Self-esteem and Career

When we talk about self-esteem, what strikes in your mind? Is it you comprehending that do you have low self-esteem or high self-esteem? Or is it that you start defining your worthiness from some particular set of things from your life?

Let's see!

What is Self-esteem?

In layman’s terms, self-esteem is what we think of ourselves and our worth. It is usually made up of 4 factors which are: self-confidence, identity, feeling of belonging, and feeling of competence. In a nutshell, it is the overall thinking you have for yourself.?

When you have high self-esteem, you feel confident and good about yourself, however, if you have low self-esteem, you give less importance to yourself.? People are made up of both high and low self-esteem which can vary from situation to situation.?

For example: If you’re good in English and Communication, you would feel confident there which shows you have high self-esteem in that area. However, if you are poor in Maths and do not feel that confident when you do it, that shows you have low self-esteem in that area.?

Relationship between Career and Self-esteem

There is a strong relationship between your career and your self-esteem. The career path that you chose for yourself depends upon how much confidence do you have in your values, ideas, and abilities.?

It is important to have a firm understanding of your skills and abilities so that to make a decision related to your career - you can stick by it in the long run. It becomes very difficult to trust yourself or have realistic expectations from yourself if you don’t have that confidence.?

Self-esteem has a direct impact on your career, which might also lead you to settle for less if you have low self-esteem.

Signs of low self-esteem

• Judging yourself
• Very critical about your ideas and opinions
• Not being confident even in things you are good at
• Blaming yourself for everything?
• Comparing yourself with others
• ?Not appreciating yourself?
• Being very negative about yourself?
• Feeling like you do not deserve anything?

How to form healthy self-esteem?

There are many techniques to tackle this issue with self-esteem. This would not only help you in making better life decisions but would also help you in understanding yourself deeply.

• Introspection of negative thoughts: most of the self-doubt comes from the negative thought patterns, sit with yourself and tap into those distorted thoughts/patterns to look into the root cause of the problem.
• Questioning those negative thoughts: whenever you find yourself getting tangled with those negative thoughts, counter them with realistic questions, for eg: What reason does the thought have? Is the reason good enough or your thought is telling you it is a very big deal?
• Positive affirmations: Try to talk in a sweet and positive manner with yourself. If that seems hard, think how would you talk to your friend - had they were going through something bad,
• Be gentle with yourself: being harsh with yourself is the easiest task. The difficulty comes in when you have to be gentle with yourself. Try complimenting yourself for little things, appreciate yourself, and try using as many positive words with yourself you can.
• Relaxation techniques: lastly, to align yourself with your thoughts or to understand yourself deeply, you can always do breathing exercises, meditation, or activities that make you focused. This helps you be in the present moment and makes you control your thoughts, instead of the other way round.?

Having low self-esteem can lead to depression and anxiety. Having a healthy relationship with your self-esteem not only helps you career-wise but makes you confident in all walks of life.

You can always consult a therapist if you feel you’re stuck somewhere and you are not able to change patterns.