Question

According to DuBrin (2015), "Early life experiences have a major impact on self-esteem". A lack of self-esteem causes many barriers to communication. Provide two or three examples on how to develop a healthy self-esteem. Which ones would be the most significant? Why? Explain and discuss your responses. Be sure to support your response(s).

Answer 1

Having a positive and good self-esteem is necessary for good communication and shapes an individual personality. Lack of self- esteem results in detrimental development of good communication. A healthy self-esteem can be developed by-

- Not comparing ourselves with others

- Not trying to be a perfectionist

- Setting realistic expectations.

The most significant would be not comparing ourselves with others. This is because we all are shaped by different background and life chances. Our background has already made us able to orient better to other things. Comparing ourselves with others only makes us focus on what we do not have or our shortcomings. While doing that, we spend extra energy on trying to be something which we are not. For example, trying to achieve a particular look just because we want it would only make us exhaust ourselves. The main insight to self-esteem is that we only gain self- esteem when we appreciate ourselves more and when we acknowledge that we are different and unique.