Self Esteem!

Self esteem is essential to Finally Living Unleashed!  It doesn’t matter how rich you get, how loved you are, how healthy you are, or how much stuff you have.  If you don’t have self esteem, you will never be happy.

Do you know what one of the main causes of failure is? 

It’s low self esteem, that most quiet but frequently most deadly of the misery monsters.

Low Self Esteem

Low self esteem is almost like a psychedelic drug (or at least, I’d suspect it is—I’ve actually never taken a psychedelic drug, so I can’t say for sure).  Low self esteem distorts the world around you.

When you have low self esteem, you see failure where there’s success.  You see judgment where there’s approval.  You see disinterest, or worse, dislike, where there’s respect and love. 

A lack of self esteem paints the world a drippy, morose shade of gray.  No matter how much bright paint you try and splash into your life (i.e. money, accomplishments, people who love you), you’ll always feel like you’re surrounded by gray.

So how do you remove the gray so the bright color can shine?

Build Self Esteem

Build self esteem quickly if you want to live a great life.  How can you build self esteem?

Build it on a foundation of you--your past and present.  And build it on a foundation of those who love you.  In other words, pay close attention to the parts of you that you like and the parts of you others like. 

Here’s a great way to build that foundation: 

1.  Get yourself a fun container, something that makes you smile.  It can be a pottery jar, a basket, a colorful bag, an old tin can that you’ve painted.  It doesn’t matter what you use—just make sure it’s something that makes you feel good.

2.  Get a small notepad, one with at least 100 sheets.  More is better. 

3.  Now, I want you to write down something you like about yourself or some accomplishment you’ve had.  Write down one thing per sheet of paper.  Write down everything you can think of.  Do you have nice feet?  Write it down.  Do you go to sleep quickly at night?  Write it down.  Everyone has a whole bunch of good stuff bubbling around within them.  You can find dozens of things if you really think about it. 

4.  Continuing to write one thing per sheet of paper, now write down the things you can think of that others like about you.  Write down every compliment you’ve ever received.  Write down how people feel about you.  Really go through your life experiences and pull out the positives from your interactions with others.

5.  If you put some time and energy into this, you will probably be able to generate at least hundred pieces of paper.  Stuff that paper into your special jar.  This is your self esteem jar, the foundation to your strong self esteem. 

6.  Look in that jar everyday.  Pretty soon, just glancing at the jar will make you feel good about yourself.  That jar is the foundation of your self esteem.  Please take the time to fill it.  If you do, you’ll love the way you begin to feel about yourself.

If you start stomping on the low self esteem misery monster, you can start Finally Living Unleashed from low self-esteem.