Jayne Whyte's Portfolio

Growing up wasn’t easy for me; I was skinny because I didn’t like to eat (eating was stressful and then I had a childhood dream of being a model or a Princess like Princess Diana), I didn’t care and I was called names. Later in my teens and then at the University, I didn’t care, people complimented on my ‘shape’ and guys drooled over me. I tried my hands on modelling and competed in my Department for the ‘Miss’ and I was happy with myself even though I was shy. I began to read about ‘myself’ and how I could do better, how to love myself and not care about what others were thinking. I wasn’t bold but I acted ‘self-sufficient’, ‘valued’ and ‘enough’. I still do!

Self esteem is how we value ourselves, perceive our value and how we think we are to others and this relatively affects our motivation and success.

Keywords: Personal value, Self Worth, Self respect and Trust.

I have a 10 yr old and an 8 yr old and everyday, it is a battle to help them stay focused. The present generation clearly is different from ours and with the demand for perfection; skin, clothing, latest gadgets……the list goes on, it is challenging to breathe and just be a happy you.

Nevertheless, I am teaching my kids about self esteem and how to love themselves, value themselves and trust themselves through the following ways:

Taking pride in one’s opinions or ideas: If someone disagrees with you, it does not mean that you are less knowledgeable on that issue. It only means the person sees it differently from you. Be comfortable with your ideas, own them and be open to learn from others too.

Viewing mistakes as learning opportunities:  One must accept that he/she can make mistakes. We are all humans after all and humans make mistakes. It is way of life and learning rather than seeing your mistakes as a ‘you can never do well’ think about what you can do differently next time.

Take away all thoughts that get you to feel inferior: Thinking that someone is better than you at something leads to one feeling inferior and not feeling good about one’s self. Comparing one’s self with self with others leaves you feeling less accomplished. Remind your self that everyone excels at different things. Accept yourself and make the best of the situation.

Recognise that you have self control to change somethings and there are things you can’t change: Obsessing about one’s shortfalls or things one has that are not perfect can bring down one’s self esteem. To be sincere, most times other people don’t even notice these things.

Accept compliments: When self esteem is low, it is easy to overlook or not take seriously the good things people say about us. We brush off compliments or under tone them. Instead accept and appreciate compliments and take them seriously. Learn to give sincere compliments too.

Ciao!