This is part 15 in the series: RESILIENCE
Self Esteem is Bankrupt
Who feels good about themselves?
I’m going to get on my soapbox here. My profession talks a lot about self-esteem. You’ve heard it. “You know you need to feel good about yourself. You’re good enough. You’re smart enough and doggone it, people like you enough to vote you as the Senator for Minnesota.” We think that self-esteem is important.
Let me ask you – what group in our society has the highest measured self-esteem?
Who feels good about themselves?
Give up?
It’s career criminals – people who are in prison. Yep, career criminals feel great about themselves. Not millionaires, not surgeons, not pro-athletes, politicians (well, maybe them). Nevertheless, the group with the highest self-esteem is career criminals. They LOVE themselves.
A little insecurity is not a bad thing.
Do you think Bill Gates feels good about himself? No. He looks in the mirror every morning and says, “You are one goofy looking nerd.” He is. What do you think drove him to success?
A little insecurity is not a bad thing. Most successful people don’t have high self-esteem.
We’ve been teaching our children for the last 40 years to think like career criminals. Yippee! Aren’t we smart? We like to beat up on Millennials, but they are a product of the self-esteem training that is endemic in the schools.
