Relationships have a life of their own. That really hits home for people who are working hard on enhancing their sense of self-worth. What happens is that at some point there is resistance from others in their relationship circle. An example is someone who is working at losing weight only to find that the spouse keeps bringing home food that tends to undermine this endeavor. This example shows how important it is to pay attention to what happens in between people. Yet all of us, when we begin to think about it, are very aware that indeed life in the families we grew up or in the relationships we are in now have a predictable pattern to them. That is because relationships organize people.
Growing up you no doubt knew what could be talked about and what not in your home. After a while you could predict the response that you would get depending on what you did or said. All families are like that because all relationships develop a system of their own. The difference is that in some homes the rules are flexible and reality based while in some others they are inflexible and arbitrary.
Now if you making personal changes because you want to increase your self-confidence it will help you if you simultaneously keep the big picture in mind. By training yourself to also think "relationship system" you will have more success. You will be taking responsibility for your own growth and at the same time be aware how, what you are doing, is impacting on the relationship balance. Just seeing what is going on will help you stay more in charge of yourself.