What Happens When You Don’t Have Cheerleaders

How people lose their self worth, esteem, and confidence.

Self worth, self esteem, and confidence are kind of the same but kind of not. Though I might use them interchangeably at times, as a feminist wellness educator and counsellor, I find making distinctions between these three concepts to be useful. I think of good self worth as “I am deserving,” positive self esteem as, “I accept myself as I am,” and strong confidence as, “I can do this.” Without worth, confidence, and esteem, you can go through life without inner voices telling you they love you, believe in you and root for you. If you have lost your inner cheerleader along the way, you can absolutely find them again.

Strong self worth is your sense of yourself as deserving of dignity, freedom, love, safety, joy and other good things. It’s believing you have inherent value as a human being, no matter what. Self worth has more to do with how you think you should be treated than what you think you can do.

Self worth is nurtured in an environment of healthy boundaries, respect and love.

Self esteem is how you evaluate yourself and how you feel about your self assessment. People with good self esteem have a general sense of themselves as capable, and are able to accept themselves and their limitations. They usually have a growth mindset, where new and hard things are perceived as learnable, and they feel able to practice their way into improved skills. Self esteem is…