When it comes to understanding how your self-confidence and self-worth affect your personal appearance, you must first understand their distinctions.

• Self-confidence is a feeling one gets when they have trust in their abilities, qualities and judgment.

• Self-worth, often called self-esteem, is a sense of your overall worth as a human being.

Confused? Don’t be. Look at it this way.

Self-Confidence and Personal Image

Self-confidence can change from situation to situation. You may know that you’re a terrific basketball player, but doubt you have the same ability to play football as well. People with self-confidence issues will sometimes ignore data and facts that suggest they have the necessary skills in a given situation.On the other hand, self-worth is a measurement of the positive and negative feelings you hold about yourself. You may be a terrific basketball player, but if your two brothers made it to the NBA and you didn’t, you may have low self-worth despite knowing that you’re a great player.

The Personal Appearance Connection

Poor personal appearance largely comes down to low self-worth. Some may feel like they look better in one pair of pants or shirt over another, and looking good for the day will give them a boost of self-confidence, too; but how people see themselves goes deeper.

What You Can and Can't Change

It’s rare to find somebody who doesn’t have something negative to say about some aspect of how they look. Many things about a person's appearance, however, can never change, such as height, voice or skin tone. Other things that almost everybody can change — especially if they have enough money — are hair color or weight or facial and other features through plastic surgery.

The Ideal Hollywood Personal Image

Even people who are the “ideal” of beauty, based on whatever the societal standards of the day dictate, will tell you they aren’t happy with their total package. Many find it ridiculous when supermodels complain that their shoulders are too bony or their feet are too big.In all truth, a supermodel's self-worth is just as important as or yours or mine. We stand in front of the mirror and see flaws like they are under a spotlight. How many men have seen their beautiful wife or girlfriend come out of the bathroom after getting ready for a night out and think, “She looks breathtaking!” only to be asked, “Do I look fat in this?”

The Genetic Reality

I wish I could snap my fingers and make this outlook change, but we live in a world where beauty equals money. Why do you think that many Hollywood films are full of great looking women and men? Advertisers never use the kind of people you see every day to sell their products. Despite knowing those “beautiful people” suffer from personal appearance and self-worth issues, too, we still compare ourselves to them. We see them as the "ideal" way to look. Most of us, however, can never genetically compete. Unfortunately, that message doesn’t reach our kids through today’s music, TV and social media.

Shape Your Personal Appearance

While many feel bad when comparing themselves to the "beautiful people," others develop mental health and medical conditions, such as eating disorders or body dysmorphia by trying to measure up. So how do we battle this? It starts on an individual level.

1. Don't worry about the things you can’t change.

Sure, you can cheat an inch or two with lifts in your shoes, but if you’re a short person, you’re always going to be a short person. This isn’t something you can change with any amount of money, surgery or training. Do some research and learn why your situation is to your advantage. Did you know that short people statistically get cancer less and live longer lives than people of average or above-average height? What you see as an unfixable flaw can be turned into a lucky break with the correct mindset.

2. Take care of yourself physically.

If you take care of your physical self, you’ll be surprised how it takes care of you mentally; however, taking care of your body isn't just about losing weight. Eating a healthy diet and engaging in regular exercise helps you look good feel great. When you’re feeling good, you don’t dwell on the negatives, and both your self-confidence and self-worth improve.

3. Accentuate the positives.

Perhaps you’re one of those people predisposed to being overweight, but you have a beautiful singing voice. Join a church choir or hit up karaoke night at your local club. People won’t be looking at your size, they’ll be marveling at the amazing sounds coming out of your mouth — and probably be a little jealous! Play to your strengths.

As a life coach, I can help you find your strengths, build your self-confidence and self-worth, and learn to love your appearance. Send me an email and we'll talk. I've been helping others achieve success in all aspects of their lives and writing about ways people can change their lives for the better.If you'd like to read more of my blogs about how to achieve the life you desire, start with the first blog in this series, "Nurture Yourself: Building Confidence and Worth with Your Career." I also invite you to start with my first blog, "4 Ways to Make Monday Less Like ... Monday."