These are the 8 maxims to have a healthy self-esteem, according to psychologist Tomás Navarro

The image we have of ourselves it is a very important component of our mental health, and one that often becomes fragile when exposed to certain messages that are very present in our culture.

Fortunately, from psychology and psychotherapy it is possible work on improving this issue. Thus, the psychologist Tomás Navarro offers eight maxims to achieve healthy self-esteem in his book your red lines (Zenith Editorial, 2023).

“Every day we need self-esteem”

As the expert explains, “Every day we need throw self esteem to expose ourselves to examination, claim our rights or set limits. Your self-esteem can be your best ally or your worst enemy, since it can enhance your life or limit it.

“A low selfsteem It will cause you to give up opportunities, limit your social interactions, confuse love with admiration, seek protection at any cost, not trust yourself or your judgment, and end up sharing your life with a narcissistic profile or feeling insecure and with high doses of anxiety or sadness”, he continues.

“we are how we see ourselveswe believe that we know ourselves well and in reality our knowledge stems from the feedback that we have had from close people. When your parents, your uncles or your teachers are telling you how you are, in reality they do not have to be right, since their opinions do not stop being precisely that, mere opinions loaded with ghosts and fears, demons and expectations, of desires and frustrations. But we, small children, wanting to learn, need a guide, we take those opinions as if they were realities “, she concludes.

the eight maxims

Thus, the eight maxims that it proposes are:

1. Just because they don’t value you doesn’t mean you don’t have value.
2. Just because one person doesn’t like you doesn’t mean thousands of people can’t like you.
3. You are too hard on yourself.
4. Just because they talk about you doesn’t mean they’re right.
5. Don’t be afraid of conflict.
6. Leaving where they don’t want you is not an escape, it’s a smart decision.
7. Your properties are as important as anyone else’s.
8. You are not a bad person.

Regarding these maxims, the psychologist argues that “self-esteem is forged in childhood, but without a doubt we can work on it throughout our lives, update and improve it, and that is still a message of hope. We are not slaves to our self esteemWe are free people who have conditioned part of their lives because of their self-esteem, but we can free ourselves from that chain, from that oppression. Self-esteem conditions your life, but it does not determine it, it is not immovable, it is not forever.”

References

Thomas Navarro. Your red lines. Zenith (2023). ISBN: 978-84-08-26723-2