Why Building Self-Esteem is Important

Self-esteem may seem like something we all have, and there is little we can do to change it. The facts of who we are determine how we see ourselves, and there is no changing those, right? Don’t be so sure.

The reality is our perception of ourselves is often subjective and influenced by our circumstances. For example, how do you feel after spending time chatting with those you love, versus spending time scrolling social media? You will likely feel comfortable and happy after a meaningful, edifying conversation rather than considering the advantages of others who are enjoying and living their best life.

Maintaining and building self-esteem is important as it can be the reason you feel good and take care of yourself, versus feeling like you just cannot be bothered.

The messages and advice many have heard throughout their lives are to believe in themselves and to love themselves. These may feel motivational, but how can they last and what is their application to daily life? After all, the advantages of having high self-esteem far outweigh the significant disadvantages attached to a low view of yourself.

To get a handle on why building self-esteem is important, consider the definition that self-esteem is how we evaluate and understand ourselves. It’s based on our opinions and beliefs about ourselves. These opinions can feel difficult to change. Self-confidence is another way of thinking about self-esteem.

Therefore, admiring and respecting yourself is a key part of having healthy self-esteem. But why building self-esteem is important goes beyond that. It is coupled with ascribing to yourself admiration, respect, dignity, and love. In believing in yourself, you unlock the capacity to learn and contribute to the world around you as well as trust yourself to do a good job. You have an assurance that your ideas, feelings, and opinions are worthwhile.

Self-esteem describes your feelings toward how you think and interact with other people. It is your personal worth as well as your characteristics. For this reason, those who have suffered abuse at the hands of others, especially while they were growing up, are far more likely to experience low self-esteem during their childhood and beyond.

Interestingly, self-esteem is a culmination of your view of everything that defines you as a person. This will include your personality, achievements and accomplishments, talents, capacity, background, experience, relationship, physical body, and understanding of how others perceive you.

As we are all unique individuals, different aspects of our lives have particular relevance to our self-esteem. This may be seen by some placing a priority on their appearance, while to others being in a relationship or being able to excel in their career are more important. Having experienced success or failure in these areas will impact your self-image.

Link Between Self-Esteem and Depression

Depression and self-esteem are linked, but distinct. Having low self-esteem is seen as a factor that may cause depression. Depression is a mental health illness that has an impact on your mind as well as your body, while self-esteem reflects your thoughts and feelings about yourself. Linked to our individuality, some people experience more solid self-esteem, while others’ views of themselves are buffeted by their emotions and events, sometimes resulting in a sudden drop.

While each person can control some elements of what influences their self-esteem, others cannot. What you focus on more will influence the amount of kindness and empathy you show yourself.

Focusing on Building Self-esteem

It makes sense then that possessing healthy self-esteem means that you hold yourself in a good light. You may not admire every nook and cranny of your character or thought life but on average you respect yourself more than you do not. It is normal for those with what is considered high self-esteem to be self-critical and look to correct areas of their life they are not satisfied with. Circumstances may influence the level of our self-esteem.

By possessing good self-esteem, we can admire our strengths, resolve to make the most of our weaknesses, and generally be hopeful about who we are and our lives. This firm footing means that as the storms of life blow, we can stand firm because deep inside we know we have the right stuff and we value ourselves for it.

Being able to lift your head and stand tall helps to take your focus off yourself and your troubles. Your perspective of others’ interaction with you is not shaded by an abiding insecurity or dissatisfaction with yourself. By consciously building self-esteem in the small habits of each day you strengthen your view of yourself and your role within your network.

A side effect of each person having their view on what is important to their perception of themselves is that their high or low self-esteem may not line up with the expectations of others. Should someone experience success in their relationships, career, or health it does not automatically indicate high self-esteem.

Why Building Self-esteem Is Important

A central advantage of building self-esteem is that a strong one gives you a secure mental platform from which to experience life. Findings show you are better able to cope and react in the face of both opportunity and challenge, and you are more able to keep unpleasantness at an arm’s length. This helps you avoid being burdened by the baggage of despair and fault-finding.

You can deflate the stress and worries of daily life so that you are better able to deal with them. When you have a high view of yourself and healthy self-esteem you are much more naturally inclined to look for how you can react and adapt to challenging situations rather than letting them knock you over.

When someone with an already low self-esteem is confronted with hardship then their perception of themselves is likely to become entrenched even further into their consciousness. Negative thinking and unhealthy self-talk are reinforced.

The benefits of having high self-esteem overflow from the way you feel about yourself, to the way that you treat others. Called prosocial behavior by those in the field, it is understood to be actions and reactions that benefit others rather than yourself. Examples of these are actions of generosity or feelings like empathy. Good relationships with your family as well as the ability to be flexible are also common in people with high self-esteem, according to studies.

Building Self-esteem: Stress and Well-Being

Stress is another factor in your life that will be influenced by your level of self-esteem. Having character traits of generosity, empathy, and the like are known to reduce the impact of stress factors in our life. This helps us manage them. Meeting goals, being able to manage yourself well, having academic success as well, and as self-control are all easier to accomplish as you mature in your efforts of building self-esteem.

There is also a significant opportunity cost in not having healthy self-esteem which is seen in its function as an inhibitor of depression and anxiety. Studies have been able to build on this and show that high self-esteem is linked to the amount of life satisfaction you feel and your ability to consistently maintain a good attitude. Being content at work, play and within yourself are more significant benefits of healthy self-esteem.

A concept you may have heard before is that mental health exists on a spectrum. Your self-image can be somewhere between negative and positive. Your self-esteem is able and likely to change as you pass through different stages, experiencing and reacting to life. In some people, the change can be quite dramatic. In others, their self-esteem fluctuates around a particular level.

Building Self-Esteem Helps You Cope

Low self-esteem is understood to be an always-poor self-image. Someone with low self-esteem is not just experiencing a bad day but experiencing this no matter what is going on in their lives. Subject matter experts say that our self-esteem is influenced by our intrinsic nature that we were born with as a result of our genetics and personality type and also by how we have been nurtured in our upbringing, experiences, and the people around us.

There is agreement that very low self-esteem makes you vulnerable to poor mental health and the associated challenges. This means that a poor self-image contributes to depression and anxiety rather than depression contributing to low self-esteem.

On the flip side, studies show that high self-esteem provides better coping skills, higher levels of positivity as well as resilience which is nurtured by being kinder to yourself in your emotions and self-talk.

Christian Counseling to Accelerate Building Self-Esteem

If you’re looking for additional help knowing how to speed up the process of building self-esteem browse our online counselor directory or contact our office to schedule an appointment. We would be honored to walk with you on this journey.