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Self-Esteem Is Unreliable But Not Immovable

Jeremy Sutton, PhD
2 min readAug 28, 2021

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Switching off your inner critic

Trym Nilsen on Unsplash

A lack of self-esteem could be ruining your chances of success and even happiness. And yet, while essential for your psychological wellbeing, it is highly unreliable.

Research confirms that what you think of yourself is likely to be far from how others see you and how you really think, behave, and feel.

Whether accurate or not, self-esteem does not have to hold you back. Yet, unless you focus on changing it, if you are insecure as a child, you are likely to be so in adulthood.

When you learn to switch off or refute your inner critic, you can stop the cycle of self-sabotage and regain control before harming your sense of self-esteem and self-worth.

Along with replacing irrational and unhelpful beliefs that lead to false assumptions, you can become better at:

  • Identifying and using your strengths
  • Recognizing and accepting your positive qualities
  • Increasingly flexible thinking
  • Welcoming criticism without fear of losing who you are
  • Becoming more self-aware
  • Challenging your inner critic through self-talk

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Jeremy Sutton, PhD
Jeremy Sutton, PhD

Written by Jeremy Sutton, PhD

Positive & performance psychologist, University of Liverpool lecturer, Owner/Coach FlourishingMinds.xyz

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