Were you able to identify the causes of your low self esteem?
Oh yes. It was mostly just in the way my parents raised me. They did the best they could, but some of the things they instilled in me left me with self doubt. They also always taught me to put others first... Which became a habit that was hard to break. It seems I wasn't the only one effected this way, since all of my siblings have similar struggles as such.
I think my religious upbringing contributed as well. In my particular brand of christianity, I was raised that I was worthless without god. I could only rely on him, and not myself. Self confidence was seen as a worldly thing; that it was a product of humanism, which was satan misleading people away from reliance on Jesus.
To give you some context about how toxic it was, my church's position on the Carebears were that they were demonic. They taught humanistic principles and reliance on self rather than god, and so therefor Carebears were evil.
Most definitely, but it took a lot of self reflection to get to that point... Once I was able to identify the issue, though, I had a point of reference to work with.
In retrospect, having a councilor would have helped me get to that point sooner in my life.
Did you raise your self esteem without knowing them?
Hmmm... Yes, and no.
Getting away from my denomination of church did help some. Not constantly hearing about how worthless I am seems to have helped me feel a little better about myself.
Also, getting away from my family seems to have helped, too. The later helped more than the former.
Ultimately, though, I didn't learn how to truly value myself until I learned the root causes. With perspective comes a vantage point one can use to plot a course to better places.
Since charting those courses, things are good!