Evaluating Your Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is an individual's positive or negative beliefs about being valuable and capable. It describes how a person feels about herself or himself. Self-esteem is the amount of pride in oneself.

Many factors can affect one's self-esteem, either positively or negatively. Some of the things that can lower self-esteem are feelings of self-hate, guilt, shame and embarassment. It can seem difficut to break out of the negativity of a low self-esteem because the focus is on aspects of oneself that are disliked.

Dissatisfaction with one's physical appearance is often a cause of low self-esteem. This can be an issue for plus size women, for we are constantly being bombarded by images of "beautiful" women who are pencil thin. I personally feel this is a very distorted view of people in our society. The images we see on magazine covers, television and in movies represent only a very small percentage of the population.

Raising your self-esteem requires a simple shift in focus. For example, if you are unhappy about your physical appearance you are focusing on those traits you don't like. Instead, look at yourself and pay attention to what you do like about yourself. Maybe you have thick, shiny hair, long legs, great cleavage, or a fabulous neckline. Whatever feature(s) you are most proud of, give all your attention to those positive aspects. Then, find clothing that accentuates your most valued features - a skirt that shows off those great legs, a blouse that hints to your fabulous cleavage, or a belt that shows your hourglass figure.

This simple shift in focus will slowly begin to raise your self-esteem and your self-confidence.