Part of self-esteem is to like yourself for what you are, and not for what you do. People evaluate you as a person on your achievements like how much money you make, the car you drive, or the position you hold. This sometimes depletes the self esteem of the person. Remember that to err is human and mistake is what a person does, not what a person is. Knowing that you are unique and worthwhile apart from your achievements and accomplishments and in spite of your failures and mistakes supports your self-esteem.

High self esteem will make you less bothered on what people think of you. The theory of Transactional Analysis helps here. It categorizes all actions on a simple basis that each human being has many personalities within himself. The three main are the Child, the Parent, and the Adult.

Child is characterized by spontaneity and curiosity. The child in you experiences many of your feelings. Child has loving, impulsive and curious traits.

Parent is a collection of all the people who had authority over you in the past, like biological parents, other relatives and teachers. This expresses your values. They possess nurturing and tender traits.
Adult is the reasoning person who collects information, weighs facts and makes a rational meaning of them. Information and fact finding and reality testing are part of this personality.

Have a healthy relationship with yourself and you have an edge over having it with others. We all depend on people for different needs and it is normal and healthy to turn to relationships to meet some of our needs. An emotionally healthy person develops a balanced give-and-take attitude towards others. People should develop a strong support system of family, neighbors, friends at work, a mentor or advisor or even a self help group. Reaching out to other people usually does not lead to rejection, but in the beginning one has to be willing to accept rejection and to handle it. In the list of the characteristics of emotionally healthy people given below, you will notice that self-esteem is way up. The following will help you in developing self esteem.
1. Don’t be ashamed of who you are. We all have something special and unique in all of us.
2. Do things with confidence and behave normal.
3. Be honest about your feelings. Don’t try to deceive someone for your own benefits.
4. Accept yourself for who you are. Be proud of your positive side and try to eliminate the negative one.
5. Recognize that other people can enhance your life but are not the sole source of your happiness.
6. Take responsibility appropriately but do not take too much responsibility for others.
7. Consider consequences before acting.
8. Refuse to tolerate inappropriate behavior, be it from friends or family.