How do YOU define self-esteem? One has to know what one is dealing with before one can improve it and the only part of "self-esteem" that is obvious to me, is "self".

What do you want for yourself when you wish you had better self-esteem? Have you written out what you want to accomplish by working on your self-esteem or are you just going by what you read that someone else has written? I do not find that following other people's definitions and suggestions is a good way to learn or accomplish anything that is about my "self".

Check out this article about how the "experts" have trouble defining it and then do some thinking about how you would define it for yourself?

http://www.self-esteem-nase.org/what.php