Self-image is a barometer of how much we like or dislike ourselves. It’s a measure of our self-esteem. And unfortunately, it’s not something we can hope to completely outgrow with age. And we can’t ignore it either—it’s an essential part of our characters—in fact, it defines who we believe we are. But we can do plenty to re-define how we see ourselves.
The most popular test of measuring self-esteem is the so-called Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). It was developed by the American social psychologist and sociologist Morris Rosenberg in 1965 and quickly became the “go-to” way to assess how much we generally like ourselves. The test is very easy and fast to do, produces immediate results, and …
The work fairy has been kind to me. Over the years, I’ve held some pretty good positions and was involved in many impactful projects—the types that attract lots of attention from the guys upstairs. I’ve been mentored by a CEO and have worked closely with all kinds of C-execs. Pretty lucky, wouldn’t you say? How …
Influencing your self-esteem is not an easy task, no matter what all the magazine articles tell you. Just think about it– isn’t it highly doubtful that anyone can achieve lasting results by following a 10-bullet advice, which often is not even proven to actually work? If it was that easy, we all will be confident– …
The Terror Management theory of self-esteem is an interesting concept. Human behavior, it says, is motivated by the awareness that death is inevitable. The tension — that we want to live and that we will all die one day –creates anxiety. Therefore, we need self-esteem as it serves as a buffer—it helps us to decrease the terror and to alleviate the fear of demise, which otherwise “paralyzes” and prevents us from pursuing our life goals.
We all, naturally, want to see our endeavors pay off. No one likes to work for the sake of working—it’s always to achieve something greater, to create, to leave a legacy behind. And while things as luck, talent, abilities, even our backgrounds matter to a point, certain personality traits, which we can largely nurture, and the decisions that we make, have the greatest say in our outcomes.
Why do we so often fail to build an impartial self-image, and end up, instead, with a biased one? The simple version of what’s a rather complex and perhaps a very lengthy answer is that: the swayers are just way too many.
We rarely directly link confidence and happiness. However, a vast amount of research tells is that a rather deep friendship exists between the two. Namely, higher confidence leads to greater happiness.
Confidence Hack #5 for 2018: We often tend to forget that healthy self-esteem starts with the “self,” with focusing on ourselves, with making ourselves happy first. So this year, practice more self-care. The best gift we can give to ourselves is learning an unconditional self-acceptance. Remember: “Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.”
For the next five days, I will be sharing my top tips on how to make 2018 your most confident year yet. Here’s my 4th confidence hack…