"Six Pillars of Self-Esteem" exercises

[Rachityczny]

Hey there! 

I plan to do exercises provided in the "The Six Pillars of Self-esteem" by Nathaniel Branden. Has anyone done them? What is your experience? Do you recommend reading the whole book, and then doing the exercises, or going with the pace of the exercises? 

[Hansu]

I tried the exercises for a little over a month, but I just found them tedious and not really helping. My self esteem has gone up ever since reading the book though, but it has not been thanks to the book but thanks to being mindful on my lacks of self-esteem and tearing down mental blocks. Meditation has been a big, big part of this.

Many swear on the name of this book, but I guess the technique did not work for me because my lack of self-esteem developed when I was teen and were based mostly on big mental blocks, while the book seems to focus on smaller mental blocks and training your overall subconscious mind. Im not saying its a bad book, but it just didn't work for me

[Waves]

It was one of the first self-help books I read, and I think it's really valuable, especially if you don't have a model close to you that shows you what a healthy and grounded self-esteem looks like. It describes what it's like to be a happy and healthy human being and tells you that there's a higher ideal you have the potential to aspire to and become.

I finished the book and waited some months before doing the exercises (I know, poor execution), until an event made me realize that I should work on my self-esteem. So I began completing the sentences every morning for 10 minutes, for 31 weeks I believe. I feel it worked as some kind of journaling therapy. It pushes you to come out with your true motives about life. It makes you think about the person you would like to become, about your blocks and fears, about things you repressed, about your desires, and ways you can improve. It's an empowering exercise that gives you trust and some insights about yourself. But, in my experience, it's only an uncovering process, a launching pad. You still have to go out and take the necessary steps to make change happen.

[d0ornokey]

I've been doing it for 6 months

 

I recommend reading the whole book first and getting an understanding of what self-esteem is, and why you really want it

Then just follow the program of 10 minutes a day. I usually skim/read the chapter before I do each stem because it energizes and excites me to do the stem. 

[Rachityczny]

Thanks for your replies!

I will read the whole book (actually I'm pretty sure I already did it, but don't remember a lot, I guess the ego did reject a lot of difficult truths), and then start doing exercises, and then occasionally read fragments if i find it necessary. I understand that these stem exercises will not magically improve my self-esteem without my work, it will be more like a starting point- as always, it will require much more action to take and ultimately boil down to awareness more than anything else.  

Your opinions helped me to ensure that I need to and will work on my self-esteem, starting with the sentence-completion exercises.  Thank you! 

 

[nistake]

I also need to work on my self-esteem and I'm reading this book right now and I'm at the exercises chapter. Excited!