Self-esteem is “confidence in one’s own worth or abilities,” in other words, how much self-respect you have for yourself. 

Your self-esteem plays an important role in life, especially during your middle and high school years. If you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t really accomplish rarely anything. Even from the small things, like saying something nice about yourself daily or re-trying something difficult, self-esteem is vital in each situation.

Being open to criticism and acknowledging your mistakes can also help display how much you think of yourself. If you push away criticism, your mistakes won’t be fixed, and if you don’t acknowledge your mistakes, you will keep receiving criticism.

Key points in self-esteem may include:

• Liking and valuing yourself as a person
• Feeling able to try new or difficult things.
• Show kindness towards yourself.
• Move past mistakes without blaming yourself unfairly.