Self Esteem Test: How Would You Describe Yourself in Just One Word?

Annoying.

My six-year-old son recently began describing himself with that one word — annoying. He took some pride in it, in fact. Maybe it was because he’d been watching Dennis the Menace a few times too many. He does resemble Dennis a bit, come to think of it. More likely it had more to do with his siblings labeling him as just that on far too many occasions. You’ll be happy to know he has now switched to another, more fitting word — handsome.

Take a simple self esteem test. How would you describe yourself in just one word? Or, if you told, would you have to kill us?

Assuming for the moment that your word would not be psychotic, I was reminded of the power of the words we say to ourselves as I read John Maxwell’s The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential. Maxwell quoted Kevin Hall’s book Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words which is now on my Amazon wish list:

The first thing I do when I am coaching someone who aspires to stretch, grow, and go higher in life is to have that person select the one word that best describes him or her.

That got me thinking: what would be my word?

As I’ve noted before, words have meaning. And power. Words are tags for ideas. And ideas have consequences. “As a man thinks, so is he.”

As Christ-followers,we should be among the first to understand this. Consider a brief survey of Scripture:

• We know that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. (Heb. 11: 3)
• Words have the power of life and death. (Prov. 18:21)
• We will be justified or condemned based on our words. (Matt. 12:37)
• We will be judged for every idle word we speak — both outwardly and inwardly. (Matt. 12:36)

If we are what we think, we need to remember that what we think is determined by the words spoken to us, even by ourselves.

What’s Your Word?

What is the one word that best describes you? And are you courageous enough to share it?

Mine is creative.

It wasn’t always that. There were significant stretches in my life where I thought that word was only for other people. I fell into the trap of the fear of man. I let other people define me. Even now I fear someone might laugh when they read this. (Fortunately, I can’t hear you now — although I’ll be looking for comments.)

Pssst. Listen.

“You don’t have to accept who people say you have to be.” ~ Johnnetta McSwain

It doesn’t really matter what other people say. You won’t have to answer for the words they use about you, just the ones you use about them — and about yourself.

Go ahead. Give your self-esteem a booster shot. How would you describe yourself in just one word? Post your answer with a comment below.

[Note: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, which means that if you buy something after you click on them, I might get enough pennies to save up for that pencil I’ve always wanted. But it won’t cost you anything extra. You’re welcome.]