Is it Game, Set and Match for Self-esteem?

Is it Game, Set and Match for Self-esteem?
Yesterday for lots of people, and for any number of reasons, was the greatest day in their life so far! (And no I don’t mean they woke up and checked the lottery numbers to find they had won millions!!) For one 22 year old from Scotland it was a day he had worked hard to reach since he was 3 years old! Hours of practice, support from family and friends, studying the players at the highest level of tennis, a motivation, determination and dedication to succeed, and, of course, the right strategy to use all of these things (and more than a little natural talent!!) to reach the Australian Open Final! Yesterday was a huge achievement for Andy Murray and a testament to the dedication of himself, his family and his training team! 

Yet, as I was watching the news after the match and thinking about what to write about in today’s blog and toying with the idea of self-esteem and confidence, it all came together nicely. (Honestly if it had been a cartoon you would have seen the light bulb appear and heard the fanfare!!) What is it about this culture that means we can’t praise someone for doing well and can’t encourage them to feel great about how well they have done? In the States kids growing up are encouraged to be positive about, and proud of, their achievements and talents (well, ok we have all seen the reality TV shows were sometimes they seem to have been encouraged a little too much!!) Their self-esteem and self confidence levels are well above what they habitually are over here. Watching the items about Andy Murray’s tennis gave me an insight into why.

• Was the coverage 100% positive on how far he had come, how well he had done and what more he can and will achieve in his future? No.
• Was it a look back at his strategy, the best bits of the match and a celebration of getting to the Final at such a young age? No.
• Did it give a cursory mention to the fact that he had got to the final and place a lot of emphasis on how he just didn’t play well enough, how people were disappointed after they travelled all that way and how people in Dunblane were still hopeful that he would do well in the future? Yes!

It left me wondering, is it so engrained in our culture to play down talent and ability that we are keeping the self esteem and self confidence of generations of people down. Do we do it so instinctively that we now feel bad about being good at things? It appears that we are. How can we encourage people to do well when the language of our “positive” feedback and compliments are steeped in negativity? How much more would we all achieve if this wasn’t the case? How many people would shine every day, reach the top of their game or allow themselves the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone to try something new without the fear of failure?

So, like Andy Murray let’s lead by example, let’s recognize our great achievements for what they are – great! Let’s recognize that we have a great future ahead of us in which we can achieve the goals we set ourselves and push ourselves that little bit further. But most importantly let’s encourage everyone we meet to recognize their own talents and abilities, to feel proud of every one of their achievements – big or small, and to take that step out of their comfort zone to trying something new!

Let’s make today not only the start of a new KDS Academy, but the start of a rise in self- esteem and self-confidence levels in everyone. Forget your past mistakes and focus on your successes, encourage yourself to greater achievements in the future. And remember the hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else. Be yourself, be confident and be brilliant!! 
 

Posted by Kate Sutherland on 01 February 2010 in : KDS Training, KDS Youth Training, Training corporate, Training employability

3 Comments

Posted by Roger McGeachin on 01 February 2010

Awesome! Great stuff :)

Posted by amanda on 01 February 2010

Another fantastic blog kate well done!!!

Posted by katie on 01 February 2010

Thank you! For more self-esteem and self-confidence building keep watching the progress in the Academy! K

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