Signs of High Self-Esteem
According to Nathaniel Branden in his book The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem, high self-esteem is:
“Confidence in our ability to think, confidence in our ability to cope with the basic challenges of life; and
“Confidence in our right to be successful and happy, the feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to assert our needs and wants achieve our values, and enjoy the fruits of our efforts.”
“To trust one’s mind and to know that one is worthy of happiness is the essence of self-esteem.” We need to help our gymnasts understand and believe that they are worthy of love, happiness, and success. We have to remember that we are working with children, with developing minds, and we need to nourish them accordingly. They are indelibly impressionable.
“Research shows that high self-esteem subjects will persist at a task significantly longer than low-self-esteem subjects.” This means that our gymnasts will work and persist according to their level of self-esteem. This is why some kids are extremely talented but can only go so far, and why some kids who are less talented can go much further. It’s not just talent that gets them there; it is self-esteem.
We need to be aware of this and help to nurture those who give up more quickly, helping them to see that sticking with something will help them to attain their goals. And attaining their goals will go a long way to improving their self-esteem. Making it a point of asking our gymnast what her goals are and helping her to set them and make plans to reach them will provide her with the tools to develop high self-esteem.
We need to ensure that our gymnasts are in an environment that actually seeks to nourish and grow self-esteem, not in an environment that merely seeks not to tear it down. As parents and coaches, it is our job to nourish these traits in our gymnasts, and find other adults and role models to help develop them.
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