A person with a lot of self-confidence has a healthy self-esteem?
If you answered true you're like most people (myself included)who think there's a connection. The truth is self-confidence is our belief in an ability we possess, while self-esteem is much deeper. It's how much we value ourselves --- or more simply, how much we like (and love) ourselves.
When I came to the realization that I had a low self-esteem I was shocked because I was very self-confident. But the longer I looked at it, the more I realized that I had developed that self-confidence to try and make up for the poor self-esteem. And when I looked around at others I knew who were excessively self-confident, I could see the signs of low self-esteem.
Case in point: Take former boxing world champion Mike Tyson.Does he appear to be self-confident? Absolutely. Even overlyconfident when it comes to boxing. But his actions in recent years scream a different story when it comes to esteem. His many acts of self-sabotage are undeniable evidence of a person who deep down in their knower actually hates who they are.
It is impossible to live a happy and successful life with a lowself-esteem!
Does that sound like a rash statement? Well, stop and think about it. People with low esteem judge themselves harshly and usually engage in derisive self-talk. How can you be happy if you don't like the person you're with 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
Most people may not even be aware they have a low (or no) self-esteem. Because it usually occurs over time, most of us don'teven realize we're without it. We just know we feel miserable deep down inside most of the time. We might try to mask it with alcohol, drugs or certain behaviors, but that only contributes to a further decline in esteem.
Do you relate to any of these signs of a low self-esteem:
* Constantly comparing yourself to others
* Regular feelings of being victimized or taken advantage of
* Frequent criticism of others or of circumstances
* Constantly apologizing to others
* Denigrating yourself when talking to others
* Fear of change
* Frequent regrets about past decisions
* Engaging in regular self-sabotage
A low self-esteem can be manifested in many behaviors: unhealthyweight gain (or loss), being the abuser in a relationship as well as being the abused, among many others.
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