Self Esteem Bible: Build Your Confidence Day by Day. Gael Lindenfield

       Introduction

      In this fast-changing, globally competitive world, our self-esteem has a tough survival course to work through. Nearly everyday, or sometimes several times in one day, our self-esteem can get knocked about. If left unrepaired, some scars can last a lifetime.

      Self-esteem is having a good opinion of yourself. It should not be confused with arrogance or vanity. Having high self-esteem is a healthy psychological state – a valuable inner resource that we need to protect.

      People with high self-esteem are generally calm, relaxed people who are positive, purposeful, expressive and assertive. They are sociable and cooperative; at home in their well-nourished and well-exercised bodies, and are continually searching for ways and means to improve their behaviour and performance. They do not constantly seek the approval of others and are highly capable of acting independently.

      When our self-esteem is low we can become fearful, negative, passive, tense, aggressive, indecisive, self-destructive and unmotivated, and we feel powerless and unworthy. As well as affecting our happiness, low self-esteem also impacts on our work and relationships.

      With the odds for success and happiness so heavily weighted against people with shaky self-esteem, you can’t afford simply to sit back and patiently hope you will gain personal strength and feelings of self-worth. You need to move into action!

      So whether your self-esteem is chronically low or you are just experiencing a trough at the moment, this book provides 365 tips to motivate you to assert your needs and develop your potential for success and happiness.

      How to use the Self-Esteem Bible

      The format of this book is very user-friendly, so you can use it in any way you like. You may want to read one tip a day, read the whole book at once and devise your own plan, or simply dip into it as and when you need it.

      Although there is one tip for every day of the year, you will notice that there are no specific time guidelines for completing them. This is because you will be working at your own individual pace. Sometimes you will ignore a tip that is not relevant to you or your lifestyle, and at other times you will want to spend a week or longer working on an exercise. You decide where and when you want to linger. Some tips contain exercises and are therefore a little longer than others, but most are short and will be quick and easy to put straight into practice.

      The book is divided into four parts, each covering a different area. Part 1 is concerned with health, as your physical and mental health lays the foundation for the other self-esteem building work that follows. Our self-esteem is always more fragile when we are sick or tired as our defences are down and we don’t have our usual capacity to deal with put-downs. So the first step is to get yourself in tip-top condition.

      Part 2 deals with personal development; this will equip you with the personal power you need to work on your relationships with others, your career and any other area of your life.

      Part 3 looks at how you can form and maintain healthy, positive relationships. This will be helpful if you are being taken for granted, ignored, rejected or unfairly criticized by others, or if your low self-esteem is sabotaging your relationships.

      Finally, Part 4 looks at the world of work and provides practical advice to people who are unhappy or unappreciated in their employment, to those looking for a new job, and to those who simply want to improve their work performance by becoming more confident and assertive.

      I hope you find this self-esteem-building work as empowering and rewarding as I, and many thousands of others, have done. Good luck!