Self Esteem Activities
What Do You Believe About Yourself?
Instructions:
How Baby Elephants Are Trained
Elephants in captivity are trained, at an early age, not to roam. One leg of a baby elephant is tied with a rope to a wooden post planted in the ground.
The rope confines the baby elephant to an area determined by the length of the rope. Initially the baby elephant tries to break free from the rope, but the rope is too strong.
The baby elephant "learns" that it can't break the rope.
When the elephant grows up and is strong, it could easily break the same rope. But because it "learned" that it couldn't break the rope when it was young, the adult elephant believes that it still can't break the rope, so it doesn't even try!
Humans operate in a similar way. We learned something about ourselves at an early age and still believe it as an adult. Even though it may not be true, we operate as if it is.
Fortunately, humans are born with the ability to make conscious choices - an important step in changing how you perceive yourself.
Now use the Self-Esteem-Experts
What I Believe Worksheet
to uncover the beliefs you learned when you were young that continue to influence your self esteem. Then ask yourself if these beliefs support or hinder you in increasing your self esteem.
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