Customer Reviews

How to Raise Your Self-Esteem: The Proven Action-Oriented Approach to Greater Self-Respect and Self-Confidence

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This one is certainly the best self-help book that I've encountered in my search for help. I've read some of the supportive reviews, and I agree with the praises. This book has been helpful for me, and I did manage to raise my self-esteem quite a bit, hence the 5 stars. However, instead of doing some more praising, I thought a word of advice is in place for those considering buying this book. I'm writing this for people who seek self-help books because they feel like they really NEED help.

In seeking help of the kind this book is offering, it's helpful to understand the limitations of self-help books in general. If you can afford therapy, then I strongly recommend that you seek therapy. An interesting question for you to ask yourself might be - if I need help, why must it be SELF-help? If the answer isn't money, I'd advise you to rethink it.

I've worked with this great book for over a year, and I have been to therapy for several months. My impression is that there are improvements that are MUCH HARDER to achieve on your own. I think some of the reasons for me were:

- As I worked on my own, my defense mechanisms were trying to make it easy for me, by dealing with problems that were relatively easy for me to deal with. For instance, it was easier for me to deal with my problems in my relashionships with my friends, so I avoided my relashionships with members of my family. Naturally, the latter have significantly more effect on me.
- A self-help book tries to help as many people as possible, therefore describing many different problems that people have. Another defense mechanism would make me adopt problems which I don't have, as it is much easier to deal with problems that you do not have. A therapist can help you filter these out.
- Finally, any amount of words written in a book could not have the effect for me of the nurturing relationship with a human being, that seems empathetic to my problems, is dedicated, and accompanies me on this very difficult, painful and frightening quest for happiness.

If you do decide to buy this book, be prepared for a long rewarding journey, with ups and downs, pain, anger and tough decisions to make.

The two things I liked most about this book: First, it helped me feel good enough about myself to be able to seek help, to share my problems with a therapist, and gave me hope (by proving it) that good may come out of it. The second, it is honest. As opposed to the many "Suddenly it's all so simple and easy..." self-help books, it prepares you for hard work, and does not pretend to have some voodoo technique of helping you. Thanks

Long before the term "self esteem" was corrupted by the quacks, Nathaniel Branden taught peple how to increase their own self-esteem and sense of worth.

There's no wallowing in self pity, or inner-child nonsense, or blaming a dysfunctional family here; Branden's message is simple and effective: You're an adult, and you can take control of your life. With some simple excercises, he shows you how.

Before reading this book and doing the excercises, I was a mess. I had severe depression and didn't have a job. I couldn't cope with people and their abuse. My self esteem was so low, that I could't return something to the store that I didn't like. I tried seeing psychologists but my parents could't afford their bills. Then I found this book and started working about 10 minutes a day on the excercises. I felt stronger and increased the work load to 6 to 8 hours a day. I pulled myself out of the depression and feel very strong and confident. Thank you so much Dr. Branden for writing this book.

The sub-title of this book is very misleading. It does not contain "an action-oriented approach" to raising your self-esteem - unless you count sitting down with pen and paper as an action. The book is centered on sentence completion exercises where you write the beginning of a sentence at the top of a page ("One of the things I dislike about myself is...", "One of my emotions I have trouble accepting is...") and then complete the sentence with whatever comes to mind. For some unexplained reason each sentence requires its own sheet of paper; and there are a lot of them, so be prepared to go through a lot of paper.

Sure, completing sentences technically counts as an "action". But if you're like me, "action-oriented" implies some sort of cognitive-behavioral therapy that gives you exercises to go out and do in the world, not sitting alone and writing out your thoughts. For someone with social anxiety the last thing I needed was more solitary introspection.

Branden gives examples of breakthroughs that his patients had doing sentence completion with him in therapy; but alas, the practice helped me in no way. Your mileage may vary, but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

You can't give what you don't have and if you don't love yourself, how can you love your neighbor? This book is designed to help you accept yourself as you are. It begins with a discussion of the value of self-concept and concludes with a summary on the subject.

Chapter 9 goes to the matter of dealing with other people. A person with healthy self-esteem is not threatened by others, but can nurture other people to develop their own improve self-concept. There's a followup to this matter in the subsequent chapter. The author has a valid case to make in this book and he makes it successfully. Reading it will improve your self-talk and your relationship with other people.

Picking up this book was the most positive thing to ever happen to me, and I consider myself very lucky to have found it. You don't need to "have problems" or "need therapy" in order to benefit greatly from reading this book. It will change your life for the better in so many ways. It won't happen overnight, but it can happen. After all, consider the fact that 9 out of 10 people who reviewed this book (including myself) gave it a perfect score of 5 stars. That speaks for itself.

There's no such thing as having TOO MUCH self-esteem; that's like having TOO MUCH health. And this book will help you achieve more of it; more self-esteem means more confidence in yourself--in your career, in your relationships, in your dreams. For anyone who is enjoying life, and is always self-confident, I recommend this book, because it will help you achieve MORE out of life--spiritually, emotionally, vocationally, and socially. For someone who is having an emotionally tough time, BUY THE BOOK NOW--EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO USE UP THE LAST $10.00 ON YOUR CREDIT CARD.

My mom gave me this book to read when I was going through a very rough time in my life. Nathaniel not only thought me how to love myself, but most of all, how to accept myself for who I am and to respect myself. He teaches you not only what these are, but how to make them part of your life and carry them through in your day to day living. Without reading this book, I know I would not be where I am today. Thanks!

Hi! I apologize for my bad English. I am from Caracas, Venezuela.
This book is amazing! I bought it because I know I have some self-esteem issues which I've carrying during years...and I've decided to get rid of them. I wanted to change this and I knew I couldn't do it all by myself. When I first saw the book I thought It was not what I was looking for...It looked too complicated. But once I sat in a comfortable place and started reading it I absolutely loved it. It has been written by a psychologist so the approach is deep and effective...after I read the first two chapters I felt something was changing inside of me. It contains several exercises that will help people understand more about themselves and how the lack of love toward yourself can affect all the`areas of your life. I highly recommend it!

I've read all of Nathaniel Branden's books (some twice). This one is different in that it is entirely focused on what you can do to raise your self esteem (and therefore improve all areas of your life) and he provides many useful real-life examples and exercises to assist you along your way. Short, easy to read, and packs a powerful punch!