Imagine you are building a house. The first and most important step is to start with a strong foundation. A good foundation will support the structure of the house; a bad foundation will cause endless problems with the stability of the structure. The same thing applies to our own foundations. If we do not have a healthy strong foundation, everything that we try to build on top of it is going to topple down. Self-Esteem, Self-Confidence, and Self-Image make up the foundation of self. Low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence or negative self-image can weaken and destroy our foundation. A fragile foundation hinders self-improvement and goal obtainment because as we try and try we see our efforts collapse. The connection between the amount of success that we see in our lives is in proportion to how healthy or unhealthy our sense of self is. Self- Esteem is the sense of one's worth or value. It is the opinion or judgment of yourself and the measure of self-respect and pride that you have for yourself. People that have low self-esteem do not hold themselves a high regard. They are often people pleasers that neglect their own needs for the needs of others. Low self-esteem prevents a person from accomplishing goals in their lives because on either a conscious or an subconscious level they do not really believe they are worthy. Individuals that have low self-esteem might engage in acts of self-sabotage to make their belief that they are not worthy of success a reality, not only in their own minds, but in their physical reality as well. Self-confidence is the belief in yourself and your abilities. Low self-confidence often keeps people from going after their goals because they do not believe they have the skills or abilities to succeed. This often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you don't think you can then you won't, no matter what steps you employ. Lack of belief in your abilities will prevent most people from even attempting to go after their goals or to give up too quickly. Self-Image is the overall concept or metal image of yourself and your assessment of your qualities. This is simply what you think of yourself, do you consider yourself as a good person or a bad person. How do you define yourself? When you think about your traits do only see the bad? How do you describe yourself to others? These are all questions to consider when figuring out if your self-image is positive or negative. An unhealthy self-image impacts your overall feelings of worth which inhibits self-improvement and growth. These three foundation blocks are interconnected. A low self-esteem is usually going to result in low self-confidence and poor self-image. In turn, having a negative self-image contributes to your low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence. The three work together to form the foundation of self, a trouble in one area leads to issues in the remaining two; making the urgency to work on the areas that need improvement even more critical. The best way to keep your foundation strong is to first and foremost realize your worth, know that you are a good person and that you deserve success in your life. If you really do not believe that, you start with changing the way you think. Daily affirmations are an effective way to change negative thoughts connected with your image, esteem, and confidence. By telling yourself positives, you are through repetition retraining yourself to think differently about yourself. Changing the way that you talk to yourself is another way to strengthen your foundation. Most people with low sense of self, engage in negative self talk and are very critical of themselves. Being aware of how you talk to yourself and making the switch from negative to positive can really change the way you think and feel about yourself. It also improves the relationship that you have with yourself, promoting self-love and better insights into yourself. By thinking of yourself as being worthy and deserving of success in all areas of your life, you are removing limiting thinking. Our thoughts help create the realities in our lives. By believing in yourself, you are creating and maintaining the healthy sense of self that is going to help you flourish. The first step is to take action. It is important not to keep yourself from falling down into a black hole, resulting in feelings of hopelessness and despair. Evaluate your esteem, confidence, and image. Start implementing ways to improve them, one step at a time. If you do not think that you can do it on your own, then seek help! There is no shame in asking for help, the shame is depriving yourself of a life of prosperity and success. copyright 2007 Tonya Ramsey. All Rights Reserved.
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