Value of Self-esteem in Life

July 14, 2021  

 Introduction

Self-esteem is the value we attach to ourselves. If we have high self-esteem, we see our life as worthy and productive. We like ourselves for who we are, and we do not condemn ourselves for our imperfections. If we have low self-esteem, we do not appreciate our efforts and work. We have trouble liking ourselves and may not be able to tolerate our imperfections. Almost all people who feel good about themselves have high self-esteem.

Our self-esteem often is influenced first by our families. Supportive families make us feel good about ourselves. Unsupportive families may condemn our imperfections and mock our efforts. This can lead to a distorted image of ourselves. As we grow older, we become able to shape and raise our self-esteem.

Few things in life are as important to our emotional health as the way we feel about ourselves. Look around and see for yourself. Is the happiest or most satisfied person you know also the wealthiest? Is he or she the most popular or talented? For most of us, the answer to these questions is no. Most of us do need a certain amount of money to make our day-to-day living comfortable. And most of us prefer for others to like us. But neither of those achievements means very much to the boy who does not like himself and walks around feeling angry at the world. Success in school or popularity means little to the girl who does not think she is worthwhile and must constantly look to others for praise and acceptance. Almost all people who feel good about themselves and others have high self-esteem.

Self-Esteem:

Our View of Ourselves Self-esteem is the value we attach to ourselves. To measure our self-esteem, we ask ourselves the following questions: Do we respect ourselves? Do we feel our lives are worthwhile and important to our families and communities? If our answers are yes, then we have a positive attitude towards ourselves. We all have high self-esteem. When we have high self-esteem we like ourselves for who we are. We recognize that we are not perfect. We give ourselves room to fail because we appreciate the effort we put into living worthy lives. When we live a worthy life we improve the world around us. We don't have to discover the cure for a deadly disease or be famous to live a worthy life. Treating others and ourselves with respect, and being productive in our daily lives are characteristics of a worthy life. Because people with high self-esteem do not need to criticize others to build themselves up, they tend to respect other people. Their confidence in their efforts and abilities makes them less dependent on the praise of others for self-satisfaction.

 

When we see ourselves as having little value, we are experiencing low self-esteem. We have trouble liking ourselves. We may demand perfection from ourselves, and we constantly criticize ourselves. We see our own imperfections as flags waving in the wind, announcing our lack of value to others and ourselves. We may try to explain away our faults because we cannot accept ourselves as imperfect. Low self-esteem makes us vulnerable to the judgments of others. We may do things to gain praise from others. No matter how much effort or thought we put into our education, our jobs, a project, or a relationship, our satisfaction will depend on the judgment of others. If we have low self-esteem, we may criticize someone to make ourselves look better in the eyes of other people. We may spend a lifetime seeing ourselves as we believe others see us, instead of looking inward and facing and appreciating who we are. Even the healthiest persons will have moments of low self-esteem. And all of us will have to do some work in order to build and maintain high self-esteem.

Sanjit Bakshi: Director at the “Oriental Infrastructure Engineers”. Well-known for exceptionally unique and the visionary insights for conceptualizing, idealizing, and analyzing the business models and projects.