Self-Esteem

This = a recent audiobook that I read based on my cousin, Ashley's recommendation.  Convicting and motivating!

*For the record, Branden defines the six pillars of self-esteem as:

1. The practice of living consciously
2. The practice of self-acceptance
3. The practice of self-responsibility
4. The practice of self-assertiveness
5. The practice of living purposefully
6. The practice of personal integrity

Favorite Quotes:

Self-esteem is the reputation we acquire with ourselves... what we feel about ourselves when everything is not all right.

The unresolved issues within oneself set the limits of one’s effectiveness in helping others... We must become what we wish to teach.

If my aim is to prove I am “enough,” the project goes on to infinity — because the battle was already lost on the day I conceded the issue was debatable.

We are not moved to change those things whose reality we deny.

***The mindset that 'only I will know if I lie' implies that you think your opinion doesn’t matter, and that only the opinions of others matter.***

The challenge for people today, and it is not an easy one, is to maintain high personal standards while feeling that one is living in a moral sewer.

The temptation to self-betrayal can sometimes be worst with those about whom we care the most. No amount of admiration for another human being can justify sacrificing one’s judgment.

No one is coming to save you; no one is coming to make life right for you; no one is coming to solve your problems. If you don’t do something, nothing is going to get better.

Self-respect is the conviction of our own value. It is not the delusion that we are “perfect” or superior to everyone else. It is not comparative or competitive at all... Their joy is in being who they are, not in being better than someone else.

Most of the issues of integrity we face are not big issues but small ones, yet the accumulated weight of our choices has an impact on our sense of self.

Self-esteem diminishes anxiety and depression... Just as a healthy immune system does not guarantee that one will never become ill, but makes one less vulnerable to disease and better equipped to overcome it, so a healthy self-esteem does not guarantee that one will never suffer anxiety or depression in the face of life’s difficulties, but makes one less susceptible and better equipped to cope, rebound, and transcend.

I am responsible for the achievement of my desires. I am responsible for my choices and actions. I am responsible for the level of consciousness I bring to my work. I am responsible for the level of consciousness I bring to my relationships. I am responsible for my behavior with other people—coworkers, associates, customers, spouse, children, friends. I am responsible for how I prioritize my time. I am responsible for the quality of my communications. I am responsible for my personal happiness. I am responsible for accepting or choosing the values by which I live. I am responsible for raising my self-esteem.

High-self-esteem people can surely be knocked down by an excess of troubles, but they are quicker to pick themselves up again.

~Nathanial Branden

❤