Teens, especially in high school, tend to have low self-confidence. Society tells and trains people to believe that any form of self-confidence should be considered as having a huge ego. Because teenagers want to be approved by their society, they will listen to others and make an effort to not show any confidence all together. This will affect them and their future because if they have no confidence in themselves at all, no one else will either.

Take if someone applies for a job but has no confidence in what they are saying during the interview, their chances of being hired will be lower because there is less courage behind the words they are saying, whether they are exceptional or not. However, if they have so much confidence to a point where they are boasting about themselves or their accomplishments, people turn away because of their egoistic personality. With this in mind, where is the middle ground between self-confidence and ego?

Since having a big ego puts down others and self-confidence creates attraction towards yourself, moderation in confidence can be created when someone lifts the confidence of other people up while maintaining their own self-confidence. Self-confidence can be defined as feeling trust in one’s abilities or qualities. On the other side, ego is defined by a person’s sense of self-importance proving a personality that is more negative. Therefore, a person’s ego creates a more selfish approach to having self-confidence. So how can people have a healthy amount of self-confidence while maintaining a non-egoistic identity?

Sofia Nielsen (10) says “If you are confident to a point where it is like a positive thing, then you are benefitting other people and yourself. However, if you are putting down other people or seeing yourself as better or superior, then that is when self-confidence turns into ego.” If people show confidence with the intentions to benefit the people around them, society will not be able to accuse them of having a big ego because they are bringing positivity to society itself. 

The people around someone are not attracted to them by their ego or their self-confidence, but by compromise of both that allows them the ability to lift everyone else up. If someone has confidence in their qualities or abilities, people around them do not just want to hear about that person’s accomplishments. They are attracted to people who work to make their peers feel good as well.