What It Actually Is
Self-esteem defined properly, as researchers use the term, rather than as a synonym for confidence.
How to Build Healthy Self-Esteem ยท 4-week course
How to build healthy self-esteem in four weeks.
A four-week course with Dr. Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Professor of Psychology at Oakland University and one of the field's leading self-esteem researchers. Twenty lessons, roughly ten minutes a day, built on evidence rather than affirmations: what self-esteem actually is, where yours came from and how to build it.
4-week course ยท all levels
How to Build Healthy Self-Esteem
$99.99
4 weeks ยท 20 lessons ยท 5 hours ยท 2 bonuses ยท lifetime access
Join now for $99.9948-hour money-back guarantee ยท Secure checkout ยท Instant access
10 minutes a day
20 lessons
Lifetime access
Watch the course trailer
See how the four weeks unfold.
The four-part methodology
Four weeks that build in order: what self-esteem is, what it does to your choices, where yours came from, and what changes once it is healthy.
What It Does to You
How your self-evaluation quietly shapes your actions, your values and the goals you let yourself have.
Belonging and Acceptance
Why self-esteem tracks social acceptance, and what that explains about how it moves.
Where Yours Came From
Childhood and life experience, and which unresolved parts are still doing the damage.
A Buffer Against Setbacks
How healthy self-esteem changes what a rejection or a failure costs you afterwards.
Applied Everywhere
Week four works through wellbeing, physical health, relationships, education and career.
Why the usual advice fails
Why "just believe in yourself" does not raise self-esteem.
Self-esteem is one of the most studied topics in psychology and one of the worst served by popular advice. Telling yourself you are enough does not work, and there is a large body of research explaining exactly why.
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Affirmations bounce off
Saying something you do not believe tends to make the gap more obvious rather than smaller.
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One setback undoes a good month
Without a buffer underneath it, your sense of worth moves with whatever happened most recently.
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You shrink your own goals
Not consciously. You simply stop considering the things that a person like you would not get.
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You know where it started and not what to do
Insight into the childhood cause is common. Knowing the next step from there is not.
The past cannot change. The unresolved part can
Week three is built on that distinction. What happened to you is fixed, but the issues still left open from it are what keep feeding low self-esteem in the present, and those are workable. That is a different claim from telling you to think positively, and it comes with twenty years of research behind it.
What changes
Healthy self-esteem is a steadier baseline, not a better mood.
Healthy self-esteem is not a feeling of being great. It is a stable sense of your own worth that does not rise and fall with the last thing that happened, and that changes what you attempt.
You understand the mechanism
What self-esteem is, why it matters, and how it shapes your thoughts, feelings and choices.
You can trace your own
Where your self-esteem came from, including childhood and the life experiences that set it.
Practical ways to build it
Specific methods for developing healthy self-esteem and a self-image you can actually hold.
It shows up everywhere
The benefits run through psychological wellbeing, physical health, relationships and career.
Taught by the person who edited the book called Self-Esteem.
Dr. Zeigler-Hill has spent more than twenty years researching self-esteem and personality, and developed the status-signaling model of self-esteem. This is the research, taught directly rather than filtered through someone else's summary of it.
Join now for $99.99Your worth is decided by this week.
- A good result lifts you and a bad one takes the whole thing down
- You have read the advice and none of it survived contact with a real setback
- You can name where it started and not what to do about it
- You quietly rule yourself out of things before anyone else does
You know what you are working with.
- You understand what self-esteem is and what it is actually responding to
- Setbacks land against a buffer rather than against bare ground
- The unresolved parts have a method attached rather than only a diagnosis
- You have practical ways to build it, applied across work, health and relationships
Your guide
Four weeks with Dr. Virgil Zeigler-Hill.
Virgil is a Professor of Psychology and Director of Graduate Training at Oakland University, and has spent more than twenty years researching self-esteem, personality and interpersonal relationships. He developed the status-signaling model of self-esteem, which explains why self-worth tracks social acceptance rather than floating free of it.
He is the editor or co-editor of several of the field's reference works, including Self-Esteem, The Dark Side of Personality, Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Psychology and The SAGE Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences, and holds editorial roles at leading personality journals. His research covers how beliefs about yourself and others affect intimacy, satisfaction and how long relationships last. If you want the applied companion to this course, see The Confidence Boost Challenge.
- Ph.D. Psychology
- Professor of Psychology, Oakland University
- Director of Graduate Training
- Editor of Self-Esteem and The Dark Side of Personality
- 20+ years of self-esteem research
On the research
His work studies how personality traits, the admirable and the difficult alike, interact with motivation, relationships and wellbeing, and how self-esteem functions inside that.
On the page
Editor or co-editor of several influential volumes on self-esteem and personality, and an editorial contributor to the journals where this research gets published.
Who it's for
For anyone who has read the advice and wants the research.
Self-doubt is the pattern
Not a bad week. A standing sense that you are not quite enough for the thing in front of you.
You want the mechanism
You would rather understand what self-esteem responds to than be told to love yourself more.
It moves with your week
Your sense of worth tracks whatever happened most recently, and you would like a steadier floor.
Something from early on is still live
Week three is about recognising which unresolved parts are still feeding the present.
It is costing you at work
Week four covers career and education specifically, alongside health and relationships.
Ten minutes is what you have
Twenty short lessons across four weeks, built for roughly ten minutes a day.
Inside the course
Four weeks, twenty lessons, ten minutes a day.
Built to be worked through rather than watched: twenty short lessons with expert videos, a daily video of ten to fifteen minutes, five hours of on-demand learning, two bonuses and lifetime access to the materials. Follow the weekly schedule or work at your own pace.
20Short lessons
4Weekly modules
โLifetime access
20 short lessons with expert videosTaught by Dr. Zeigler-Hill across four progressive weekly modules.
Bonus: the Self-Esteem Resource PackThe course materials in a form you can keep using afterwards.
Bonus: Virgil's personal masterclassA deeper session with the researcher himself, included with the course.
Lifetime access, at your paceFollow the weekly schedule or take it slower, and come back whenever you need to.
The curriculum
Four weeks, in the order the research builds.
Definition first, then effect, then origin, then application. That sequence matters: most self-esteem advice starts at week four and skips the three weeks that make it work.
Week 1Understanding Self-Esteem and Why It Matters
What self-esteem actually is, as the research defines it, and why how you evaluate yourself shapes the actions you take, the values you hold, the goals you set and your ability to handle challenges. The definition is the week's work, because almost everything that follows depends on getting it right.
Week 2How Self-Esteem Affects Your Choices and Feelings
Self-esteem is multifaceted, and this week takes it apart. It signals how accepted you feel and whether you belong, it buffers you against setbacks, and it shapes how confident you are in what you do. Each of those is a different mechanism, and knowing which one is moving explains a great deal.
Week 3Where Your Self-Esteem Comes From and How to Recognise It
Tracing your own self-esteem back through childhood and life experience. The past itself cannot be changed, but unresolved issues can be healed, and issues left unaddressed are what keep feeding low self-esteem in the present. This is the week that turns insight into something actionable.
Week 4Benefits of Healthy Self-Esteem and How to Apply It
What healthy self-esteem does for psychological wellbeing, physical health, relationships, education and career success, taken one area at a time with practical ways to develop it. By this point you have the definition, the mechanism and the origin, so the application has something to attach to.
What you get
Everything included today.
- The 4-part course, 20 lessons Included
- Bonus: Self-Esteem Resource Pack Included
- Bonus: Virgil's personal masterclass Included
- Lifetime access to all materials Included
- 48-hour money-back guarantee Included
One payment, lifetime access$99.99
A 48-hour money-back guarantee
If within the first two days you feel this is not the right fit, email support@infijoy.com and we will refund your enrolment fee in full, no questions and no forms.
Choose your access
Take this course, or unlock the whole library.
Buy How to Build Healthy Self-Esteem outright, or join Infijoy membership for all 37 expert-led courses.
How to Build Healthy Self-Esteem
$99.99one-time payment
- Lifetime access to all four weekly modules
- 20 short lessons with expert videos
- Bonus: the Self-Esteem Resource Pack
- Bonus: Virgil's personal masterclass
- Follow the schedule or work at your own pace
48-hour money-back guarantee ยท Instant access
Infijoy Membership
$24.99/ month, billed annually
- All 37 Infijoy courses and 1,000+ video lessons
- 100+ guided meditations
- Sleep stories, soundscapes and affirmations
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- Every new course released while you are a member
$299.99 billed yearly ยท Cancel anytime ยท 7-day guarantee
Before you join
Everything you may want to know.
Still unsure? Email support@infijoy.com and we will answer.
How is this different from the usual self-esteem advice?
Most of it starts at the application and skips the groundwork. This course spends three weeks on what self-esteem is, what it responds to and where yours came from before it gets to what to do, because the practical advice only works once those are in place. It is taught by a researcher who has spent two decades studying the subject rather than by someone summarising the field.
How much time will I need?
About ten minutes a day. There are 20 short lessons across four weeks, each a video of roughly ten to fifteen minutes, adding up to five hours of on-demand learning. You can follow the weekly schedule or work at your own pace.
What will I learn?
Across the four weeks you will learn:
- What self-esteem is and why it matters
- How self-esteem shapes your thoughts, feelings and choices
- Where self-esteem comes from, including childhood and life experiences
- The benefits of healthy self-esteem across wellbeing, health, relationships and work
- Practical ways to develop healthy self-esteem and a better self-image
What are the two bonuses?
The Self-Esteem Resource Pack, which puts the course material into a form you can keep using after the four weeks, and Virgil's personal masterclass, a deeper session with him included at no extra cost. Both come with the course.
Is self-esteem the same as confidence?
No, and week one is partly about the difference. Confidence is usually about a specific situation or ability, while self-esteem is the more general evaluation underneath it. The two interact, which is why confidence built on shaky self-esteem tends not to hold. If you want the applied, situation-level work as well, The Confidence Boost Challenge covers that side.
Do I need a background in psychology?
None. The course is built for people with no prior knowledge, and every concept is explained from the ground up. The research is the source, not the reading list.
What qualifications does Dr. Zeigler-Hill have?
Virgil holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is a Professor of Psychology and Director of Graduate Training at Oakland University, with more than twenty years of research on self-esteem, personality and relationships. He developed the status-signaling model of self-esteem and has edited several of the field's reference works, including the volume Self-Esteem and The Dark Side of Personality.
Can I start anytime?
Yes. Start whenever you are ready. The weekly structure is there if you want it, and lifetime access means you can take longer over a module or return to one later.
How long do I have access?
Lifetime access to all 20 lessons, both bonuses and the accompanying materials, so you can revisit any week whenever you need it.
Is this a substitute for therapy?
No. This is educational content about the psychology of self-esteem. It is not therapy, diagnosis or treatment for any condition, and it is not a substitute for care from a qualified professional. If something from your past feels too heavy to work through alone, that is worth taking to one.
Begin today
Join now for $99.99
Four weeks to self-esteem that holds steady.
Join How to Build Healthy Self-Esteem and spend ten minutes a day on the research that explains what self-esteem is and how to build it.
20 short lessons
2 bonuses included
Lifetime access
48-hour money-back guarantee ยท Secure checkout ยท Instant access
Featured courseHow to Build Healthy Self-Esteem
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