Personal Development vs. Low Self Esteem: Exploring the thin line between

It is the obligation of every human, not just Christian professionals, to go on a personal development journey. However, this journey does not end as long as we exist in the flesh. There is no climax; we keep developing.

While personal development is a great concept, it comes with its challenges. One such challenge is the pressure of wanting to go overboard: this usually comes with low self-esteem because you feel that you aren’t good enough. 

Explaining low self-esteem

Self-esteem describes your overall sense of personal value or worth. In other words, it is how much you like and appreciate yourself despite the surrounding circumstances. Several factors help to define your self-esteem, and they include:

• A feeling of competence
• A sense of belonging
• Identity or personality
• A feeling of security
• Self-confidence

This definition gives us a clear picture of what low self-esteem is. Low self-esteem refers to a flawed belief in oneself. If you have low self-esteem, it means that you don’t place a premium on yourself. It means that you focus more on your weaknesses rather than your strengths. You try hard to match up to other people’s standards and discover that you aren’t measuring up. In a nutshell, you see your glass as “always empty.”

Personal Development

This term is extensive and covers so many activities. In trying to narrow it down, we can say personal development involves activities that help you become a better “you.” Personal development includes striving to improve your identity and awareness, develop your talents, and increase your self-esteem.

This means that personal development is a culmination of different activities into a single process or journey. This journey brings you closer to a specific set of goals designed to make you better. The motive is that as you journey this path, you grow at what you do and become a better version of who you are.

As Christian professionals, there are five critical aspects of personal development. They include:

• Spirituality
• Career
• Finances
• Health
• Relationships 

The Thin Line Between Personal Development and Low Self-Esteem

As you journey the personal development path, do you ever feel pressure? Does it sometimes feel like you are inadequate and may never achieve those goals that you set? Do you feel like sinking because everyone else seems to be better than you?

Whether you work in a Christian ministry or a finance firm, you will always feel pressure. It is part of our everyday lives. However, when you begin to take this pressure overboard, it becomes “low self-esteem.”

The pressure may arise internally or externally. Internal pressure could be from being worried that your skills don’t measure up to your expectations. It could also be from being too hard on yourself regarding personal development tasks. 

The external pressures include the kind of people around you and the prevailing circumstances in your environment. Your reaction to both types of pressures will determine whether you have low self-esteem or not. Succumbing to pressure will result in burnout, emotional stress, and possible psychological issues like aggression and depression.

Dealing with Low Self-esteem in Personal Development

As we mentioned above, the personal development journey will not end. As such, you cannot afford your self-esteem to be low at any point else you’d derail. How then can you deal with the pressure of low self-esteem as you advance in personal development? Here are a few tips:

Never compare yourself to anyone.

When running a race, you must fix your eyes ahead. You have no business with who’s by your side or behind you. If you focus on them, you end up missing the mark.

This is precisely the case with personal development. Comparing yourself with other people puts pressure on you. Stay focused on your journey. It is not a journey of how fast but how well.

Enjoy the ride

You are going to be working on improving yourself for the rest of your life. That’s a very long time to be bored. You need to enjoy every step that you take.

One of the easiest ways to enjoy the ride is to celebrate your victories. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a small, medium, or colossal triumph. Doing this makes you believe more in yourself and boosts your self-esteem.

Motivate yourself

No one can motivate you the way you will motivate yourself. As you journey the path of personal development, you will encounter setbacks and lots of challenges. You’d hear voices in your head telling you that you aren’t good enough. Don’t listen to such agents. Tell yourself that you can make it regardless of what you are going through. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side; it is greener where it is watered, so water yours.

Wrapping up

We believe that through this article, you understand how personal development and low self-esteem are related. Also, you can break the shackles of low self-esteem to become a better Christian professional. For more resources on Christian ministry and creativity, visit GodKulture.