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What is Self Image?
Self-image is how you view yourself. Your self image encompasses your personality and your physical looks. Our self image is based on comparisons we make of ourselves to others. Do you think you are too fat or too skinny? Do you want to be taller? Do you think you are smart? Do you believe you are a hard worker? Do you wish others liked you more? We compare ourselves to others to gauge our own performance and looks. We do it on a personal level, and society does it on a grand scale. Unfortunately, our inner critic, our self-talk, usually makes us feel inferior.
How Do You determine Your Own Self Image?
We compare ourselves to others to determine our self image. Others can be at work, school, at the store, on the freeway, in magazines, on television, or anywhere we see or hear other people. We constantly ask ourselves “How do I measure up to that person?” During this comparison, if we conclude that we are not as good in some way, our self image is taken down a notch.
Beautiful, successful people flood our television sets. Models try to sell us jewelry, and professional comedians make us laugh. Perfect families live in perfect homes and drive brand new cars to their perfect jobs. Our “window to the world” is very biased, yet we compare ourselves to what we see on television. Even though very little of what we see on television is real, we strive to measure up to the top models’ size, and finance the newest SUV because, according to the commercial, it tells others you are strong and powerful.
Marketers know you want to look good. Because salespeople depend on your needs for a positive self-image, they show thin, beautiful people laughing with friends as they consume or use X-Y-Z product. You rush out to buy X-Y-Z product in hopes you will become the popular, beautiful person you saw on your television. You may not consciously think about trying to be like that person, but you have subconsciously compared yourself to them. You shape your self image constantly with these comparisons. But because you want to be the best, you compare yourself to the best. All too often, this results in a negative self image.
What Impact Does Self Image Have On Your Life?
A person with a negative self image may think they are unattractive, disliked, and incapable. A person with this self image often has difficulty achieving success in any aspect of their life. They may encounter difficulties in:
· Relationships
· Success at Work
· Weight Loss
· Academics
A positive self-image allows you to believe in your own abilities, succeed in life, and be happy with your accomplishments.
How Can You Change Your Self Image?
You are your own best and worst critic. Only you know if you did your best, and only you know if you did what you expected of yourself. So often we expect miracles from ourselves. When we do not deliver, our self image is hurt. Women especially do this to themselves. Ladies often compare themselves to the sexiest model on the cover of their favorite magazine, or on a billboard along the highway. The thoughts in any woman’s mind may be “My thighs are bigger than hers. Since she is considered beautiful, I must be ugly. My thighs are fat.” And she repeats it to herself a thousand times that day. She even tells her co-workers and friends that she has fat thighs. Even if her co-workers and friends tell her otherwise, she continues to believe she has fat thighs because she thinks hers are larger than the computer-altered photograph of the sexy woman to which she is comparing herself.
If we constantly compare ourselves to others, we are bound to be hurt. It is common for us to feel inadequate in some way. It is important to understand what we can and cannot change about ourselves. What makes this world so wonderful is that we all have different strengths. Our strengths are continually developing. Members of a symphony are very skilled musicians, but they may not be as athletic as the professional basketball players.
No subliminal messages will ever change your self image. Your mind is strong. You have control of your own thoughts and actions. You control your own destiny. Only you can choose to make your life worth living.
To change your self-image, you need to change your self talk, your inner critic. If you tell yourself enough times that you are not good enough, you will believe it. Changing what you say to yourself will change your self image.
What are the Benefits?
People of all ages depend on their self-image to carry them though life. A positive self-image will make it easier for you to make friends, and have loving relationships. A positive self image will allow you to deal with disappointments, failures, and mistakes. People with positive self images tend to be more persistent in going after the things they want in life. Changing your self image can change your life. Changing your self image begins with changing your self talk. | 