You can't touch it, but it affects how you feel. You can't see it, but it might be there when you look at yourself in the mirror. You can't hear it, but it's there when you talk about yourself or when you think about yourself. What is this important but mysterious thing? It's your self-esteem Self-esteem can have a big part to play in how you feel about yourself and also how much you enjoy things or worry about things. To understand self-esteem, it helps to break the term into two words. Let's first take a look at the word esteem, which means that someone or something is important, special, or valuable.