While looking for tips to increase my Self Confidence I came also across the term Self Esteem. And had to admit that I was not sure what the difference between these two is.
So what is Self Esteem? What is Self Confidence?
What Is Self Esteem?
If you check out some definitions on the Internet about what is Self Esteem you come across descriptions like
- Self Esteem is a feeling of pride in yourself, the degree to which one values oneself
- Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth
- Self Esteem is about personal feelings or opinions of oneself
- Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, “I am competent” or “I am incompetent”) and emotions such as despair, triumph, pride and shame
So self esteem is a subjective assessment that people make of themselves. It also says something about how much you like yourself.
What Is Self Confidence?
Now if Self Esteem is how you feel about yourself, what is Self Confidence? Again you can check out some definitions like wikipedia and you will find things like
- Self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one’s personal judgment, ability, power
- Self Confidence is a measure of one’s belief in one’s own abilities
- It’s an individual’s belief that they can successfully perform a desired behavior
- Self Confidence is a feeling of trust in ones abilities, qualities and judgment
Now that sounds a little bit different to me. Self Confidence seems to be more about how much I trust myself that I can actually achieve what I want, compared to how I feel about myself / how much I like myself.
Self Esteem Or Self Confidence?
So in order to improve yourself and your life, what do you need to concentrate on? Self Esteem Or Self Confidence?
In my humble opinion both of them are really important.
If you don’t like yourself (low self esteem), you won’t treat yourself in the best possible way, which will stop you from improving yourself.
If you don’t believe in yourself (low self confidence), you won’t go ahead and do everything in your power to achieve your goals.
So in order to live the life you want, in order to achieve your goals and learn the abilities you need to live a happy and successful life, you need to love yourself and believe in yourself.
You need both, Self Esteem and Self Confidence.
Your Next Step In Self Improvement
So now that we have clarified what Self Esteem and Self Confidence actually mean, what do we do? My suggestion? Work on both of them. Because the more you like yourself the more you will trust yourself. And the more you trust yourself, the more you will achieve your goals which will help you like yourself even more.
So what is Self Esteem for you, what is self confidence for you? And how do you increase them? Give us your tips in the comments below.
In the next post I will talk about some tips on how to improve self confidence and how to build self esteem.
Stay tuned 
Renee
Self Improvement Explorer
© 2010
Posted in Self Improvement, Self growth | Tagged self confidence, self esteem, what is | 11 Comments »
Self Improvement Books – they cover a huge section in nearly every bookshop these days. But which one should you read? What is right for you?
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I am by far not finished with my Self Improvement Journey, but I have a couple of Self Improvement Books that I have read and can really recommend already. I will update this list with my most favourite from now on, so keep checking back.
Renee (37)
David Moloney (9)
BelindaO (7)
Wal Heinrich (7)
Cherie Rasmussen (6)
Eileen (6)
Cemil (5)
Lina Nguyen (5)
Jan Littlehales (4)
Jazz Salinger (4)
