Although it can be developed during any period of one's life, the foundation of self-esteem is often built during the growing up years when the ego is still in the process of development.

Many scientists and experts in psychology believe that self-esteem is a matter of chance. There are babies who are born with high self-esteem and there are others who need further development. Some even say that parents who have high self-esteem will most likely produce babies who also have high self-esteem.

But whether it is a matter of genes or personality lottery, no one can say for sure. Although there are evidences that point out to a genetic link, nothing has ever been proven yet.

This is not to say though that what we are born with will remain with us and that we are basically a prisoner of what we have been given with. We can actually develop our self-esteem anytime. But of course, having a good foundation of self-esteem when we are young will not hurt us in the long run. The environment plays a large role in the development of one's self-esteem. In fact, one's experiences can increases or decrease the levels of our self-esteem.

There are actually a lot of factors that may affect the development of self-esteem and thereby result in low self-esteem. Parental practice, for one, is a major factor especially to the growing child. How our parents treat us will determine how we treat ourselves when we grow up and how we let other people treat us.

Another factor is the social group experiences that we encounter in our lifetime. Positive experiences for instance will increase our levels as opposed to negative and traumatic experiences, which bring about low self-esteem.

The friends that we choose is another factor that will affect the kind of self-esteem that we have. Friends who nurture and are great influence to us will help us develop and increase our low self-esteem while those who seek to put us down will only contribute to our downfall. This is why it is important to also choose the group that we will go with as they can determine the kind of self-esteem that we will develop while we are with them.

Surrounding ourselves with people who affirm our talents and capabilities, people who believe in us, increases our self-confidence. And when we trust ourselves enough to do our work well, we actually do the work well. This leads to positive cycle that will increase our self-esteem to high levels.

Another factor that builds the self-esteem is the kind of activities that we enjoy and the things that we do. For instance, being stuck with a college course that we do not like can do bad things for our self-esteem as opposed to being enrolled in a course that we enjoy and is interested in.

Being able to do the things that we love can help in building our self-esteem. When we love what we do, we become enthusiastic and we do our best. This leads to remarkable achievements and accomplishments, which will then increase our self-esteem.