How do you see yourself today? It is a very important question to answer because it can be a guide to your level of self-esteem. Self-esteem is your overall opinion of yourself and how you honestly feel about your abilities and limitations (https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/self-esteem/MH00128). A healthy self-esteem allows you to feel good about yourself, to know your what you are worth, and to deserve the respect of others. An unhealthy self-esteem allows you to put little value on your ideas, your opinions, and leads to thoughts that you are not good enough. There are many factors that influence and shape self-esteem such as your experiences at school and work, your culture, religion, socioeconomic status, and your own thoughts and perceptions (https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/self-esteem/MH00128).
Your self-esteem may change over time and under certain circumstances. It can range from extremely high to low self-esteem. On the extremely high side you feel superior to those around you which may lead you to become arrogant or self-indulgent to the point that you believe you deserve special privileges. On the other side, low self-esteem causes you to focus on your weaknesses and faults, fear failure, or that other people are more capable than you to accomplish a task (https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/self-esteem/MH00128).
Therefore, self-esteem has extreme highs and extreme lows. They key is to find that balance that works for you so that you have a good opinion of your talents and your abilities but see that you have flaws that you can work on to improve. Working to improve your flaws is much more healthy than dwelling on the negative and living in a defeated state of mind. With your balanced self-esteem you are resilient and able to handle stress, setbacks, and confident in your decision making ability. Not to say that your life will be a bed of roses just because you have a healthy self-esteem, you are just less likely to feel worthless, hopeless, and depressed when adversity shows up in your life.
Whatever you are doing, love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling, love yourself for feeling it. – quote: Thaddeus Golas
Whoever despises himself still esteems the despiser within himself. – quote: Friedrich Nietzsche
Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish – quote: Sam Walton