Self-esteem and self-confidence are two terms that are typically thrown around interchangeably. While they are similar in many ways, they are actually two different things.
What is self esteem? What about self-confidence?
Self esteem, otherwise known as self-concept, is a term that refers to how a person evaluates his/her worth. In other words, it’s how you think about yourself. Do you think you’re competent, worthy, intelligent, great? Is it the opposite? Or perhaps, somewhere in between? That’s what self-esteem is.
Self-confidence, meanwhile, refers to having self-assurance. While self esteem is how you look at yourself, self-confidence is how much you trust your abilities, skills, talents, and so on. In order to have a high self-confidence, one must have high self-esteem. So what influences a person’s judgment about himself/herself? Here are two very important factors that starts within oneself:
- Overall opinion about oneself. Honestly, how do you feel about each aspect of yourself—from your physical appearance to your intellectual capacity to your social skills, and many more? You may have high regard for your intelligence but feel insecure about your looks. You may think you look great but think of your social skills as inadequate. But if you overlook your inadequacies and focus on your strengths, that results in a more positive overall opinion about yourself, with improved self esteem.
- Personal thoughts and perception. Having a positive outlook in life—your way of reacting to everyday occurrences—can contribute to a stronger self esteem building.
Of course, the environment also plays a crucial role:
- Childhood teachings and experiences
- Parents’ love, affection, attention, and guidance
- People’s reactions to you and what you do
- Experiences at home, in school, in the community and the workplace
- Relationships with family, friends and people in the society
- Illness, health condition, disability, injury
- Culture and religion
- Social stature
All these shape one’s well-being and assertiveness. Most of the beliefs that you have about yourself are a result of years of messages from the people you grow up with, and spend time with. In the family, parents who generally give positive feedback (and constructive criticism when necessary) are able to raise children who are sure about themselves. When you have strong foundation at home, negative feedback (even the worst kinds of criticisms) from other people wouldn’t affect you as much. Ranges of self esteem…
- Extremely high self-esteem – This makes some people think they are better than everyone, resulting in superiority complex.
- Low self-esteem – This is rooted from one’s negative self-image, the consequence is often inferiority complex.
- Healthy self-esteem – This the perfect balance that puts you in the middle ground. It’s a result of having a realistic perspective of yourself that while you’re good at some things, there are those that you know you need help with.
Importance of self esteem
Here are the reasons why it’s important to learn how to boost self esteem:
- It’s easier to form, secure and maintain positive relationships with other people
- You feel confident about what you can do, and in turn do better in school or work
- You’re open to feedback, which helps you harness your skills even more
- You can express your needs and opinions with no difficulty
- You can make good decisions and stand by them
- You’re more realistic in your expectations
- You’re not overcritical about other people and others
- You can handle stress and setbacks more easily
- You’re less likely to have health problems, both physical and mental
Building self esteem is crucial to having a healthy well-being. It’s about time that you learn to have a much better but still realistic concept about yourself.
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