The Role Of Self Esteem In Life

• High self esteem produces successful personalities.
• Low self esteem produces personalities that limit your life.
• Your self esteem determines how much you will grow as a person.

Your level of self esteem has a massive influence on virtually every aspect of your life. For example, your level of self esteem will determine how well you get on with people, how you operate at work and how successful you are likely to become.

Because self esteem plays such a big role in your life, it could therefore be argued that nothing is of more importance than developing and maintaining a healthy level of high self esteem.

In this article you will find out why having high self esteem leads to success in life, and why low self esteem can lead to failure.

Self Esteem And Your Personality

One of the main reasons why self esteem is so important in life, is because your level of self esteem is strongly correlated with your personality characteristics.

People with high self esteem are more likely to have personalities that bring them success in life, good relationships with other people and most importantly, happiness and fulfillment in life.

However people with low self esteem are likely to suffer from personalities that limit and restrict their life, thereby limiting the amount of success and happiness they experience.

The affect of self esteem on your personality is an important thing to bear in mind, as it is often wrongly assumed that the only benefit of self esteem is in how it makes you feel.

Whilst this is partially correct, it is also true that your level of self esteem affects how other people feel about you.

So lets now have a look at the types of personalities that are commonly associated with either high or low self esteem.

As you read each characteristic, make a quick mental note as to whether it is true in your life. This will help you gauge your current level of self esteem, and the type of personality you currently have as a result of it.

The High Self Esteem Personality

Some of the personality traits associated with a high level of self esteem include:

• Rationality
• Intuitiveness
• Creativity
• Independence
• Flexibility
• Ability To Manage Change
• Admitting To Mistakes
• Optimism
• Curiosity / Desire To Learn
• Accepting Criticism
• At Ease Under Pressure
• Belief In Your Abilities
• Calm And Relaxed Attitude
• Confidence When Dealing With People
• Openess To New Ideas And Ways Of Thinking

These characteristics will expand your life, and allow you to grow and develop as a person.

The Low Self Esteem Personality

Some of the characteristics associated with low self esteem include :

• Irrationality
• Rigidity
• Defensiveness
• Self Doubt
• Pessimism
• Negativity
• Blindness To Reality
• Over Controlling Behavior
• Over Dependence On People Or Things
• Fear Of Or Hostility To Other People
• Fear Of The New Or Unfamiliar
• Rapid And Sudden Anger
• Inability To Accept Criticism
• Fear Of Looking Foolish
• Having A Closed Mind
• Inability To Accept New Ideas
• Inability To Manage Pressure Situations

These traits will limit your growth and development in direct proportion to your level of self esteem.

How Much Does Your Self Esteem Allow You To Grow?

Now that you are familiar with some of the personality characteristics associated with high and low self esteem, perhaps you can now see why self esteem is so important in determining the type of success and happiness you achieve in life?

Self esteem is like growing a plant in a pot. The plant will grow, but ultimately its growth is limited by the size of the pot. Once its roots fill up that pot the plant will no longer grow, and may even die.

But as soon as you move that plant into another pot, its roots will expand and the plant will grow bigger and stronger than it was before.

Your level of self esteem is the pot in which you grow and develop as a person. Low self esteem will give you a small pot, in which your growth and life will be limited.

High self esteem will give you a large pot, providing you with plenty of room to grow into a strong, powerful and confident person that will achieve their true potential in life.

What sort of pot do you want your life to grow in?

Self Esteem And Communication

When you have room to grow and are able fully express yourself for who you are, you will automatically improve your communication with others.

You will no longer be trying to impress people with what you say and as a result you will speak more openly, effectively and honestly.

This is because with high self esteem you will believe that what you are saying has meaning and value, and so will confidently express your thoughts and opinions.

However, with low self esteem communication is often muddy and ineffective. Rather than believing in what you say, you will instead be filled with uncertainty about your own thoughts and feelings, and anxiety about the listener’s response.

As a result, you will not express your true thoughts and feelings, but instead express what you think the other person wants to hear. Consequently you will live your life for other people, rather than living for yourself.

The Role Of Self Esteem In Life

High self esteem frees you as a person. It gives you room to grow, thereby allowing you mature and blossom so that the whole world can see the greatness that lies within you you.

When your growth is no longer restricted by low self esteem, only then will you realize that you are truly worthy of happiness and success.

But with low self esteem and a belief that good things are not possible for you, ultimately you will aspire for less and in the end that is exactly what you will get.