Image and Self Esteem are very closely related. The way we look (our image) has a great impact in our lives and in our self-esteem.
Questions to ask about your image?
There are a few questions that you may try to answer to understand how it can be different what you see about yourself, what you would like people to think about you and what you are really telling about yourself to the world:
How do you see yourself?
What do you think about yourself?
How comfortable you feel about being you?
Do you like the way you look?
Are you happy with what the other people can see from you?
What are you saying with the way you look?
What message are you sending to people with your appearance?
Do you have your own style or you are just trying to be someone else that is not who you really are?
Understanding the different images that we have
Let’s understand what our image is and how important it is.
I can say that there is 3 different types of images.
1. What is in our mind of who we are and how we look.
It can be that in your mind your image is completely different to what it really is. We have created images of who we are that might not be true anymore. We tend to create an image of ourselves and keep that image in our minds for many years so we think we look the same way as we did 10 years ago.
We also like to stick labels to our image and it is hard to get rid of them.
While searching for the images that would help us to clarify this point I discovered that there is a whole theory about it.
2. What people can see from us.
Our image tells a lot of different things about ourselves to people. What people think about you is different to what people can see about you. There are many things about you that give information to people of who you are.
3. How we would like to be.
Have you seen a photo of yourself and feel that is not you, that it cannot be you because you are not that ‘fat’, ‘dark’, ‘ugly’.
Published at PsychologyToday.com – What’s Your “Ought Self” Like? Actual self – Ought self: Beware of the discrepancy! Timothy A. Pychyl, May, 2008
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200805/whats-your-ought-self
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Sources:
Published at PsychologyToday.com – What’s Your “Ought Self” Like? Actual self – Ought self: Beware of the discrepancy! Timothy A. Pychyl, May, 2008
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200805/whats-your-ought-self