Your personal identity includes the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- How unique you feel.<\/li>
- What values you hold.<\/li>
- Your physical appearance and how you feel about it. <\/li>
- How you compare yourself to others.<\/li>
- Attitudes you have towards your occupation and what this says about you.<\/li>
- Your personal goals.<\/li>
- Your personality and character.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
All of the above pieces that make up your personal identity are evaluated by you and you construct your self-identity. This identity also includes your self-image and self-concept<\/a> which are also parts of the identity you create for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, other people will form different opinions of who you are and so your personal identity may be very different to how others see you. This can cause conflict as others may say things about you that seem untrue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Can Personal Identity Affect Your Self Esteem?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Personal identity can affect your self esteem because it affects how you value yourself. If you have a very strong and positive sense of who you are, your self esteem<\/a> will be high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, if others criticise you often enough this can fill you with self doubt and you may start to believe what they say to you. This can lower your self esteem. This can easily become a negative downward cycle which is difficult to stop. As Stets and Burke state, it is believed that low self esteem causes many problems in a person’s social and personal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personal self esteem can be high and include feelings of self worth, confidence, self acceptance and feeling capable. Low self esteem causes feelings of self loathing and rejection (Porter and Washington ,1979<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An identity is a set of meanings that defines individuals in terms of the roles they occupy, the social categories or groups they belong to, and the individual characteristics that define them as unique persons.<\/p>Stets and Burke, 2014.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
From the above definition of identity we can conclude that it is very much connected with self esteem because a person will judge their role, the groups they belong to and their personal qualities in a positive<\/a> or negative way. This will result in positive or negative self esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Self Awareness and Personal Identity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
One of the most important steps towards higher self esteem is to be clear about who you are and what values you hold. This is the goal of self awareness<\/a>. The more self aware<\/a> you are, the better you will know and understand the real<\/em> you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lack of self awareness may lead to a personal identity that is not based on reality but rather on your imagination. Becoming truly self aware can help to become more in harmony with your true self and wishes. This will then make it possible to live a more authentic and purposeful life which will boost your self esteem<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to this article <\/a>in the Journal of Research in Personality, those who have a clear personal identity are more able to understand their own strengths and weaknesses and therefore have higher self esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Improve Your Sense of Personal Identity and Boost Your Self Esteem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you can start to see yourself more positively, your self esteem and confidence<\/a> will increase. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Who are you?<\/strong> What makes you tick? Knowing this can lead you closer towards positive decisions which will move you towards living more authentically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. What makes you unique?<\/strong> Nobody among the billions of people living on this planet now or the billions of people who lived before, is, or was, ever exactly like you. Understanding this, can help you to enjoy everything that life has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. What are your values? <\/strong>If you want to feel good about yourself<\/a> then you need to understand what your values are and start living true to them. Many people compromise their values and believe they must live a certain way but this is the road to unhappiness and low self esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Your internal identity \u2013 <\/strong>your personality and character make you unique and you should value them. So, focus on what positives you have in these two areas. What do you think are good aspects in your personality which help you or attract others to you? There is always something positive you can find if you look carefully. If you have a friend then what do you think they like about your character? Improvement here will raise your self esteem a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. How you see yourself in relation to others \u2013<\/strong> this is related to your status as you see it. If you believe you have very low status, you will suffer low self esteem. However, if you feel you have a high status this will help you. The way to feel happier and improve your self esteem is to accept yourself based upon your values. Try not to compare yourself to others<\/a>. Those who are very competitive do this all the time and are unhappy with low self esteem<\/a>. Your own standards are more important than other\u2019s, so follow what you want and believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. How you identify yourself in terms of your job \u2013 <\/strong>don\u2019t make the mistake of thinking that a job defines who you are, it is only what you do and nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Your personal goals \u2013<\/strong> these say a lot about who you are and the values you hold. But, if you want to improve your self esteem you should have goals<\/a> that move you closer to being who you really are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding Who You Are Can Guide You To Making Better Decisions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Once you understand who and what you are and what values are important, you will be able to make better decisions. As a result, you are able to move closer to where you want to be. I believe that your self esteem depends on living true to your nature (and this is also the point of view in the sources given below). Ignoring who you are is a recipe for pain and misery. So, follow your personal identity and let it guide you to a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, Who are you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"I](\"https:\/\/more-selfesteem.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Iam-300x300.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat message are you giving yourself and others? Is it positive or negative?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please finish off this sentence, what would you say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I am …(add your own words here)”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you cannot honestly and confidently say something positive about yourself then how can you build your self esteem<\/a>, because this will show you have a negative opinion about yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With such a negative opinion of who you are, how will you ever achieve your dreams? Discover 10 tips to achieving your dreams<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Write out your most common “I am” sentences now. Not those you want to say but the real things you say in your head or to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Share your ideas by writing them below, make a comment too if you wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s get started on the journey to more self esteem<\/a> now…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few Quotes to Inspire you to Feel Better about Your Identity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n