by Arjun Wadhwa

Created on: March 19, 2009

Self-esteem is really important in one's life. High self-esteem can take you very far in life and low self-esteem will take you nowhere. All people need high self-esteem to be successful and live a happy life.

Self-esteem starts developing when a person is young. Sigmund Freud states "The personality of the person is determined by his/her child hood memories which are embedded in the unconscious". What I understand from this statement is that personality begins to shape at a very young age.

So, you might have low self-esteem for this reason and it might not be your fault. Some people have the things they want, but still feel that they lack something. Life cannot be perfect and the person with low self-esteem only sees the imperfection in himself. Some people develop low esteem due to being obese, others develop it because they think they are ugly, etc.

People with high self-esteem on the other hand feel generally happier about themselves. They are confident, outgoing, and enjoy life. They are generally optimistic and feel comfortable about themselves and know who they are and look at their bright side.

You can find faults with anyone if you observe them closely. Life isn't a move where the perfect person will come and fall in love with you. Life is full of imperfections and we must learn to accept them. The media is a major cause of low self-esteem.

The media portrays an image for males and females. Males must be muscular and females must be slim. The models in television are extremely skinny, and some are even anorexic. The male models on the other hand have huge muscles, which are hard to achieve. These images are not necessarily healthy images. But it affects youngsters all over the world.

Teenagers get low self-esteem because they don't look like the people on television and think that there is something that is missing in them. Others become the victim of bullying and think there is something wrong with them.

A person with low self-esteem feels like he is in a mental prison and may act nervous around others, self conscious, and may not talk to anyone with confidence. If you have these symptoms you might have low self-esteem.

You can improve your self-esteem by making note of all the wonderful things you have and all the wonderful things you can do. Whenever you feel depressed or get low self-esteem, look at the list and smile. You should also do positive self-talk and remove phrases such as "I can't do this" out of your mind.

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