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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Courage, confidence, success: they begin with self-esteem - and self-esteem begins with you!
Of all the judgments you make in your life, none is as important as the one you make about yourself. The difference between low self-esteem and high self-esteem is the difference between passivity and action, between failure and success. Now, one of America's foremost psychologists and a pioneer in self-esteem development offers a step-by-step guide to strengthening your sense of self-worth. Here are simple, straightforward and effective techniques that will dramatically improve the way you think and feel about yourself. You'll learn:
- How to break free of negative self-concepts and self-defeating behaviour.
- How to dissolve internal barriers to success in work and love.
- How to overcome anxiety, depression, guilt and anger.
- How to conquer the fear of intimacy and success.
- How to find - and keep - the courage to love yourself.
And much more.
I bought this book on the recommendation of my therapist and I think, as with therapy, it's one of those books where the more you buy into it, the more you get out of it. It's a slim book that contains several exercises that can help you to focus on the roots of low self-esteem and come up with ways of resolving them and looks at the root causes for why some people have low self-esteem. The book is also based on getting people to adjust their behaviour in an effort to resolve self-esteem issues rather than merely talking about them, and I did find the results-based approach a useful one.
Some of the exercises gave me food for thought and I find that a couple in particular have helped me when my anxiety begins to increase (particularly one that gets you to focus on things that you like about yourself). Branden's approach is to make you think about what you can change and accept what you don't want to change, which was an interesting way of thinking about things. He's also heavily influenced by Ayn Rand and her notions of individualism, so if you have an issue with that philosophy, this book may not be of use to you.
Although it hasn't cured my self-esteem issues, it has given me a platform to build from and I could see myself reading more of Branden's work should my issues worsen or additional problems manifest. Fortunately, he does advertise his other works heavily though the book, which means your never uncertain as to whether he's written other books. In short, it's as good a starting point as any and I think that it has helped me, but that doesn't mean it's going to be good for everyone.
The Verdict:
Although I did get a certain amount from this book, it's not going to be the sort of thing that helps everyone. I liked the results-focused approach and the idea of producing solutions to problems rather than just talking about them, but I'd suggest it's the sort of book that you only get something out of if you're prepared to buy into it.
Of all the judgments you make in your life, none is as important as the one you make about yourself. The difference between low self-esteem and high self-esteem is the difference between passivity and action, between failure and success. Now, one of America's foremost psychologists and a pioneer in self-esteem development offers a step-by-step guide to strengthening your sense of self-worth. Here are simple, straightforward and effective techniques that will dramatically improve the way you think and feel about yourself. You'll learn:
- How to break free of negative self-concepts and self-defeating behaviour.
- How to dissolve internal barriers to success in work and love.
- How to overcome anxiety, depression, guilt and anger.
- How to conquer the fear of intimacy and success.
- How to find - and keep - the courage to love yourself.
And much more.
I bought this book on the recommendation of my therapist and I think, as with therapy, it's one of those books where the more you buy into it, the more you get out of it. It's a slim book that contains several exercises that can help you to focus on the roots of low self-esteem and come up with ways of resolving them and looks at the root causes for why some people have low self-esteem. The book is also based on getting people to adjust their behaviour in an effort to resolve self-esteem issues rather than merely talking about them, and I did find the results-based approach a useful one.
Some of the exercises gave me food for thought and I find that a couple in particular have helped me when my anxiety begins to increase (particularly one that gets you to focus on things that you like about yourself). Branden's approach is to make you think about what you can change and accept what you don't want to change, which was an interesting way of thinking about things. He's also heavily influenced by Ayn Rand and her notions of individualism, so if you have an issue with that philosophy, this book may not be of use to you.
Although it hasn't cured my self-esteem issues, it has given me a platform to build from and I could see myself reading more of Branden's work should my issues worsen or additional problems manifest. Fortunately, he does advertise his other works heavily though the book, which means your never uncertain as to whether he's written other books. In short, it's as good a starting point as any and I think that it has helped me, but that doesn't mean it's going to be good for everyone.
The Verdict:
Although I did get a certain amount from this book, it's not going to be the sort of thing that helps everyone. I liked the results-focused approach and the idea of producing solutions to problems rather than just talking about them, but I'd suggest it's the sort of book that you only get something out of if you're prepared to buy into it.
