Trainism

Self-esteem means an overall evaluation of a person about himself. Self-esteem can be very closely related to one’s self-image. Feeling worthy about yourself, or having high self-esteem, is one of the most valuable asset that a person can have. Self-esteem is always developed over a period of time from childhood to adulthood. Acceptance from family, friends and your inner self develops it further.

The basic concept of self-esteem was very well introduced & positioned at number four by Maslow in his Hierarchy Theory. A high self-esteem would reflect a confident person, leading a good quality life and constantly moving towards his final potential level called “Self-Actualization”.It is an established fact that icons, hero’s and legends are people who have a very high self esteem and have reached the stage of self-actualization.

Core components of self-esteem:

1) Self – Image

Our self-esteem to a very large extent is guided & determined by the kind of feedback we receive from our environment. If we frequently receive  negative feedback, we will suffer from a low self-esteem. In order to develop a positive self-esteem it is imperative that we stay with people who think highly of us. Even when a negative feedback has to be trickled down, it should be done cautiously with out rupturing the self-image. Example: The sandwich approach(positive-negative-positive feedback) is one to begin with. This will have a significant affect on our self image.

2) Correct selection of the reference group

Consciously or unconsciously the human brain is tamed very well to be with people who give us feedback, more so with the one’s who give us positive feedback as compared to negative. Role models can also have a very big say in shaping our self-esteem. If my role model thinks high of me I would carry the same impression about my self and the other way round.  Our mind is constantly comparing us with people who are either better or worst than us, constantly redefining the self-esteem levels. Therefore, the selection of the correct reference group must be done very carefully.

3) Important source of feedback

Parents, relatives, partners, friends, teachers and bosses might not be our rôle models, but for sure act as a very important source of feedback . These are the people that we stay with most of the times and hence their judgment for us will have a very large impact on shaping our self-esteem.

Common behavior pattern for people suffering from low & high self -esteem:

1. Low Self-esteem

• People who suffer from low self-esteem will tend to avoid social gatherings.
• They will remain quiet in public conversations.
• Will have very little to contribute.
• Will have a less confident body language.
• Will carry a submissive behavior.
• Associate every success story in life to “Luck”.
• They internalize negative evaluations.

2. High self-esteem

• These people will speak fluently & confidently in public gatherings.
• Will make all possible effort to contribute in a conversation.
• Will have an air of assertion and positivity.
• Will happily accept their mistakes.
• Most of the times over rate them selves and their qualities.
• They are in full control of their lives.
• They internalize positive evaluations.

To conclude I would say that the building blocks of self-esteem starts very early in life. Thus, as matured adults lets take the ownership & responsibility to help people who suffer from low self esteem by showing them a direction for improvement and by being kind and gentle to children today, so that tomorrow they shape up to be better adults with a high self-esteem reaching the level of self-actualization.