Self-esteem is one aspect of our personality that people often work to improve. There are many ways to go about improving your sense of self such as therapy, books and even self-esteem seminars.
Self-esteem is the way in which a person views his or herself. A person with a healthy self-esteem has a positive outlook and believes in himself. A person who is lacking demonstrates anger and negativity. In fact, many people have written about the symptoms of lack of self-esteem.
Two of these self-esteem writers are Gillian Butler and Tony Hope, authors of “Managing Your Mind”, who listed the signs of low self-esteem as follows:
- feelings of being unloved
- overly dependent, inability to make decisions
- extreme jealousy
- excessive worry
- fear of trying new activities (risk-taking)
- perfectionism
- inability to describe or even understand feelings
- frustration
- excessive anger
- need to over achieve
- poor school performance
- highly critical of self and others
- continuously in poor health
- poor posture, slumping
- inability to look people in the eye
- drug, alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity
- eating disorders
- self-mutilation
While it is important to develop self-esteem in childhood since a person is very impressionable from the ages one to five, self-esteem can be developed at any time or age. One just has to be patient and persevering. There are many ways to develop self-esteem. There are various reading materials on this subject, one of the most famous is “Chicken Soup for the Soul” by Jack Canfield. Incidentally, he also conducts self-esteem seminars.
Self-esteem seminars could take anywhere from one to three days and these are wonderful tools to help develop self-esteem. One can also opt to seek therapy. The key to developing self-esteem is first to recognize what you lack. Pinpoint areas that made you that way and let go. Only with letting go can the process of healing and moving on can truly begin.
Most societal problems today are borne out of a lack in self-esteem. While the most successful people first believed in themselves. Developing self-esteem can be a daunting task but with the right tools and determination, any one of any age can become better individuals.
It would probably surprise a lot of people how a healthy self-esteem could turn their lives around and provide for them success in whatever they choose to do.
Self-Assessment tests are available on the net, but for a thorough evaluation it would be best to seek professional help. Tests on the net usually just give glimpses or ideas of one’s personality strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, it also lists some self-esteem seminars that one can opt to attend.
Some popular self-esteem seminars include:
- Jack canfield (author Chicken Soup for the Soul)
- Self-Esteem Optimization Seminar www.optimalthinking.com/Selfesteem
- National Association for Self-esteem (NASE)
- Self-Hel Energy Workshop (Dr. Doris Jeanette)
While other reading materials include:
- “Measures of Self-Esteem.” – Blascovich, Jim and Joseph Tomaka
- Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes” – J.P. Robinson, P.R. Shaver, and L.S. Wrightsman
- “Two Dimensions of Self-Esteem: Reciprocal Effects of Positive Self-Worth and Self-Deprecation on Adolescent Problems.” – Owens, Timothy J.
- “Accentuate the Positive – and the Negative: Rethinking the Use of Self-Esteem, Self-Deprecation, and Self-Confidence.” – Owens, Timothy J.
- “Extending Self-Esteem Theory and Research” – Owens, Timothy J.
- “Society and the Adolescent Self-Image” – Rosenberg, Morris
- “Conceiving the Self” – Rosenberg, Morris
- “Self-esteem: Clinical assessment and measurement validation.”- Silber, E. and Tippett, Jean
- “Self-Esteem: Its Conceptualization and Measuremen” – Wells, L. Edward and Gerald Marwell
- “The Self-Concept” – Wylie, Ruth C.
Indeed, it is truly important to develop self-esteem and in this day and age, this can easily be done. If you have the financial means, then you might want to consider taking seminars, however, you can also learn through books and there are various publications. The possibility is just endless and besides, it is never too late to be a better person.