It All Begins With Your Self-Image
Your Self-Image is the mental picture that you carry of yourself which is quite resistant to change. It not only depicts the details that others see on the outside, for example your weight, height, coloring etc, but also it is about how you feel about yourself on the inside. Imagine having a ‘magic’ mirror that not only reflects your physical features, but also allows you to view the other aspects of yourself.
When you look in the ‘magic’ mirror, who do you see?
More importantly, your Self-Image is the starting point on your journey to achieving your goals. It is almost impossible to gain Self Esteem, Self Confidence, Self-Competence and eventual Self-Actualisation if you do not have a good Self-Image.
Your Self-image can be broken down into two key areas:
1. Self-image resulting from how you see yourself
2. Self-Image resulting from how others see you
A simple definition of a persons’ self-image is their answer to the question ‘What do you believe people think about you?’
Of course, that may or may not be an accurate representation of you as it may or may not be true!
Self-image resulting from how you see yourself can be further broken down into:
Your Inner Image –Your Inner-Image is developed from a very early age and will have been impacted by your genes, early childhood, personal and professional experiences, school, college, friends and family as well as your environment. This will all have led to building your self-esteem and self-awareness.
Your Outer Image – whilst we say ‘never judge a book by its cover’ this is exactly what we do. What is seen on the outside gives the very first impression to others and will leave them with a lasting impression – be it a good or a bad one. This can come in many forms including what you wear, your hair style, make-up, tattoos, body piercings, your posture, the way you speak and even the way you shake hands.
Self-Image resulting from how others see you – this is a challenge as it is likely that you won’t know how others see you unless they tell you or if you actually ask them. We may have a fairly stable view of how we see ourselves and we expect others to see us in the same way. This of course may not always be true for the following reasons:
Every person has an individual way of ‘sizing up’ others. A person you meet, especially for the first time, will assess you through their own unique lens
People will not always be honest with you. For example, if they do not care for you they very rarely will tell you or tell you why. After all, it is very easy to fake expressions so you can never know how many people you have walked away from who you have a negative first impression of you!
