In essence, you could say, when I compare myself to others, who are
cleverer, my self-concept and self-esteem seem to reduce.
Now. I dont want to harp on the negative, so I am just
going to give some information I discovered, so you can see if you
identify with this topic as well.
Firstly, lets look at how self-esteem and self-concept are related.
How Self-Esteem and Self-Concept Are Related
Smith and Mackie (2007) defined self-esteem as follows:
The self-concept is what we think about the self;
self-esteem is the positive or negative evaluations of the
self as in how we feel about it.
How we think about ourselves, our self-concept, is derived from our
self-image. Our self-image evolves from two aspects: our personal
identity, and our social identity.
Our personal identity is made up of: our beliefs, our personality traits,
and our various quirks and characteristics.
Our social identity evolves from the responses we receive from others,
(whether positive or negative) and how we identify with external groups
or collectives: our church, our communities, the people at work and so on.
Necessarily, if we have deeply held negative beliefs about our sense of
self-worth, our goodness, our adequacy, or our worthiness of love,
then our self-concept will be low or lacking.
If we receive negative feedback or responses from the people we feel
are important in our lives, and of whom we take notice, then this lack of
affirmation can begin us down.
Another way of looking at how self-concept and self-esteem are related is this.
The picture of self-concept evolves from our self-image, as mentioned
above. The self-image evolves from how we view our: physical characteristics,
our personality traits and our social roles.
If we constantly compare ourselves to others, and measure up as being
inadequate, then out self-esteem will be reduced.
If we expect others to give us positive response often, this expectation
can lead to deflation when we receive negative response instead.
So, in essence, self-esteem is how we value ourselves, irrespective of
our comparisons and our expectations that others should feed our egos.
If we constantly rely on others for our acceptance of self and our worth,
then we will continue to devalue ourselves. Then our self-concept gets
battered.
From that assessment of value that underpins self-esteem,
we develop a picture of ourselves, our identity our self-concept.
Lets look at three simple ways to increase our self-esteem and hence
our self-concept.
3 Ways to Increase Positive Self-Image
1. This first recommendation comes from being more aware of
your state of mind and how you feel at the time.
This is a technique often used in counselling and it is called:
objectification. What that means is: acknowledge that you have
that thought/feeling/or unwanted behaviour. Identify where that
feeling is in your body. Give it a shape or a colour. Expand the
feeling and really feel the intensity of that feeling.
Then dive into it and allow it to dissipate by breathing into it.
It will dissolve. The say thank you to your body for allowing
this to be resolved. It does work.
2. Take baby steps towards identifying what the simplest, most
effective and smallest step you could take right now to improve
your life.
During coronavirus isolation many people have adopted things
like:
– drinking an extra 3 glasses of water each day.
– getting up from your desk/computer and doing some stretches
each half hour.
– Listening to some soothing music at some time during the day
to disconnect from fears and feelings of inadequacy.
Give yourself a mental break.
Decide on one tiny action and do it as often as you can.
3. This is one of my favourites. Scientific evidence has proven that
sound therapy heals the body/mind. It has often been
overlooked. Go to YouTube and type in something like this:
healing for the vagus nerve.
Or, sound therapy. Or healing the body with sound, and, you
will come up with dozens of short videos to follow along with.
Here is one of my favourites:
Vagus Nerve Stimulation – look it up on Youtube
The results I had from listening to this for about 14 minutes was instant
pain relief in my back. For best results listen every day for a week.
What Way Will You Choose to a Healthy Self-Concept?
I am all about less pain and struggle in life.
At the basis of all of our problems are our issues with low self-esteem
and low self-concept.
There are simple ways to increase your self-concept and self-esteem.
Choose one of the above. Or. Make up your own.
I am sure you will gain enormous benefits, as I have.
Best wishes on your journey.
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Blog: Wellness That Works
