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A review by attronoctis
Six Pillars of Self-Esteem: The Definitive Work on Self-Esteem by the Leading Pioneer in the Field by Nathaniel Branden
4.0
4.5☆
Oh, what a monstrosity! Not in looks, mind you, but in density.
If I were to confine the book into one sentence in my own words, it would be "self-esteem is only dependent on you". Now then, this sentence is already false - as self-esteem is shaped by both internal and external factors. However, the elevation of your level of self-esteem is driven by internal forces, and never by external validation or feedback. This can be a hard pill to swallow in a time when so much emphasis is placed on one's financial status, marital status, employment status...
The book further emphasizes that self-esteem is never about comparison, about being better - in fact, such mindset is a symptom of low self-esteem. "For people with high self-esteem the joy is in being who they are, not in being better than someone else." - as we can read.
The core message, the drive, the essence of the whole book might be this snippet: "Self-esteem has two interrelated components. One is a sense of basic confidence in the face of life’s challenges: self-efficacy. The other is a sense of being worthy of happiness: self-respect." And the six pillars are concepts that, when mastered, help us elevate our level of self-esteem and live with confidence and a sense of self-worth. There are clarifications about how pride, delusion, and other such traits with negative connotations relate to self-esteem (and especially how they don't equal to self-esteem, neither are a consequence of it).
Fine, fine. Here are the six pillars:
- the practice of living consciously
- the practice of self-acceptance
- the practice of self-responsibility
- the practice of self-assertiveness
- the practice of living purposefully
- the practice of personal integrity
Not that they will necessarily mean much while hanging in the air like that. I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book in full to gain an understanding of how the concepts relate together, what mindsets facilitate the raising of one's self-esteem, and what steps can be taken to grow in this regard.
Oh, and to conclude, my favourite quote -
"Is not self-esteem a summons to the hero within us?"
Oh, what a monstrosity! Not in looks, mind you, but in density.
If I were to confine the book into one sentence in my own words, it would be "self-esteem is only dependent on you". Now then, this sentence is already false - as self-esteem is shaped by both internal and external factors. However, the elevation of your level of self-esteem is driven by internal forces, and never by external validation or feedback. This can be a hard pill to swallow in a time when so much emphasis is placed on one's financial status, marital status, employment status...
The book further emphasizes that self-esteem is never about comparison, about being better - in fact, such mindset is a symptom of low self-esteem. "For people with high self-esteem the joy is in being who they are, not in being better than someone else." - as we can read.
The core message, the drive, the essence of the whole book might be this snippet: "Self-esteem has two interrelated components. One is a sense of basic confidence in the face of life’s challenges: self-efficacy. The other is a sense of being worthy of happiness: self-respect." And the six pillars are concepts that, when mastered, help us elevate our level of self-esteem and live with confidence and a sense of self-worth. There are clarifications about how pride, delusion, and other such traits with negative connotations relate to self-esteem (and especially how they don't equal to self-esteem, neither are a consequence of it).
Fine, fine. Here are the six pillars:
- the practice of living consciously
- the practice of self-acceptance
- the practice of self-responsibility
- the practice of self-assertiveness
- the practice of living purposefully
- the practice of personal integrity
Not that they will necessarily mean much while hanging in the air like that. I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book in full to gain an understanding of how the concepts relate together, what mindsets facilitate the raising of one's self-esteem, and what steps can be taken to grow in this regard.
Oh, and to conclude, my favourite quote -
"Is not self-esteem a summons to the hero within us?"