Do you have what it takes to be a winner or a loser – Self-esteem or Ego. If you think you do, then read on for some great tips to help you increase your self-esteem and achieve your goals. First we will look at how to measure self-esteem and ego. Then we will examine the characteristics required to be a winner or a loser.
Ego comes from the Latin word, eus, which means “with.” The ego is a person’s concept of himself. Ego is what makes a person feel like he is a winner or that he is someone who deserves to be a winner. It’s the little voice within us that convinces us that we are worthy of more, that we have something to prove and that we can’t be a loser. And sometimes it may be this little voice that convinces us that we don’t really deserve the things we’ve dreamed of.
The problem is that if we constantly told ourselves we are worthless, that we aren’t good enough, that we don’t matter, our level of self-esteem would start to erode. It’s true that some people suffer from low self-esteem. But most people are not suffering from a low level of self-esteem. If they were, we’d never find people who would willingly tell themselves they aren’t important.
The ego isn’t really the problem; the problem is how ego can get involved in our life. Most of the time, it comes from a false sense of worth. We spend our lives trying to prove to ourselves that we’re smart, talented, etc., but often we forget that those things are meaningless if they don’t bring us recognition from other people and other organizations. A true measure of self-esteem is one that gives us confidence and a feeling of satisfaction when other people recognize us and make us feel important.
Self-esteem can be the foundation for success or it can be the roadblock to our path to success. Many people have a very low self-esteem because they grew up in a household where success was only possible if you were smart, talented, etc. That sort of thinking can actually prevent a person from achieving much of anything. And it certainly doesn’t help build self-confidence when we continually tell ourselves we aren’t as good as we think we are. Instead of building our self-esteem, we build more frustration and self-loathing.
So the bottom line is that the biggest issue when it comes to self-esteem and self-confidence is not what other people think of us, but how we think about ourselves. A person with high self-esteem has high self-confidence, and self-confidence usually goes hand-in-hand. A person with a low self-esteem generally believes that he is just as good or better than everybody else. When you put those two together, you get the concept that the only way we can improve our self-esteem is by increasing our level of self-confidence.
Here’s an example of how this works. A person who thinks he is a failure has this thought all the time, “There’s no way I’ll ever be able to do something or overcome this challenge, or accomplish this goal.” And he keeps telling himself that. He has no inner belief that things will turn out OK or that he has what it takes. His belief is that there is no way he can do it, so he is going to fail.
But what if you told him that there is a way he can achieve his goals and build a strong self-esteem and self-confidence, even while maintaining the same level of competence? What if you showed him an exercise to increase his self-esteem and confidence without increasing his level of competence? Would he believe you? That’s how you build your self-esteem vs. ego.