Self Esteem 1.2
(Section 2)
Context:
You’ll face plenty of challenges as you enter the workforce, and you’ll need the confidence to rise to the occasion and take on new assignments. In the workplace, your goal isn’t to earn a grade or score — it’s to solve problems, create solutions, and complete tasks to the best of your ability.
When you learn to respect and value yourself, you can focus on doing your best work, bringing your ideas forward, and giving full effort — instead of worrying about the outcome or whether you’re “good enough.”
What it is: Self-confidence is knowing that you will do your best. This may mean getting help from another team member, asking questions, doing research about a subject, and even failing and making mistakes along the way.
Self-compassion is being reasonable with what you expect from yourself. Both are part of developing balanced self-esteem.
Why it’s important: School is mostly a solo experience (except for the occasional group project). Your grades rest on your shoulders, and the final score matters more than the process or effort.
In the workplace, it’s different. You’ll work with teammates, and what matters isn’t just completing a task — it’s performing at your best. Employers value people who have the confidence to take on new challenges, learn new skills, ask for help, research solutions, fail, and try again.
Unlike school, the way you approach a task matters as much as the result. Employers would rather hire someone enthusiastic and willing to try — even if they fail — than someone who doesn’t have the confidence to take on the challenge at all.
Primer Questions
Are you easily discouraged?
How does failing (not getting the grade or the result you wanted) affect you? Does it make you determined to keep trying? Or does it make you feel like quitting?
Do you give yourself credit when you attempt to do something, even if you don’t succeed?
Write down your answers and observations in your journal. Do you need to make any changes in your view of failing? or to your view of effort?
“
A winner is a dreamer who never gives up. –
”
— Nelson Mandela
Take a metacognitive moment to check yourself.
Praise effort, not just results.
Once you entered school, learning became all about the end result — the grade on your homework, quizzes, or tests. But before school, you were praised for your effort and curiosity, not a score.
Even though the school system measures you by results, you don’t have to measure yourself that way.
Focus on doing your best. Give 100% effort to everything you take on, and appreciate that you showed up fully, no matter the outcome. Take pride in your effort. If you keep giving your best consistently, the results will follow.
Watch the video.
The video is designed to teach basic concepts. Focus on the concepts, then see if you can teach them to someone else. Teaching what you’re learning helps you remember the main points. You can’t teach what you don’t know.
Questions for self-awareness.
Did you learn anything about your self-esteem from answering the survey?
Who or what impacts your self-esteem the most?
Are you reasonable with your expectations of yourself?
Do you know why you have the level of self-esteem you have (whether low or high)?
Write down your answers and observations in your journal, or discuss them with others.
The Royal Society for Public Health recently conducted a survey of nearly 1,500 young people between the ages of 16 to 24 and asked them questions specific to their social media use and their mental health. The following are some interesting statistics:
Four out of five young people want social platforms to identify users who might be suffering from mental health problems based on what they post, and discretely suggest that they get support.
Rates of anxiety and depression have increased 70% in the past 25 years.
One group of researchers was able to predict depression with up to 70% accuracy just by studying a person’s Twitter posts.
70% of teens report that they’ve received support of some kind through social media during difficult or trying times.
Metacognitive Excercise
Earlier this week, you focused on noticing when and how your self-esteem changed. For the rest of the week, pay attention to how compassionate you are with yourself.
Ask yourself whether your expectations for yourself are reasonable. If they aren’t, try to notice why. Be honest — what’s reasonable for someone else your age may not be reasonable for you. Everyone is different.
Write your observations in your journal. Are you being fair to yourself? Do you show yourself compassion? Remember, setting realistic expectations for yourself is one of the best ways to build balanced, healthy self-esteem.
Thought of the day.
I like who I am becoming.