Here’s how self-esteem and success are related:
- Self-confidence grows and is consistent
- Higher satisfaction at work.
- More rewarding experiences all around.
- Relationships are more meaningful.
- Health and wellbeing are improved and stronger.
- (Dis)Stress is lowered and (Eu)Stress is raised.
- There is a deeper sense of happiness.
When you are successful, it means that you are able to achieve your goals and objectives. These may have been set by you, your Manager or someone else. Achieving success means that you took action. You moved forward and took the necessary steps to complete something.
Moving would have required motivation – a motive for your action. Motivation means that you would have acted with self-confidence which is an important element of self-esteem.
The more success you achieve, the more your self-confidence grows and the stronger your self-esteem becomes. As that cycle continues, you also achieve greater and more success. You move forward with a belief and expectation that you will continue to succeed and you, therefore, continue to try.
In this article, we will explore 10 of the more important things to look out for to better understand how self-esteem and success are connected.
1. Self-Confidence Grows And Is Consistent
Most people with high self-esteem have strong confidence in their ability to achieve. You may be inclined to say that someone like that who demonstrates too much confidence is arrogant or conceited. Perhaps you may even see it as a bad thing.
But, is it really? Of course, anything exaggerated becomes a bad thing but that is not what I am referring to here.
The self-confidence that is high and consistent is an enabler. It helps to move you in the direction of what you want to achieve. That is because you do not second-guess your abilities or know-how. You have successfully achieved it before so you know you are capable.
Your thoughts and your feelings about a successful outcome are leveraged to make it happen. The more success you achieve, the more you try. The more you try, the more you succeed and the higher your self-confidence becomes.
It is an uplifting cycle.
2. Higher Satisfaction At Work
During times when my self-esteem was low, I became detached from my work. It felt more like a chore and often, like a noose around my neck. Completing tasks and objectives took longer and I could see that the quality of my work was badly affected.
We may have bad days and good but when your self-esteem is low, the bad days take over. Your rewards are fewer and success becomes elusive.
Strong self-esteem feeds success which creates ongoing satisfaction. Your approach to your work is positive and proactive. You do not wait for things to happen, you make them happen. When things happen, it results in higher satisfaction which again feeds your self-esteem in a positive way.
Satisfaction boosts self-confidence which, as I shared above, channels more energy into creating strong self-esteem. This facilitates consistent and greater success.
3. More Rewarding Experiences
Keep that cycle of self-confidence feeding your self-esteem and motivating you to take action, believing that you will be successful, in your mind. It feels more like a journey, doesn’t it? A road that you travel.
Along that road are all the things, situations and people you encounter. They make up your experiences. When your self-esteem is low, success becomes elusive and your journey towards it consumes you. This leaves little, if any, time for enjoyment.
The intangible benefits of strong self-confidence, high self-esteem and consistent success are littered along our journey. They far outweigh the tangible ones. Unfortunately, our world is physical and instant. We chase “overnight success” without realizing that there are many small internal steps that must be taken before we get there.
Marie Forleo says it best in this 2013 article:
“A story of instant rewards is way more exciting than one about hard work and perseverance in the face of obscurity.”
We end up missing innumerable rewarding experiences because we are too busy fighting to get where we want to go.
When we are successful, our self-esteem rises and so does the ease with which we pursue our goals and objectives. Along the way, as we lighten up and rise, we are better able to see the bigger picture and feel the rewards of our accomplishments.
4. Relationships Become More Meaningful
The marriage between self-esteem and success changes relationships. Let’s face it. If you apply the same thoughts, feelings and behaviours when you are single to your marriage, it may well end in failure. The same is true for this marriage.
We are continuing to paint a picture here and it’s becoming more colourful.
With high self-esteem comes success. This increases your self-confidence, brings greater work satisfaction, (and you do spend most of your time there), and more rewarding experiences. All of these directly impact your relationships. You do not go looking for relationships to help you feel better. You bring the feeling of better to relationships.
That is a major shift.
And, like attracts like. Suddenly, as you look around you, you realise that the face and well-being of those around you are a reflection of the new you. It is another one of the intangible benefits.
5. Improved Health And WellBeing
It goes without saying that positive self-esteem which leads to success in your professional and personal life will also lead you towards better health and wellbeing. Success feeds high self-esteem and greater self-confidence. Together, they help you to enjoy more meaningful relationships.
All of these achievements bring happiness closer and inward. You start feeling much better about yourself. Happiness triggers the production of dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin, the happy hormones. As the production of these hormones is boosted, you start to experience an improvement in your moods, feelings and thoughts.
One of the places where this is most evident is with people who are starting to focus on their physical wellbeing. Small steps with exercise, changes in your nutrition, (like drinking a glass of water daily) and going to sleep one (1) hour earlier at night can make a big difference in your life. These successful steps improve your overall health and contribute to positive improvements in your self-confidence and self-esteem.
6. Stress Is Now Manageable
Stress is not a bad thing or a bad word. There is positive stress, eustress, and negative stress, distress. When the label “stress” is used, it usually refers to distress. That is the negative stress that impedes good judgment, creates poor health, destroys relationships and, if not managed and reversed, kills.
When stress is negative, it eats away at your feelings of self-worth, self-confidence and self-esteem. It adversely affects your success and keeps you away from finding the strength and courage that you need to turn a situation around.
With self-esteem and success in harmony and working in tandem, eustress tends to dominate. This is the positive stress that pushes and motivates you to achieve and do more in and with your life.
Similar to the effects of improved health and wellbeing, eustress generates more of the happy hormones that help you to feel good about yourself and your accomplishments. This becomes another feeder for even greater success.
7. Deeper Sense Of Happiness
All of these outcomes from the marriage of self-esteem and success act like magnets for happiness. How could you not feel happy when you are acting from a place of strong, healthy inner wellbeing and accomplishing so much?
Happiness grows, like your self-esteem, the more successful you become. When you continue to manage your success well and reinvest in yourself, your well-being and those around you, it deepens your sense of happiness.
You have more and you give more. Your generosity is reciprocated and the cycle continues to repeat. Gratitude is the fuel that feeds your soul and spirit. A simple act of kindness can change the lives of others – and yourself – all for the better.
Happiness is also very infectious. Most people would prefer to be in the company of someone who makes them smile, laugh and think good thoughts. That is how you help others to get their happy hormones working.
Closing Thoughts . . .
There are many ways in which self-esteem and success are related. In this article, I have shared 7 of those that I consider being high on the list. Perhaps you may be able to share 1 or 2 that you consider important.
Self-esteem takes time to be nurtured, grow and develop. It evolves and strengthens over time. I like to call it one of success’ 1st cousins. They are closely connected and each one has a direct impact on the other.
Many of the people I coach and support struggle to attain the success that they want because their self-esteem is low or weak. It is difficult for them to understand and grasp that it keeps them from achieving. This is because we do not give adequate importance to learning and practising the things that build our self-esteem.
That is unfortunate.
Without strong self-esteem and high self-confidence success will forever be elusive and shallow.
