What do you think of yourself?
That is a large question, and more than that — your intuitive answer to it will have an enormous effect on your life.
Why? Because in psychology, the way you answer what is my actual opinion of myself? is simply called your self-image.
And your self-image has an enormous practical significance, for the simple reason that we do not move a centimetre in this world without consulting it.
What do I mean by consulting your self-image?
The way you define yourself is so critical that you invest enormous effort in performing actions and associating with people that fit that definition.
The work you chose, the way you dress, your dreams for the future, the people you have chosen to share a bed and a life with — all of them, every one, are supposed to sit in reasonable overlap with the way you define yourself.
Because if that does not happen, the trouble starts.
There will be clashes with the external world — arguments at home, conflicts at work — because if there is no correspondence between what you think of yourself and what the world is offering you, you will feel as though food you dislike is being pushed into your mouth, and you will either rebel, in the good case, or go passive-aggressive, in the bad one.
And that is small change compared to the clashes you will have with your internal world.
What do I mean? You will feel your identity is being shaken. You will feel you no longer know who you are.
Now, the practical implication, which is the reason this is worth understanding rather than merely knowing.
Because we select our circumstances to match our self-image, the self-image is largely self-confirming. A person who believes they are not the sort who succeeds at things will avoid situations where success is possible, and will therefore accumulate no evidence to the contrary. The belief was not accurate when it formed. It becomes accurate through the selecting.
Which is also the opening. The self-image is updated by experience — that is the one input it cannot refuse. Not by encouragement, not by insight, and certainly not by affirmation.
By doing something and having it go well, in the world, where you cannot argue with it.