Beat Your Genes: An Evolutionary Psychology Podcast For Finding Happiness In The Modern World

What does "self-esteem" actually mean?  In this episode, Dr. Lisle goes over the history of the study of self-esteem.  Then he explains his own discoveries of  esteem processes including self-esteem. As it turns out, nobody can give you "self-esteem".  Dr. Lisle explains that self-esteem is quite literally esteem of your self, so it is how you view yourself.  So, what's called "low self-esteem" or "high self-esteem" is entirely based on how you view yourself.  However, this view is not easily changed, as Dr. Lisle describes a concept called the "internal audience" - a sort of social meter sitting inside your mind that views your own behavior & effort in context with expectations.   When you impress your 'internal audience' through diligent effort, you feel higher self-esteem.  In this episode, Dr. Lisle describes what you can do to impress your internal audience and therefore improve your self-esteem.