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The Three “Selfs”
It’s easy to confuse self-confidence with self-esteem, and self-esteem with self-worth.
Although they each have an impact on one-another, they are different things.
Self-confidence is the attitude you have about your skills and abilities. When you have self-confidence, you are more willing to trust yourself and make choices that make you feel more in control in your life. You are fully aware of both your strengths and your weaknesses, but you don’t spend time ‘beating yourself up’ about things you don’t do well. Instead, you are comfortable either acknowledging that you don’t know how to do something, or be willing to learn how to do it better! There is little or no negative self-talk when you have self-confidence. Instead, your inner-voice is helpful and serves you. You believe in yourself.
Self-esteem refers to a person’s beliefs about their own worth and value. People often make decisions and choices for their lives based on their self-esteem and, if it’s negative, it can stop you from taking action or accomplishing things that you would otherwise be perfectly capable of doing. A low self-esteem can cause consistent stress because you are always questioning yourself. If your self-esteem is very low, it can be paralyzing. Negative self-talk is always present when there is low self-esteem.
