What exactly is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is the concept that refers to love towards oneself; it has to do with the way we relate to ourselves, treat each other, and, ultimately, value ourselves. It includes all kinds of beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes towards ourselves.
Self-esteem is not a stable concept throughout life; What we live and how we live it is shaping and modifying it, causing it to be very high (be very positive) at some times and be lower (or unfavorable) at other times. Rejections or bad experiences, for example, can influence our self-esteem.
What others see in us, or instead what we think others see, is crucial in determining our degree of self-esteem. We enter the realm of security and self-confidence, undermined by outside influences. But if there is something that determines the state of health of our self-esteem, it is childhood. The positive or negative reinforcement that we have had from the first steps of our life will be essential for our emotional security in the future.
It is important to emphasize that self-esteem is not the same as self-confidence. Self-confidence is linked to those specific objectives and goals that we set for ourselves, while self-esteem refers to the global assessment we make of ourselves. A person may think that she is very good at playing the piano or playing basketball. However, that does not mean that that person cannot have low self-esteem. This is someone confident in his ability in those specific areas but would still like to be taller or have a better physique …
However, it is up to us how we want this self-esteem to be since we can work on it more positively or adequately.
do exercise
The most extensive study conducted on exercise and self-esteem showed that as long as it is of medium intensity, doing sports increases self-esteem in the short term.
Thirty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a day is enough to reduce cortisol levels and increase your well-being, thanks to the release of endorphins. Move on!
The world does not revolve around you; think more about others.
To feel better when you are a bit low in spirits, stop continually thinking about yourself and your discomfort and try to draw your attention outward. And it is that thinking only about your problems does not do you any favors; it will only worsen the situation.
If you are interested in going deeper and need external support to raise your self-esteem, do not hesitate to contact us through a free online orientation (a face-to-face option in our different branches). In which, you can have an individualized space with an expert counseling psychologist to address the issues that concern you and find the solution together.
Bases of self-esteem
As you may have seen, self-esteem also has its bases, and it is essential to know them in-depth to improve and reinforce them: These bases are the following:
- Social and the material universe that surrounds you: contact with other people is one of the most important sources we have to create our world vision. The relationship you have with each of the people around you (friends, family, partner) will be responsible for developing your idea of how you think you are.
- Negative beliefs: Changing the beliefs and pillars that we have assumed throughout life is complicated, but this does not mean that it is impossible. In general, people are very reluctant to change, much less to those that affect deeply rooted beliefs that we have been self-convinced over the years. For example, if inside you have always believed that you are an ugly person or that you do not help do a particular activity, today it will be tough for you to change those thoughts and begin to value yourself as you deserve. Therefore, to raise and strengthen self-esteem, it is essential to treat the problem at its roots, from your most internal convictions.
- The theory you have developed about yourself: every one of the qualifiers with which we define ourselves (regardless of whether they are good or bad) forms a theory about who we think we are. When these qualifiers are primarily negative, inevitably and sooner or later, we will have low self-esteem. Beginning to define ourselves with more beautiful and actual words will help us begin to love ourselves a little more.
Self-esteem is the generally positive assessment of oneself. For psychology, it is the emotional opinion individuals have of themselves and overcomes rationalization and logic in its causes.
In or afterwords, self-esteem is a feeling that values our set of bodily, mental, and spiritual traits that make up the personality. This feeling can change over time: children begin to form how other people see them from the age of five or six.
Assessment
Those who have good self-esteem value themselves positively.
Self-esteem in psychotherapy and psychopedagogy
Maintaining good self-esteem is essential in psychotherapy since it is usually a recurring symptom in different behavioral problems. For this reason, some psychologists define self-esteem as the body’s function that allows self-protection and personal development since weaknesses in self-esteem affect health, social relationships, and productivity.
The concept of self-esteem is critical in the field of educational psychology. This discipline considers self-esteem as the cause of constructive attitudes in individuals and not its consequence. This means that if a student has good self-esteem, then she can achieve good academic results.
Self-esteem is also usually a value analyzed from self-help, with thousands of books teach how to protect and encourage it. However, there are sectors of psychology that believe that self-help can be harmful to the individual since it promotes a narcissistic profile that affects social relationships.
oak mast in personal valuation
There is an outstanding line between the recovery of self-esteem and the artificial manufacture of self-confidence. People who have serious problems accepting themselves, whether due to physical or mental characteristics, should treat them patiently, step by step, and not look for an instant recipe to feel better.
The work needed to regain or increase self-esteem is arduous, time-consuming, and almost always has pronounced ups and downs. It all begins with the search for the origin: when do we feel insecure in this regard for the first time, and why do we think this problem arose in us? When we get to the traumatic event or relationship, we take our first steps toward a potential solution.
Let’s think of a conventional treatment consisting of an extensive series of consultations between a patient and his therapist. The process is unpredictable, for better and for worse, in that along the way, there will be discoveries that are difficult to digest and moments in which progress will be faster than expected. The result will be positive in the best cases, and the doors will be opened to a new and more effective social insertion.