Finally we’re starting off our second book review. So we’re starting off this second review with a book called "10 Simple Solutions for Building Self-Esteem".
The first chapter is based all around what self esteem really is. This is an important way to start off this book because it basically breaks down what this whole book is gonna be based on. Everyone probably has their own ideals of what self esteem is but Glenn essentially describes it as a “realistic, appreciation of oneself.” This is a good way of putting it because in my opinion that’s what one's self esteem should always be. It should be an “appreciation” with room to want to change.
In my mind it’s always good to have a good image of yourself but never to the point of having some sort of god complex. However if you’re reading this book in the first place you probably don’t have the god complex issue. After "the intro Glenn starts to talk about the three building blocks of self esteem. On the bottom you have "Unconditional Love" and "Unconditional Worth". In the middle it’s "Growth" and these affect your self esteem. The way Glenn breaks down these building blocks goes exactly into how I imagined they should be. You should always unconditionally love yourself and know how much you are worth, which is always a lot.
However, there's always room for growth and change so you should always have a stepping stone to feel even better. I think you should always be looking towards a goal, for me right now my goal is to finally whip myself into shape and quit being the weakest link every time I hang out with any of my friends.
To end this chapter Glenn gives us a little exercise to try out. He gives us a great ideal that self esteem is never competitive, you should not gain self worth by outshining others. We should gain self confidence by always taking into consideration the well being of others. This is perfect for our DBToxic message because imagine if everyone not only looked at themselves and did what they could to make themselves a better person, imagine going around trying to make every person you knew a little happier as well. The world would be such a beautiful place and that's what we hope to accomplish through DBT.
Thank you for reading our review on chapter one. Check out my dad's input on his post of our new book as well.
Noah Schaefer