09 Jul If you really want to be happy; you have to be happy with yourself
How do you think about yourself? Honestly?
So many of us are highly self-critical; and it’s hard to be happy if we’re constantly judging ourselves in a negative way.
Happiness rarely comes to those who aren’t happy with who they are; in contrast, happiness very much depends on the relationship we have with ourselves…
via Psychology Today by Jennifer Guttman
In my over 20 years in private practice, I’ve witnessed an alarming rate of low self- esteem among my clients which is linked to a critical self-concept. In fact, it’s estimated that roughly 85% of people worldwide (adults and adolescents) have low self-esteem. Low self-esteem has been linked to violent behavior, school dropout rates, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement. The World Health Organization (WHO) in reports that more deaths are caused by suicide every year than homicide or war.
Understanding How Self-Concept Affects You
Self-concept was described by Baumeister in 1999 as a person’s understanding or belief about their personal attributes. These beliefs affect how they interact with the outside world. A person’s self-confidence, as well as other attributes such as self-worth, self-love and self-respect, are impacted by how intact our self-concept is. An impaired self-concept adversely interferes with a person’s ability to find happiness, and over 80% of my clients are struggling with feeling some level of unhappiness in their lives. Taken together, the relationship we have with our self-concept can invariably prevent our ability to achieve our overall desired level of satisfaction and happiness in our lives.
Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, places self-actualization at the pinnacle of emotional adaptive achievement in his hierarchy of needs. He includes “esteem” needs within the hierarchy. In his view, “esteem” needs include the need and aptitude for self-confidence to continue on a path towards self-actualization. He notes that when self-confidence is driven by notoriety from outside sources it will be fragile. However, when the feeling is cultivated from within, it will feel more deserving, and thus, be regarded by the “self” as of higher value…
…keep reading the full & original article HERE