Self-Esteem For Dummies
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Everyone’s self-esteem has been shaken by one experience or another. Unfortunately, you can’t just wake up one morning to find that your sense of self-worth has skyrocketed overnight. You have to work on yourself daily so that having healthy self-esteem becomes natural and comfortable.

By understanding where your sense of self-regard is already healthy and where it needs some improvement, you’ll be much better able to focus on the areas that need work.

Concentrate on several indicators of self-esteem:

  • Success: People with healthy self-esteem are eager to imagine a wonderful future and take the steps to achieve that future. Setting goals and reaching them come naturally. Because they have so much confidence, they find it easy to reach out, learn new skills, and stand strong to follow their aspirations.

  • Competence: Along with success, competence is taken for granted. Those with strong self-esteem know they have talents and skills they can use in their work and for pleasure. They can ask for help and accept help from others. If they’re unfamiliar with something, they speak up and let others know and/or research until they find the answer.

    Although they listen to suggestions from others, they maintain their power and decide on their own how to act. Even if they’re criticized, they evaluate what is said and come to their own conclusions.

  • Self-love: You can’t go around with negative thoughts about yourself all the time and have a strong sense of self-worth. Those with a healthy sense of regard replace demeaning thoughts about themselves with constructive ones that build their self-confidence. In addition, they are adept at graciously accepting compliments. They know they can do things well, so they are happy to hear others acknowledge this, and they allow themselves to feel good about this recognition.

  • Appearance: People with a healthy degree of self-esteem appreciate their appearance, even if they’re not what would commonly be considered good-looking. They take pride in their appearance and do their best to be clean and appropriately dressed.

  • Relationships: Those with strong self-esteem depend on themselves for their opinions rather than others. They don’t worry about the reactions of others, and they can express their opinions with ease. How they feel about themselves is dependent on their own thoughts, not on what others say about them.

  • Assertiveness: Being served food that is cooked incorrectly or the wrong food in a restaurant can be frustrating. Getting home and finding out that the clothes you just bought don’t fit you as well as you thought can also be annoying. People who have healthy self-regard find it easy to deal with these situations. They’re not shy; they speak up and get their needs attended to.

About This Article

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About the book authors:

S. Renee Smith is a renowned self-esteem and branding expert, speaker, author, and resource to the media. Her expertise in personal and professional development and ability to inspire others to make positive, permanent changes has made her a sought-after consultant and speaker to Fortune 500 corporations, universities, government and nonprofit agencies, and churches. Vivian Harte has taught assertiveness skills online to over 10,000 students worldwide. She has 14 years of experience teaching in the classroom at Pima Community College and the University of Phoenix. She also hosted her own radio and television shows for many years in Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, and Tucson.

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