It seems like everyone these days is struggling with their sense of self-esteem. The question on everybody’s lips is, “What is self-esteem?” When you hear somebody talk about self-esteem, you almost automatically assume that they are talking about a sense of self worth.
What is the difference between self-esteem and ego? Well, self-esteem is what most people think of themselves as being. Ego, on the other hand, is a concept that people use to define how they value themselves. For example, if you were interviewing one of your employees, you might ask them, “What does self-esteem mean to you?” and they might reply, “I have high self-esteem.”
So which is it really? That depends. Everybody’s experience has been slightly different as far as who they consider to be more worthy to them. If you were a person who had little self-esteem, you would probably think of yourself as something less than desirable. On the other hand, if you are a person who had a very high level of self-esteem, you probably thought of yourself as the opposite – as highly desirable!
Now, most people can’t pinpoint exactly what makes them feel worthy or unworthy. That’s where the ego comes in. Ego comes from knowing that you are valuable and special. As you learn to love and respect yourself, your self-esteem will also grow along with it.
There are many benefits to loving and respecting yourself. When you know and feel worthy of yourself, you become happy with your life. You will have more confidence and a stronger work ethic. More people will want to do business with you because they see that you have a very healthy self-image.
On the other hand, when you build your self-esteem on the strength of negative beliefs about yourself, it can make you depressed, anxious, and downright angry. That’s why low self-esteem is such a major problem. Most people have a belief that they are worthless, inadequate, and/or stupid. When you keep telling yourself these things day in and day out, it becomes real and therefore sticks around for a very long time.
The best way to counteract ego is to learn to embrace all of the great qualities that you have. Start appreciating your intelligence, your creativity, your kindness, your persistence, and your enthusiasm. Realize that other people can be empathetic and understanding when you show these things about yourself. When you start viewing yourself in this light, and when you start to believe that you are great – then you can begin building your self-esteem in a much healthier way.
This does not mean that you have to walk around with a throbbing sense of guilt about who you are. Guilt is a toxin and can poison your relationships, your health, and your life. If you feel guilty about anything, then you will subconsciously want to avoid feeling guilty. You have to consciously choose to feel guilty for no reason at all. When you start to enjoy the good things about yourself and really believe that you are worthy of love, acceptance, and happiness, you will start to notice that your self-esteem will skyrocket.
One of the easiest ways to build your self-esteem is to use your imagination. Use your imagination to envision the things that you would love to accomplish in life and the person that you would like to become. If you can see yourself achieving these things, then you will feel much more confident in yourself and others will be able to see this in you as well. Your self-esteem will rise and everyone will take notice of you.
Another way to build your self-esteem and keep it up is to follow your bliss. If you are doing something that you love to do, but you are always second guessing whether you should do it or not, then you are sabotaging yourself. You must always be willing to follow your bliss, whether you think that it is right or not. If you always second guess whether or not you should do something, then you will never truly be successful at it. You must follow your bliss and believe in yourself and your abilities.
Lastly, you can increase your self-esteem by making other people feel good about themselves as well. If there are people in your life that treat you unfairly because you are different than them, then find a way to bring them around to the way you think and feel about yourself. Sometimes all a person has to do is to compliment another person for that person to begin to see the light and change the way they view themselves.
There are many ways to build your self-esteem. Just remember that each one takes time and practice. Don’t give up and remember that the ego is only a problem when it is controlling you and keeping you from living life the way that you want to. When this happens, you have reached a point where you can no longer go on holding your ego in.