besides, I have never participated in school activities, because I feel that my performance will never be as good as others, and I will make a fool of myself and be ridiculed by my classmates. Even though my teacher invited me to be the class monitor and reassured me of my ability, I was still afraid that I would not be able to do the job well, so I declined the teacher's invitation. Once, I took the initiative to accompany my classmates on piano in a music lesson in order to show my ability to play the piano, but there was no applause or cheering, which made me feel very depressed. **Case 2** My performance in singing, ballet and piano is second to none. I believe that I will win the inter school singing competition this year. I am pretty and will be a very popular performer in the future. My classmates should be very envious of my achievements and admire me. But I wonder why my classmates do not like to be my friends. Once I heard my classmates say that I was arrogant and liked showing off and I was the teacher's pet. Therefore, I am very unhappy. 1. What are the differences between Ben and Kitty in the 5 building blocks of their self-esteem? Explain your answers with examples. +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Building blocks of | **High level or low | **Examples** | | self-esteem** | | *For example:* | +=======================+=======================+=======================+ | **Security** | High/ Mild/ low | - *Although the | | | | teacher reassured | | | | him of his | | | | ability, he was | | | | still afraid that | | | | he would not be | | | | able to do the | | | | job of class | | | | monitor well.* | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Mission** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Competence** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Selfhood** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Affiliation** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Building blocks of | **High level or low | **Examples** | | self-esteem** | level?** | | | | | *For example:* | +=======================+=======================+=======================+ | **Security** | High/ Mild/ low | - *She was very | | | | worried when she | | | | heard her | | | | classmates spoke | | | | ill of her.* | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Mission** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Competence** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Selfhood** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Affiliation** | High/ Mild/ low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ Please refer to the above cases and provide your personal views in answering the following questions: 1. Comparing Ben and Kitty, who has lower self-esteem? In what aspects does he/she need to improve? How to improve his/her self-esteem? -- -- 2. Comparing Ben and Kitty, who has higher self-esteem? In what aspects does he/she need to improve? How to improve his/her self-esteem? -- -- **The factors affecting their self-esteem** **Activity 3:** Please complete the task on the next page according to the above contents and the self-narratives of the following characters.    How would they evaluate themselves on the aspects mentioned in their self-narratives? What are the factors affecting their self-evaluations? Try to provide answers in the appropriate boxes. +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | **Character** | **Self-evaluation on | **Factor influencing | | | the aspect mentioned | self-evaluation** | | | in self-narrative\*** | | +=======================+=======================+=======================+ | 1. Kwok Keung | high/low | *Peer relationships* | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | 2. Shuk Man | high／low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | 3. Ming Wah | high／low | | | | | | |  | | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | 4. Mei Wai | high/low | | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ | 5. Sze Wan | high/low | *Personal factors* | +-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+ \*Delete if not applicable  Below are some of the factors that affect self-esteem: **Fig. 5 The factors affecting self-esteem** **The importance of self-esteem for personal growth** Self-esteem is a person's evaluation of his/ her self-worth. It is how much a person appreciates, accepts and affirms himself/ herself. The higher our self-esteem, the more positive our self-concept. Self-esteem is important to healthy personal growth in the following ways: a.  b. Adolescents with high self-esteem have confidence in their abilities. They hope to unleash their potential so as to pursue their personal aspirations and realise personal ambitions. [Negative impacts that bring to people with low self-esteem] If we have low self-esteem, we will have negative views on ourselves. We will be very concerned about others' evaluations of ourselves and tend to focus on our shortcomings and mistakes. While facing setbacks, we tend to blame ourselves. Meanwhile, we will be afraid to accept new things and easily feel anxious and uneasy when dealing with others, which will affect our performance and interpersonal relationships.   Maslow's hierarchy of needs divides human needs into five levels from low to high. The lowest level is physiological needs, while the highest one is self-actualisation need. Maslow believed that only by satisfying our need of self-esteem, could we be confident in ourselves, understand how to exert our potential, pursue our ideals and a better life, and realise our personal aspirations so as to achieve self-actualisation. Therefore, elevating self-esteem is very important for personal growth. **Fig. 2 Maslow's hierarchy of needs** Source: 宗文舉、石鳳妍、詹啟生 (2017), 《現代心理學理論與實踐》\  **Summary about self-esteem** Self-esteem is very important to personal growth. When a person has a healthy self-esteem, he/she will develop a positive attitude towards life. He/she can give full play to his/her strengths, make good use of his/her potential and pursue a more fulfilling life. Development of self-esteem is a continuous process and a person's self-esteem will change with time. Self-esteem is affected by different factors, such as previous success or failure experiences, words of affirmation from peers and teachers, parenting styles and so on. Therefore, during the growth process, we need to adjust our mindset, and build and maintain positive self-esteem. The level of self-esteem will influence our physical and mental health, our responses to situations and our attitudes towards others' evaluations of ourselves. People who over-value themselves tend to be arrogant. They will feel jealous about others' successes. They are less flexible and find it hard to adapt to change, and they have poor people skills. On the contrary, people who think less of themselves will lack enterprising spirit and always feel inferior to others. They often feel timid, inferior and pessimistic. When they are being criticized, they will feel frustrated and become unable to complete tasks with efficiency. Therefore, we should learn to make accurate evaluations of ourselves. We should have confidence in ourselves and have courage to overcome various difficulties and become better persons. We should refer to the "five building blocks of self-esteem", namely security, mission, competence, selfhood and affiliation, to cultivate and elevate our self-esteem. **1.3: Self-confidence** **What is self-confidence?** Self-confidence refers to a person\'s belief in his / her ability to do things well. It comes from positive self-concept. People with high self-confidence feel sure about their abilities. They also have higher self-esteem and believe they are valuable. **"Positivity" and confidence**  Positive thoughts, emotions and behaviours are very important because they can boost our self-confidence. If we have positive ideas, hold a positive and optimistic attitude, and believe in our abilities, we will be more confident in facing the challenges of life and overcoming difficulties. **Activity 1: Notice on "jobs well done"** By recording success experiences, we can know more specifically that we were able to accomplish various things, which can remind and encourage ourselves and enhance our self-confidence when we encounter challenges or difficulties in the future. In our spare time, we can also review our successes with the records so that we can cheer ourselves up from time to time and build our self-confidence. Try to write down **[five] things that you have done well or success experiences** in the heart-shaped patterns below. For example, I was praised by the teacher for my sense of responsibility; I participated in volunteer service and provided materials for the elderly living alone; I was elected as little pioneer of environmental protection in 6th grade in primary school.  Text Description automatically generated**The importance of self-confidence for personal growth** People with high self-confidence will affirm and appreciate their abilities and have higher self-esteem. On the contrary, people with low self-confidence will have a lot of dissatisfaction, make negative self-evaluations, and have lower self-esteem. Self-confidence plays a positive role in the growth process of a person and is an important psychological quality that affects the success of a person. People who lack self-confidence will easily feel inferior and will rely on the affirmation and approval of others when establishing self-confidence. They will become pessimistic and negative because they are afraid of facing criticism from others. On the contrary, some people may become arrogant and tend to overestimate themselves because they are overconfident. They think that they can do what others cannot do, look down on others and cannot get along well with others. In the face of failure, because they are reluctant to admit their mistakes, they tend to evade their responsibilities and shift the blame to others. To be a confident person, first, we should fully understand ourselves, appreciate and affirm our abilities and strengths. Second, we should be humble and learn to enhance our knowledge and abilities, and face failure and setbacks with a positive attitude. Only by doing so can we become a person with self-confidence.  Text Description automatically generated**Ways to raise self-esteem and build self-confidence** Self-confidence can bring positive energy, make us stand out, enable us to do things with more confidence and motivation and help us embark on a road to success. But what can you do to be confident? Do you think you are a confident person? The suggestions in the chart below may help you further build your self-confidence, appreciate your strengths, accept and overcome your weaknesses so that you can cherish yourself. **Fig. 6 Methods to cultivate self-esteem and self-confidence** **Know more: The bank of "confidence\"** **Tips for enhancing self-confidence** **Method 1: To live in the future** The Chinese physicist WAN Weigang（萬維鋼）once remarked, "Success is the mother of success". WAN Weigang thought that if we wanted to increase our chance of success, we must "**live in the future**". "**Living in the future**" refers to **thinking over the things to be done in mind,** which includes **thinking about what needs to be prepared in advance, the difficulties that may be encountered** and **how to do things well**. Doing things with such an attitude will definitely cultivate our habits of thinking and careful planning. A cautious attitude will certainly improve others' trust and confidence in you, and when you get the trust of others, you will also have higher self-confidence.  **Method 2: To record success experiences** Any small success can give people a sense of achievement and build up self-confidence. Daniel Kahneman, a laureate of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002, found that "Compared with people's memory of success, that of failure is more vivid". Even if the number of times of success and failure are almost the same, we will still subconsciously think that life is full of failure over time. Therefore, Kahneman suggested that we should **record our experiences of success** every day and make **a growth diary**, with which we can not only witness our success but also affirm ourselves. **Method 3: To generate positive energy with body gestures** Social psychologists Stepper and Strack found that the actions of "lowering the head, shrugging and bending down" would leave people with an impression of dejection on you. However, if you straighten your back and hold your head high, you will leave people with an impression of great aspiration. These body gestures affect your level of pride. People with **self-confidence** will **hold their heads high and their backs straight** and will **walk 30%** faster than the speed of ordinary people and **have a high level of pride**. Therefore, we should always keep a gesture of great aspiration so as to generate positive energy and build up self-confidence. **Method 4: To learn more and experience more** During the process of learning new knowledge and skills, we will unconsciously **develop a sense of superiority** due to **the enrichment of our personal knowledge and ability**. After **repeated practice and the accumulation** of certain experiences of success, our **self-confidence** will be gradually enhanced. At the same time, we should make more **new attempts** or travel to different places to **broaden our horizons, knowledge and experiences**, all of which will boost our self-confidence. [Excerpted and adapted from:] 速溶綜合研究所，何聖君（2018）, 《超實用博弈必勝書》 [Excerpted and adapted from:] Student Health Service, Department of Health, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (10 December 2015), Psychosocial Health. Text Description automatically generated**Chapter summary of Self-understanding, Self-esteem and Self-confidence** Everyone is unique and has his/her own qualities and talents. Every one of us is valuable if we can give full play to our strengths and contribute ourselves. Although it is a long and ongoing process to know ourselves, it is not out of reach. We can learn about our **"true self", "ideal self" and "self in the eyes of others"** through various ways. For example, we can observe people's behaviours in group situations, be honest with ourselves and others, accept our "true self" and others' views on us calmly, understand ourselves in an objective and comprehensive way, and be willing to try and learn new things. If we close our minds for fear of failure, we will become stagnant. On the contrary, **if we have the courage to try and learn new things, we will have new discoveries and acquire new understanding, and develop a better understanding of ourselves.** **Self-understanding will change over time**. Our views on ourselves will be affected by new experiences in life, affirmations, or evaluations from others, as well as success or failure experiences. We may not be satisfied with the present. However, we should understand that **there is no such thing as a perfect person in this world**. Therefore, we do not have to try so hard to look perfect all the time in front of others. We should **learn to appreciate our talents and accept our limitations**, because that is exactly the perfect condition of our self-esteem and self-confidence. As long as you can **hold this positive attitude towards yourself, keep modest and learn from others, and improve yourself**, it is believed that in the near future, you will become a better person. No matter what you want to do in the future, you must **learn to know yourself, explore your potential and strengths through self-exploration, think about your direction and goals in life and find your own way.** In this complex and changeable society, the more you know yourself, the clearer you are about your position so that you can adjust your mind flexibly and choose a suitable arena where your special talents and qualities will shine. You should be **brave to accept challenges and at the same time build harmonious interpersonal relationships**. Together, it will help you actualise your potential and find a life that belongs to you. Module 1.1 Self-understanding and Life Skills Part 2 "Emotion Management and Resilience Enhancement" will help us understand emotions and different methods and skills of emotion management, which will improve our life skills to meet practical needs in daily life. **Mind Map**