Self-esteem is a measure of how much you value, respect, and feel confident about yourself. Your self-esteem can affect how you face new challenges, your relationship with others, how you make decisions, and your success in anything you choose to do. If you have high self-esteem, you will be more likely to succeed at the new things you try.
There are two different kinds of self-esteem, high self-esteem, and low self-esteem. Having high self-esteem can help a person have a positive outlook on life. People who have high self-esteem feel good about themselves; they like themselves, and have a high level of confidence. Low self-esteem may keep a person from enjoying life. People who have low self-esteem do not feel good about themselves, they do not like themselves, and they have a low level of confidence.
You level of self-esteem is influenced by the people around you such as your family, your friends, and people at school. People who encourage you and give you support will help you feel good about yourself. People who do not support you may lead you to develop low self-esteem. These people may tease you, or make negative comments about you. The most important person who influences your self-esteem is you. You can choose to value or like yourself, and you can choose to focus on the positive influences on your self-esteem.
The media can also influence you self-esteem. The media includes TV, magazines, movies, and music videos. The media tends to show many people who are very successful. Some people may compare themselves to the people they see in the media. This comparison can cause a person to develop an unhealthy body image.
One factor that can affect your self-esteem is your self-concept. Self-concept is the way you see and imagine yourself as a person. Your self-concept can develop from many areas. Three very important areas are your academic self-concept, your physical self-concept, and your social self-concept. Your academic self-concept is the way you see yourself as a student, your physical self-concept is the way you see your physical abilities, and your social self-concept is the way you see yourself in your relationships.
There are three steps to developing good character. The first step to building a healthy self-esteem is to take responsibility for your actions. The second step is to learn to respect yourself can have a healthy self-esteem. The third step is to act on your thoughts and values in a firm, but positive way.
There are eight ways to build self-esteem. These ways are to get to know yourself, to learn to like yourself, to be good at something, to set a goal, to be positive, to find a mentor, to do something for others, and to have a sense of humor. Getting to know yourself means knowing your strengths and weaknesses, learning to like yourself is focusing on what you like best about yourself, being good at something will develop more confidence and higher self-esteem, setting goals and reaching them will give you a sense of accomplishment, thinking positive thoughts when you are feeling unsure of yourself can help you be more confident in many situations, finding a mentor can help you gain more support and encouragement, doing something for others gives you a chance to share your abilities with other people, and having a sense of humor helps you accept some of your weaknesses.
