The definition of self concept is a very profound thing to be aware of.
Getting a more clear understanding of your self concept will without a doubt make you realize some very interesting and uncomfortable truths about yourself. Do you dare to read further?…
Your self concept in a particular part of your life tends to keep you in that “comfort zone”. Which for me meant that I was stagnating in the majority of my life areas. The place and actions you are used to becomes pretty fast your comfort zone. Which is like this bubble you unconsciously create around a particular area while simultaneously makes it comfortable, it also keeps you from progressing and growing in that specific area.
The definition of self concept holds 3 inter-connected parts
The self concept is like a “master program” of your subconscious computer. And as you grow up from childhood to adulthood your impressions, feelings, experiences and actions are stored in your subconscious mind. What happens with all this stored “information” is that your future actions, emotions and feelings are influenced and highly determined by those in the past.
By knowing this, you might be tempted to take a moment and think about the way you are behaving and feeling at this point… I for once, sat down and kind of evaluated my present behaviours and thoughts. At this point I wasn’t happy with my life and wanted to do better! Which brings us to the first part of the definition of self concept.
Self ideal:
The first part is your ideal self. This is the picture you have in your mind of how a superior man or woman looks, acts and behaves. Its like having a blueprint of the perfect human being – in ones own opinion.
Successful people have a very clear vision of what they want to become as a person. They have clear ideas of the human attributes they would like to see themselves have. And this is the first step to make a change in your life – Know what you are aiming for. This constant thinking and acting in according to your self ideal, levitates you towards the person you want to become. And what a relief to know that you could actually improve yourself on a personal level. From where you are now to where you want to be on this very subtle level. Which undoubtedly brings us to the second part.
Self image:
This has to do with the way you see yourself at the present and is also referred to as the “inner mirror”. How you see yourself today is highly determined by the way you act and how well you get things executed. Remember it is how see yourself – not how you want to see yourself aka. Self ideal.
If you see yourself as a productive, outstanding, positive and successful person, you will act accordingly to that belief. How well you act or perform will determine the results you acquire, which then affects your self image in either a positive or negative way determined by how you perceive the outcome. In the end it will create a spiral of positive or negative flow.
Self esteem:
Personally I think this is the most interesting of these 3 parts that makes up the definition of self concept. And most psychologists agree on that self esteem is the single most important part of your personality with regards to success and happiness. So how can you and I influence the self esteem?
One of the most efficient ways is to look at your self image and self ideal. And notice how far or how close these two personalities are from each other. Lets say that you perceived your action consistent with your self ideal. As the best person you can ever be. The result will be an improvement in your self esteem as those 2 parts are in alignment with each other.
So to get a higher sense of self esteem you gotta have more clarity of your ideal self and acting consistent with that. Margaret Meade, the anthropologist, called the idea of self concept, “the most important breakthrough in the understanding of human potential in the 20th century”.
Final thought on the definition of self concept
‘To measure how developed your self esteem are, think about how much you like yourself. And that by the way, is actually a good thing to do every single day.
PS. I just realized that self examination is the true power to improve yourself along with this definition of self concept.
PSS. Opt-in and Check out the video here and let me know what you think of it! 
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