Health Network News

One thing that we all learn at an early age is how to interact with others and because we are human and possess a bevy of emotions and esteem building raw materials, how those other humans react to us is all important in constructing our feelings toward ourselves. We learn that it is important to be a good listener and treat others fairly, and very definitely the way our parents treated us as infants and then children played a big part in our formation of our picture of ourselves and our feelings of self worth.

If you were constantly told you were a failure, or were ugly, or stupid; after time, your self esteem would be at such a low level that you felt negatively about everything and then others would perceive that and begin to treat you in the same way, or shy away from being in contact with you at all. And the more that feeling is solidified in your inner core and thoughts, the more it becomes a part of your persona and affects everything you do. Positive self esteem is simply feeling good about yourself and your lot in life, and having that feeling constantly bolstered by the folks around you.

People who have good self esteem are the movers and shakers of the world, and the converse is also true—-those who think poorly of themselves and are ignored by the world in general are those who lead miserable lives and never really succeed at anything they try. Learning how to improve self esteem is a vital factor in becoming a successful person both in your work life and your personal life, because everything you do is affected by how you feel about yourself, positively or negatively.

People the world over can think of someone they have encountered in their lifetime that did not have a good outward appearance or was disfigured or downright ugly; and yet that person was comfortable with his lot in life, loved life and welcomed the company of other folks, and made them feel special when they were with that person. Soon, the outward appearance was overlooked, and the warm inner spirit of that person was revealed and you just knew that that person had good self esteem and reacted to others in a positive way so he was treated the same way in return.

So many of us dwell on outer appearances and what other people think of us or how we present ourselves to them, when what we need to be doing is building ourselves up in our own minds so we feel good about being who we are, and in turn react to others accordingly. The rest follows without much prodding: good things happen to those who treat others as they would want to be treated.

As we start out in life, we are a blank slate on which everything that defines who we are and will be later in life is imprinted, happening by happening. If the majority of those happenings are positive, then you are blessed with a very positive image of yourself and you project that to others around you, who respond in like fashion. Similarly, if your blank slate is covered by slurs and negativity and you grow up feeling you are worthless and wish you had never been born, then that slate is going to need some serious cleaning and work to get you on the path to a healthy self image and self esteem, so you feel that you are special and good, and have something to offer the world.

If you want to be a success in life, as society defines success, then you must have a strong and very positive self esteem that will carry you through all the valleys and chasms you must cover to get to the goal you are seeking. Life is not fair, and for those who suffer from self doubt, feelings of worthlessness, and despair—-life can be excruciating and an absolute hell to live through. Learning how to improve self esteem and maintain a positive image of yourself and your abilities is crucial to getting to where you want to be in life. Self esteem is nothing more than feeling good about yourself, that you are a person of great worth, and people want to be around you and take to heart what it is you have to say because they value you as a person. Once you master that, you are on the fast track to success.