We gain our predominant world-view by the age of five. In other words, whether you consider the world to be a safe or dangerous place, and whether you will react to events in a primarily positive or negative manner, is determined by this age. Parents are the prime shapers of our young psyches at this time. However, schools, society, and our peers also play an important role. Our later experiences in life merely reinforce the core impressions we gained at this very early age.
Parents are too often far too casual about how they bring up their children.
They unconsciously pass on their own limitations to them as a result. Self-image forms as a result of comparisons you make between yourself and those around you. It is the judgement you make of yourself - the image you have of yourself. Sadly, it is often negative as you can usually find someone better than you at almost everything. An easy way to understand this difference is to look at young children.