Self esteem, the esteem you have for yourself is a subjective appraisal of yourself. Self esteem is nothing but your own opinion of yourself. As this implies, self esteem is not something outside of you, but something internal. It is the self, the you, and does not come from anyone or anything outside yourself.

So many people "suffer" from low self esteem and blame it on lack of respect, a bad childhood or negative influences on them. Intellectually this all makes perfect sense, but the challenge is in resisting the external influences that can, and sometimes do, eat away at our self esteem. Fortunately there are some very simple steps to improve self esteem.

One of the easiest steps to improve self esteem is to make yourself do "difficult" things. This breeds a sense of pride. Pride in yourself and your accomplishments will give you a higher opinion of yourself (the esteem you have for yourself). We all have things we are procrastinating about; certain actions we are putting off even though we know that if and when we do them our lives will be greatly enhanced. By using your willpower to actually do some of these things, your self esteem will grow and along with it your perception of your own abilities. This in turn will create a momentum in your life where success breeds more success.

The key is to take small steps to improve self esteem. Realize that your self esteem or self worth is not something that happens overnight. You work at it constantly and it is exactly that which builds higher self esteem. Your self worth or your opinion of weather you are worthy to be, do or have something is nothing but a conscious decision you make daily.

Most people have low self esteem because they focus on what they don't have. They focus on their shortcomings and the so called failures of their past. One steps to improve self esteem is to clean up your past. It's never too late to have a happy childhood! Think on all your past achievements, think hard and soon you will realize that you have done some amazing things in your life. Write them down and add to the list as you remember your great achievements. Never compare yourself to other people, especially siblings.

Realize that it is not what happens to us but what we do with what happens to us – how we interpret or represent it on our inside worlds, in our minds and emotions. Appreciate yourself and know that you are a miracle of nature and that your current conditions do not reflect your ultimate ability. Focus on what you do have and what you do want from life instead of the "terrible" things you did.

If you grew up being told that you are worthless, no good chances and that you will never amount to anything, then know this: YOU and ONLY YOU get to decide who and what you are. Other people's opinions of you are only that: opinions. People with high self esteem are people who decided what they are. They know deep down inside what they are and what they want to be and it is that image of themselves that they focus on. The made up their own opinions which are the only opinions that count.

By being focused on that instead of what other people said about them they have a high esteem of themselves. They learned to be true to themselves and their beliefs about themselves.