Low Self-Esteem  

By Jayaram V

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Self-esteem is the way you feel about yourself and the way you treat yourself. It is how you define yourself and hold yourself in your esteem. It is not only how you see yourself but also how you think others see you.

Your well being, inner happiness, attitude, thinking, actions, expectations, relationships, failures, accomplishments, social skills, courage and confidence depend on your self-esteem. It influences the way you respond to your life's challenges, other people's opinions and your own inner critic, who keeps nagging you constantly.
You may get away from unpleasant friends and relationships, stay away from threatening or disturbing situations, but cannot escape from yourself and your inseparable inner critic. People with low self-esteem usually tend to show some of the following behavioral patterns.

• They develop low expectation about themselves.
• They believe they do not deserve better life.
• They are quick to blame themselves.
• They avoid taking risks.
• They suffer from fear of failure and fear of rejection.
• They seek the approval of others.
• They give more weight to the opinion of others.
• They lack true leadership qualities.
• They become overly defensive in leadership positions.
• They suffer from bouts of self-doubt, anxiety and stress.
• They enter into unhappy and unequal relationships.
• They react emotionally rather than rationally in difficult and challenging situations.
• They hesitate to express themselves honestly in the company of others.
• They rarely live in the present.
• They have a problem saying 'no' to others.
• They have a problem accepting 'no' from others.
• They suffer frequent bouts of self-doubt.
• They adjust to low pay and unhappy work situations.
• They are their own worst enemies, because they sabotage their success and rarely stay at the top.
• They minimize their successes and focus on their failures.

Self-esteem is a product of experience. Very early in your life, you form an opinion about yourself, which stays with you for the rest of your life. Unless you bring a change in your thinking and attitude, it remains in your consciousness and influences the course of your life. If a child's self-confidence is constantly eroded through mindless criticism, ill treatment and unjustified comparison with others, sooner or later the child would suffer from low self-esteem. If parents discriminate among their children, it would cause heavy loss of self-esteem among the least favored.