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8 – Know Thyself

Everything that has ever happened and will ever happen to you, everything you
might become and accomplish, is influenced and determined by the way you
think.

We have already seen that “external” factors such as events, decisions and
influential people, have an impact in shaping our lives.

The most significant “internal” factor that influences our experience of life is
our self esteem. We will all have a rudimentary awareness of what self esteem
means to us. Having regard to the importance of self esteem in achieving long
term authentic happiness in the key areas of our lives, this section will explore
the subject in some detail.

This chapter delves into our self esteem, which can be defined as the impression
we hold of ourselves which, consequently, influences all of our experiences in
life. Self esteem reflects how we think about ourselves and the value we assign to ourselves as people. These thoughts may be positive such as “I am intelligent
and capable” or negative such as “ I am stupid and useless”.

A positive or high level of self-esteem enriches the quality of your experience of life. It makes you feel good about yourself with the ability to truly appreciate
yourself. It gives you a sense of belonging, of feeling safe and empowered to set and achieve whatever goals in life you desire. You feel energised to tackle
new challenges, confident and courageous enough to push out the boundaries of your personal ‘comfort zone’ and generally enjoy a much enhanced experience
of life.

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