A common misconception is that Self Esteem is most prevalent in teenagers and woman post divorce. No so. Low Self Esteem is not selective. Most people have experienced a degree of low Self Esteem at some stage in their lives. Many have managed to work through it. Others have not. Therapists will tell you that it can affect people of all ages, colors, races and creeds, from all walks of life and from all strata of society. One has only to look at the number of suicides amongst the supposedly rich and or famous to see that it is not selective.
Another common misconception is that Self Esteem and Self Confidence are one and the same. If you search anywhere, be it Google, Amazon, your local library or bookstore you will be offered books about self confidence instead of or as well as, Self Esteem. Please take careful note, however, Self Esteem and self confidence are not the same thing. They maybe close cousins and scoring high in one may help the other, either way around, but they are not the same.
- Confidence is, knowing we can do something. Confidence comes from facing our fears about not being able to do something and doing it anyway. Confidence is being able to express your point of view or show your personality and be totally comfortable being yourself. Confidence is not about being arrogant or being boastful.
- Self Esteem is how we see ourselves, the value we put upon ourselves. And value in this context does not mean money in the bank or possessions. Humans are the only creatures that have the ability to identify and have an awareness of self. You can look at yourself and decide how much you like yourself, ‘I’m Okay’ or dislike yourself, ‘I suck’. The problem with this is that we may start to make comparisons. Comparison with others and comparison with how we think, they think we should be! When the comparisons aren’t favorable it can often be the beginning of a downward spiral. Any slight set back can so easily be used as justification for the low Self Esteem and the cycle become a self fulfilling prophecy.
It is critically important to deal with low Self Esteem as it is the value we put on ourselves. As we feel our image improve we recognize more of our positive qualities, we acknowledge even small accomplishments and we begin to feel better about ourselves. That’s a great feeling, believe me.
Making the shift from low to high Self Esteem does not have to be difficult. Either engage the services of a good coach or therapists or learn to improve on your own. With nlp you will quickly and easily learn to think about and value yourself differently. Should you choose this route, as this is your life we are talking about not some minor phobia, I would strongly advise a reputable home study course as opposed to a couple of exercises off of the ‘net. Very easily and quickly you will have greatly improved the value you put on yourself.  Imagine how good you are going to feel a week from now, which you will, when you are a few days only into the home study course. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. How do you want to feel for the rest of your life? Get started with the NLP Home Study Course here and start thinking yourself as valuable which, you will, you are.