Defining Yourself
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As I've seriously studied the subject of self-esteem over the years, I've come to understand that it really is difficult to feel good about yourself consistently. Self-esteem is a complex equation that requires the addition of acquiring one characteristic after another until you achieve the total sum of its parts and find the answer for yourself.
With my two-volume World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary in hand, I studied the meanings of hundreds of words until I found the perfect ones that I felt described all the moving parts of self-esteem.
The following thirteen words, which go along with the 13 Choices for Happiness and High Self-esteem, are each like an individual spoke in a wheel that gives it the strength to carry the heavy load placed upon it.
These are the thirteen interrelated “self-esteem” words are:
1. Self-discernment
Keen perception or judgment; insight into oneself
Spiritual Choice
2. Self-discipline
Careful control and training of oneself
Physical Choice
3. Self-discovery
Learning or finding out about one’s identity
Mental Choice
4. Self-revelation
Disclosure of one’s real self
Emotional Choice
5. Self-respect
Having proper regard for the dignity of one’s character
Social Choice
6. Self-examination
Looking at one’s own state, conduct, or motives
Psychological Choice
7. Self-confidence
Believing in one’s own abilities, power, or judgment
Intellectual Choice
8. Self-guidance
Direction of one’s own course or action
Organizational Choice
9. Self-responsibility
Fulfilling one’s own obligations in a reliable way
Environmental Choice
10. Self-reliance
Dependence on one’s own acts or abilities
Financial Choice
11. Self-renewal
To restore, refresh, or rejuvenate oneself
Recreational Choice
12. Self-sacrifice
Giving up one’s own interests for the welfare of others
Ancestral Choice
13. Self-determination
Direction from within only, no force from without
Moral Choice
I believe that proactively integrating these definitions into your everyday life will contribute to consistent feelings of happiness and high self-esteem and help to define who you really are.