WHAT IS SELF?
What is self-worth?
We often equate self-esteem with self-confidence. These terms combine an appreciative attitude towards themselves. Self-esteem is a consciously positive self-awareness with important functions for the soul, such as a strong resilience. How much do you like yourself? How satisfied are you with yourself as a person? And how do you deal with yourself should you not be satisfied? - These questions lay the foundations to relate to yourself and to sense your own self-worth.
It begins in childhood, whether we value ourselves. Children who are given the feeling of being loved and who are trusted to do something are more easily convinced of their own worth. The same principles work in adults. They also strengthen your own self-efficacy and autonomy. But if you make yourself small, regardless of your age, you will experience weak self-esteem.
Unfortunately, people too often attach their self-worth to the external environment. This means that we draw from the feedback from our own environment as we are. This conviction comes from within! We decide for ourselves whether we consider ourselves valuable or inferior. Not seeing this completely dependent on other factors strengthens self-esteem and well-being.
What is self-worth good for?
You can also live with low self-esteem, for sure. But you don't have to. Because appreciating yourself and treating it, lovingly has many advantages. It means knowing yourself, being able to assess your own thinking, feeling, and acting and being able to shape life with self-confidence and responsibility. And by the way, you strengthen your health and resistance to stress. Self-esteem helps as a protective factor against stress.
The self-worth as a protective factor
Self-worth can be described as our mental immune system; it protects us from damaging influences. For a long time, the positive attitude towards oneself was seen as a real all-round talent, at least in research. Self-worth was presented as a guarantee of health, success, and social status. Although studies could not prove this, the results showed that high self-esteem leads to a high level of life satisfaction.
What is certain is that low self-esteem has negative effects on our mental health. Because if we don't value ourselves, we're more likely to blame ourselves for things that we haven't had the slightest influence on. In addition, we then deal with our own limits worse and experience ourselves as increasingly inferior. It can become a real vicious cycle. Mental stress disorders and depression can result.
However, if we maintain this mental immune system, we protect ourselves. Self-worth protects you from getting discouraged or being dissuaded by something. You stand up for yourself and don't let anyone tell you that you are worthless. That doesn't mean getting immune to any form of feedback. It only describes the competence to take the aspects that promote one's own growth appropriately in an appreciative and useful manner.
Self-worth as the basis for good resilience
Does high self-worth also actively strengthen health? Yes! Because good dealings with yourself and a positive assessment of yourself are the cornerstones for strong resilience. This is the inner resistance in difficult times and the ability to deal with stress flexibly.
A positive self-image means that we can trust ourselves and our skills and competencies even in crises. High self-esteem protects against doubts that we would otherwise break apart. Due to this increased trust in us, we do not see situations as threatening as quickly and remain able to act longer.
A positive attitude towards yourself is related to healthy optimism, an important pillar of resilience. This means that challenges are more likely to be accepted and also overcome. It is trust in your own coping strategies. People with low self-esteem see the reason for a crisis and remain in a problem trance.
High self-esteem strengthens resilience and is a mental shield against stress and crises.
What is self-worth made of?
The five components of self-esteem." It is about not every pillar standing for itself, but supporting it together in the same form of self-worth. The balance between the individual pillars is important.
The five pillars of self-worth are ...
a conscious life
an independent life,
a purposeful life,
Self-acceptance
self-asserting self-assertion
The columns are described in the next blog posts, and information on practical implementation is given.
