Low self-esteem is contagious. If you hang out with people with low self-esteem you are more likely to get a low self-esteem yourself. The good news? High self-esteem is also contagious! The solution? Choose carefully what kind of people you surround yourself by!

Humans are animals who like to live in groups. Whether we want it or not, we are strongly influenced by other people. You have probably noticed yourself yawning just moments after seeing somebody else yawn. This is how easily we are influenced by others. If something as tiny as a yawn can affect us, of course more powerful things such as emotions are highly contagious too.

Self-esteem is basically the emotions we have about ourselves, whether these are positive or negative. When you socialise with people with low self-esteem, you will also start to feel bad about yourself just like them. On the other hand, when you surround yourself by people with high self-esteem your own self-esteem will improve. What kind of people you choose to spend your time with is therefore extremely important for your self-esteem. To live a happy and successful life you need to surround yourself with the right kind of people.

So how can you know whether somebody has high or low self-esteem? If the person puts you in a positive mood, fills you with energy and makes you feel good about who you are, this person most likely has high self-esteem. On the contrary, a person who drains you of all energy, makes you irritated or depressed probably has a low self-esteem. These energy-thieves are the ones that you should avoid.

Choose which people you hang out with carefully! They affect how you feel about yourself, and this in turn, affects everything else in your life.

Liv Miyagawa –The Self-Esteem Coach