Honoring the Self: Self-Esteem and Personal Transformation

We have no need more powerful than the need for self-esteem — the inner certainty that we are competent to meet the challenges of life — yet countless forces within our culture obstruct the fulfillment of this need. Honoring the Self builds on the recognition that self-esteem and personal autonomy are indispensable conditions for human well-being. It empowers the individual to achieve these crucial goals.

Taking us far beyond his earlier explorations into the psychology of self-esteem, Nathaniel Branden shows us how the level of our self-regard affects our work, our creativity, our love life, our sexual psychology, all the struggles and goals of our existence. He makes us aware of the kinds of actions we take in our daily life that raise self-esteem or lower it.

Integrating theory and practice, Honoring the Self clarifies our understanding of the process by which we become unique individuals. The book demonstrates that not selfishness but absence of self is the root of most of our suffering.

Branden invites us to rethink some of our most prevalent beliefs about ego, selfishness, goodness, and human survival. He sees the quest for selfhood — individuation — in heroic terms and awakes us to the heroic potentialities of our nature. Writing with compassion and respect for human dignity, Branden illuminates the psychological meaning of our daily struggle to create a fulfilling existence and provide many practical insights and exercises to facilitate our growth and energize our aspirations.

Honoring the Self is a passionate invitation to participate actively in our own evolution. To everyone struggling for self-esteem, to everyone longing for the experience of autonomy and personal integrity, it is for you that this book is written.