Healthy self esteem is critical to success and happiness.

Do you suffer from low self esteem? Do you have confidence in your abilities? Do you believe that you deserve respect? Do you place a high value on your opinions and ideas, or do you constantly second-guess every decision? Do you avoid the embarrassment of failure by never attempting anything new or difficult?

Your self esteem, or how you generally feel about yourself, is influenced by both internal and external factors, and particularly by your close relationships - parents, siblings, peers, teachers and others. Healthy feedback and encouragement strengthens your self-perception while negative feedback, criticism and belittling lowers your opinion of yourself.

These external factors become internalized over time, causing you to constantly focus on your weaknesses and faults. You start to believe that you're just not good enough.

Towards healthier self esteem

While trying to fix poor self-image, be careful not to go to the opposite extreme. Keep your ego in check. Maintain a balanced view of your abilities, grounded in reality. Recognize your limitations but at the same time value and appreciate your strengths. Rather than a sign of high self-worth, boasting and arrogance are actually a sign of insecurity and low self-confidence.

So how do you know you have a healthy self-image? Below are seven signs of a healthy self esteem.

- Assertive in expressing your needs and opinions. Assertiveness does not mean being rude, or bullying others into getting your own way. It means respectfully setting boundaries, demanding respect, speaking up for yourself, and not being afraid or embarrassed to ask for help.

- Confident in your ability to make decisions. Believe that you are smart enough to make intelligent and wise decisions. Don't be paralyzed by indecision for fear of making the wrong choice. Ask for help and advice, but have confidence in your final decision. If you make a wrong choice, learn from it and move on. Remember, the most successful people make the most mistakes. The only difference is that they learn from their mistakes and move on.

- Able to form secure and honest relationships - and less likely to stay in unhealthy ones. Respect and love yourself enough to recognize harmful relationships and have the courage to break those relationships. Set boundaries and expectations, and be willing to cut off relationships with people who constantly belittle and disrespect you. You deserve better.

- Realistic in your expectations and less likely to be over critical of yourself and others. It's okay to make mistakes. You're human. Don't expect to knock it out the park every time, but also remember that occasional failure is inevitable. Cut others some slack. Take responsibility for your mistakes, learn from them, and move on with your life.

- More resilient and better able to weather stress and setbacks. Individuals with balanced self esteem don't beat themselves up for mistakes, failures and bad decisions. They recognize that setbacks are a part of life, but also see the silver lining behind every failure. They see failure as an opportunity to learn and do better the next time. Failure doesn't define your life, unless you let it.

- Less likely to experience feelings such as worthlessness, guilt and shame. Failure is not the end of the world. The sun will rise again tomorrow. Disappointment at not living up to expected standards is understandable. Just don't wallow in guilt, shame and self-loathing. Dust yourself up and try again.

- Less likely to develop eating disorders. Low self esteem breeds anxiety and stress, which sometimes leads to stress eating. Bulimia and anorexia are rooted in poor self-image.

Based on this list, how would you rate your own self-image? Do you see areas that need improvement? How you feel about yourself greatly impacts how you enjoy life, your relationship, life and career success.