The essence or the core of inner strength is self-esteem, the belief in ourselves, confidence in our mind, confidence in our thinking, belief in our ability to learn and master whatever life requires us to learn and master. The basic power of an individual doesn’t lie in what he or she knows, which is probably already on its way to becoming obsolete anyway; it lies in the ability to think, the ability to learn and the ability to face and competently respond to new challenges.
Self-esteem is a psychological state; it’s a spiritual state; it’s a state of being; and it’s a state of consciousness. The key to all success and achievement is inner strength, confidence in ourselves and confidence in our basic ability to deal with the challenges of life.
There are two key elements to high self-esteem:
The first is the ability to handle the challenges that we encounter throughout our life. This includes making a living by doing some kind of meaningful work, taking care of ourselves in the world, being able to support ourselves and not be dependent economically or materially on anyone else.
In order to cope with the basic challenges of life you must be competent in your interpersonal relationships. You must be able to create relationships that more often than not are satisfying to you and the people whom you are dealing with. Good relationships are the foundation for everything you do whether it’s in your personal of business life. We are all together in our soul journey and you cannot accomplish anything on your own, only with the help of other people.
To deal with challenges you must be resilient. All of us experience pain and setbacks. We all get knocked down from time to time. The question is whether we have the internal resources to pick ourselves up again, to bounce back and begin again.
The second core element of self-esteem involves your right to be happy, to be respected, to have friends, to be loved and to enjoy your life. There are a lot of people who my feel confident enough but who also, for a variety of reasons don’t feel worthy of happiness.
High self-esteem is not just about confidence in our ability to enjoy rewards, our right to enjoy the fruits of our efforts, being happy and successful it is also about feeling worthy and deserving of love, friendship and other positive values of life.
Here are some questions that can help you evaluate your level of self-esteem or personal power:
When you wake up in the morning are you glad to be alive and eager to rise above the challenges of that particular day? Are you able to find joy and excitement in how you invest your energies? Do you like being you? Do you like living inside your own skin? When you reflect on the choices you make, do you tend to feel proud of your moral choices or do many of them shame or embarrass you?
Do you like and feel good about the way you deal with people, with coworkers, associates and bosses? Do you like and feel good about the way you deal with your spouse, children and other family members?
Can you accept criticism openly and benevolently, or do you immediately go into high defensiveness? Can you accept compliments graciously and easily without feeling awkward, embarrassed and somehow signaling to the person who compliments you that he or she is really wrong, or that it’s nothing.
The answers to these questions are easily recognizable indicators and will tell you something about how you are doing. They will tell you if something is wrong or missing. If something is not as it needs to be in your internal psychological or spiritual state.
Self-esteem is your experience that you are competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and that you are worthy of happiness. That conviction is the power behind growth, achievement, success, love and joy. To achieve, you need to know that you are able to achieve. To love successfully, you have to experience yourself as lovable. This is the power of self-esteem.
