Self Esteem Exercises - The Experts Disagree

Self esteem exercises are tasks that we do to help improve our overall happiness and feeling of well being. When we do things that make us feel good about ourselves we are improving our self esteem. However, there are a number of experts who feel that these exercises are very over rated and that they actually do more harm than good.

Self esteem exercises are helpful. That is one school of thought. Children are taught to think positively through games and exercises, it's I'm OK -- you're OK and nothing is ever bad. Teaching children to be kind to one another is a good thing. I do not believe any normal adult would advocate children being mean or hostile to each other.

The exercises that they do in many schools may actually help peer situations, by keeping negative behaviors to a minimum (at least with respect and name calling and such). As adults, performing self esteem exercises can make us feel better. This is a positive thing. Feeling well and happy is what life should be about.

The other school of thought is that self esteem exercises are useless, possibly even harmful. These experts cite the increase in depression rates -- in particular how much younger people are becoming clinically depressed. They say that children need to fail and to feel bad in order to learn how to deal with these issues. Experts of this school of thought believe that detaching how you feel from how successful you are is bad for the persona and it reinforces negative behaviors.

Are self esteem exercises helpful or are they going to lead me down a path of psychological destruction? You need to do what works for you. I have yet to see anyone have a breakdown from going through one of these exercises. If you feel better doing these exercises, and by feeling better you become a more productive and happier person then these exercises have done their job.

Each individual has to decide what is best for them. People with high self esteem do better in life than those that have poor self esteem. You need to do what makes you feel more confident and better about yourself.

Related articles:

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"Benefits Of Self Motivation Exercises"
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"Focus Your Life with this Goal Setting Exercise"

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