Self Esteem 1.2
(Wednesday)
Context:
You will face many challenges as you enter the workforce. It is important that you are confident enough to rise to the occasion and accept assignments given to you. It’s important to understand that in the workplace, your goal is not to get a specific grade or score, but rather to solve the problem, create a solution or accomplish a task to the best of your ability.
So learning to respect and value yourself can allow you to focus on just doing your best, giving it your all, and bringing your ideas to the table, rather than worrying about the outcome.
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 a solitary endeavor (except for the rare group project). In school, the grades you receive rest solely on your shoulders. In school, your grade, not the process and effort is what matters.
However, in the workplace, you will be working with team members. The important thing isn’t that you just complete a task, but that you perform at your peak level. Employers and managers value someone who has the confidence to take on projects or tasks though it may require them to learn something new, get help from others, conduct research, fail, and try again.
Unlike school, how you approach a task, not just the end result, is very important. Employers would rather hire an enthusiastic person willing to take on a challenge even if they fail, than a person who doesn’t have the self-confidence to take on a challenging task 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 started school, the focus on learning became the end result; the grade you receive on your homework, quizzes, or tests. Prior to entering school, when it came to learning, you were praised for your efforts.
Just because our school system grades you by your results, you don’t have to do the same.
Just focus on doing your best. Put 100% effort into everything you do. Then appreciate that you did the best you could, no matter what the result.
Take pride in doing your best. If you keep this up, the results will come.
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 Assignment
For the first part of the week, you were to notice if, when, and how your self-esteem changed. For the remainder of the week, try to be aware of how compassionate you are with yourself.
By this we mean, try to notice if you are reasonable with your expectation of yourself. If not, try to notice why.
Be honest with yourself. While you might think you are reasonable about what you expect from someone your age and background, really try to think about what is reasonable for you, not others around you. Remember we’re all different.
Write down your findings in your journal. Are you reasonable? Are you compassionate with yourself? Do you practice self-compassion? Remember, being reasonable with your expectations is actually one of the best ways to build balanced self-esteem.
Thought of the day.
I like who I am becoming.