Many people know the benefits of having self-esteem, but only a few know how important it is to have it. Self-esteem is the way you value and believe in yourself. You do not need to have it much, but should be enough to make others value and respect you as the way you want them to. Having low self-esteem can give you many disadvantages. Two obvious disadvantages are stagnancy and social avoidance.

First, when you are not confident with yourself, you do not trust your own efficiency. You will not think that you are capable of completing any challenging jobs assigned. You only choose to do what makes you feel safe and eventually lack of enthusiasm. Everything in your life keeps going like a movie that you open again and again, nothing new, nothing exciting. Then one day, you wake up and find yourself in the same point you were 10 years ago. Your career never grows. You earn a bit more every year, but you are doing the same things every single day. This is sad. Your career is safe while others’ might not, but they are already in tons of movies of their own. Therefore, stop opening the same movie and start making your own fabulous ones that no one would refuse to watch.

Second, if you do not think of yourself as someone important, others will not think so as well. Sometimes, the society you live in might let you down or make you tired. Then, you become a person who always avoids having interaction with strangers or people you do not know well. It is because you do not show your own advantages or beautiful things hidden inside you. People are, therefore, not sure if they should come and get to know you as they have no clue about you. You might feel uncomfortable in start talking with others because you always think that people might not want to know you. When they come to talk to you first, you feel great as you believe that someone actually wants to talk to you. However, they also try to get outside their comfort zone. It is a risk that we all take. Remember that others do not try to avoid you; they just do not know if they can get along with you. So it is your job to always let people know that.

As pointed earlier, a healthy self-esteem goes a long way and affects two of the most important needs of Maslow’s hierarchy. By having self-esteem you are confident enough to move out of your comfort zone and ultimately self-actualize. Secondly, when having a positive self-image, others are more likely to want to know you and then a positive cycle begins where there is a sense of belongingness which impacts one’s self image.

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