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We often wonder why a person, including ourselves, may have low self-esteem. But what is self-esteem? Self esteem is an individuals overall sense of personal worth and self value as a human being (see Orth & Robins, 2022). Self-esteem is a multi-faceted construct that allows us the ability to reflect how we feel about ourselves, allowing us to construct ideas such as self-image, self-concept, self-worth, self-perception, self-confidence, self-respect and self-acceptance (Hagen et al., 2020). Self-esteem is built upon the following components, and influences how you behave, your thoughts, emotions, how you take care of yourself, handle challenges and interact with others.

Key Components of Self-Esteem

  1. Self-worth: the fundamental belief that you are valuable deserving of respect.
  2. Self-confidence: the ability to trust yourself in your judgement and abilities (ie: intuition)
  3. Self-acceptance: both recognizing and accepting your strengths and weaknesses
  4. Self-respect: upholding your values and treating yourself kindly.

Why self-esteem matters

Everything in your life hinges on your self-esteem, whether you like it or not. Your self-esteem shows how you can relate or show up for others, enforce boundaries and self-values, motivate yourself, make assertive and right choices, and overall, provide a positive mental state. When life gets hard, you are ok with it, and give yourself the grace to be human, not perfect.

Why do I have low self-esteem?

You have low self-esteem because you continually break promises to yourself. You tell yourself you are only go to scroll on Tik-Tok for 10 minutes for a break, and 1 hour later, you are still scrolling. You say you are going to add more vegetables to your diet, and instead, you added a sugary drink. You promise tomorrow you’re going to wake up 5 minutes early – not 1 hour, not 3 hours, just 5 minutes – and you don’t. You promise you’re going to go outside for 5 minutes and take a break, or eat your lunch at a table instead of a desk, and you don’t.

All of these little promises you make to yourself that you break are cuts against your self-esteem.

How can you have self-esteem when you don’t trust yourself?

We will explore self-esteem, trusting ourselves, and more later on.

References

Hagen, R., Havnen, A., Hjemdal, O., Kennair, L. E. O., Ryum, T., & Solem, S. (2020). Protective and Vulnerability Factors in Self-Esteem: The Role of Metacognitions, Brooding, and Resilience. Frontiers in psychology11, 1447. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01447
Orth, U., & Robins, R. W. (2022). Is high self-esteem beneficial? Revisiting a classic question. The American psychologist77(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000922

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One reply on “Introduction to Self-Esteem”

[…] Self-esteem, on the other hand, is more about how you feel about yourself based on your abilities, accomplishments, and how you perceive others see you. It’s often linked to confidence and can fluctuate as you experience successes and setbacks. Self-worth, however, is more constant: it is an unwavering sense that your value doesn’t change with circumstances. […]

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