Self-Esteem: The Foundation of All You Achieve

At its core, your sense of self-esteem or self-worth has a huge impact on how you live your life.

It frames how you feel about yourself, how you relate to others, how much you achieve in your work - and how you feel about pretty much everything.

In a recent article the well-known speaker Zig Ziglar said, "Many years ago as a young, aspiring speaker, I heard an older speaker who was quite philosophical say that you are where you are because that's exactly where you want to be."

There is some wisdom there. I think our actions and choices do determine where we "are". And all too often our perceptions of ourselves and the choices we make do place limits on how close we get to truly being "where we want to be".

Many of us have dreams and ambitions way beyond what we are actually achieving right now. There is something inside us that holds us back. We are prevented from achieving what we really want, what we really could do.

Why? I think the answer has its roots in our level of self-esteem.

In a 1992 Gallop Poll 89% of respondents said self-esteem was the most important motivator in driving people to work hard and succeed.

If you think of the people you know or have read about who achieve a great deal in their work and their lives, the foundation you will find supporting each and every one of them is their high sense of self-esteem.

They believe in themselves. They have a lot of self-confidence. They like themselves.

This gives them the freedom to reach higher, achieve more and bounce back from their mistakes with apparent ease.

If you feel that your own sense of self-esteem is at the root of disappointments in your career and life, it's time to explore some ways to address the issue head-on and make some real improvements.

Nick Usborne is a freelance writer, author and speaker. For more on building your self-esteem, read his review of the Core Inner Strength hypnosis CD program.

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President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the economy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.,  Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama warned of dire and long-lasting consequences if Congress doesn't pump unprecedented dollars into the national economy, making an urgent pitch Thursday for his mammoth spending proposal in his first speech since the election.



Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., right, accompanied by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep John Spratt, D-S.C., left, takes part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington,  Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts are running into opposition from senators in his own party who say they won't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs.



Palestinians throw stones at an Israeli watch-tower during a protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. Militants in Lebanon fired at least three rockets into northern Israel on Thursday, ripping through a crowded nursing home and threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed about 700 people. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)AP - The U.N. halted deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Thursday after gunfire from an Israeli tank killed an aid truck driver, and the threat of a wider conflict arose when militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel.



Pedestrians walk past Generations Menswear on 8th Ave. in New York Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Retailers are reporting dismal sales for December, confirming fears that the holiday season was the weakest in four decades.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)AP - Retailers reported dismal sales figures for December on Thursday as even Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.



In this Jan. 5, 2009 file photo, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff leaves U.S. District Court in Manhattan after a bail hearing in New York. A defense lawyer for Bernard Madoff is expected to submit written arguments Wednesday to a judge who is probing whether the disgraced Wall Street financier should be jailed before trial. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month.



A sign instructs job seekers at the California Employment Development Department in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. The country lost nearly 2 million jobs through November and more bad news is expected this week when the government releases data on weekly jobless claims and December unemployment. No matter how bad those numbers are, and economists expect at least another 500,000 jobs were lost last month, the pain is stretching into 2009.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - The number of people continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the recession enters its second year.



Protesters yell during a demonstration against the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Grant was shot and killed by a police officer after an altercation on a BART train station platform in Oakland on New Year's Day.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - Mayor Ron Dellums urged residents to remain calm after protests turned violent in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a transit police officer.



Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer delivers the keynote address Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)AP - Microsoft Corp.'s next version of the Windows operating system is almost ready for prime time. That's one message Chief Executive Steve Ballmer delivered on the eve of the official opening of the International Consumer Electronics Show.



Maureen O'Conner places a vase of flowers and a sign by the entrance to the Jumbolair Aviation Estates where actor John Travolta and his family  live Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 near Ocala, Fla., while Roberta Arnes, right, pays her respects to the Travolta family for the lose of their son.  The Travolta family is back in their home in the complex after returning from the Bahamas, where their 16-year-old son, Jett, died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)AP - John Travolta and family were expected to host a private memorial service Thursday for their son, 16-year-old Jett Travolta, at their gated-community home in central Florida.



This Sept. 7, 2007 file photo shows Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz tipping his hat to fans as he leaves the game after giving up a hit to Washington Nationals' Ronnie Belliard, ending Smoltz's bid for a no-hitter, during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Turner Field in Atlanta. Smoltz has reached a preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox, a stunning end to his long career with the Atlanta Braves. The deal was expected to be finalized later Thursday Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith, File)AP - John Smoltz has reached preliminary agreement on a contract with the Boston Red Sox, who also agreed Thursday to a one-year contract with outfielder Rocco Baldelli.



President George W. Bush speaks as President-elect Barack Obama looks over his shoulder during a meeting with former Presidents in the Oval Office, January 7, 2009. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama sought to rally support on Thursday for a massive fiscal stimulus package by warning that the United States could remain mired in recession for years without bold action.



A Palestinian boy looks at the al-Noor mosque destroyed after an Israeli air strike in Gaza January 8, 2009. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)Reuters - Palestinians faced even grimmer conditions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a U.N. aid agency halted work, saying its staff were at risk from Israeli forces fighting Hamas militants, after two drivers were killed.



A recruiter holds an application form at a job fair organized by the New Hampshire Employment Security agency in Salem, New Hampshire December 17, 2008. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Reuters - Unemployment benefit rolls swelled to a 26-year high in the last week of December, data showed on Thursday, while retailers, including market leader Wal-Mart, reported poor sales as the year-long economic slump deepened.



Bernard Madoff is escorted from Federal Court in New York January 5, 2009. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)Reuters - A search of accused swindler Bernard Madoff's office desk revealed he had signed checks totaling more than $173 million ready to be sent, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.



Reuters - A criminal probe into the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects is almost finished, court papers made public this week show.

North Korean soldiers look south on the north side of the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in Paju, about 55 km (34 miles) north of Seoul, December 6, 2008. (Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)Reuters - North Korea may have begun developing nuclear arms after deciding the United States was unlikely to use nuclear weapons to eliminate its development program, a senior Pentagon adviser said on Thursday.



Former Senator Larry Craig is pictured in these police booking photos taken June 11, 2007. (Metropolitan Airports Commission Police Department/Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Former Sen. Larry Craig has ended his effort to void the guilty plea he made following his 2007 arrest in a men's toilet sex-sting operation, his lawyer said on Thursday.



People walk past the Bank of England in central London, January 8, 2009. (Rob Bodman/Reuters)Reuters - Bleak economic data in Europe and disappointing December retail sales figures in the United States unsettled financial markets on Thursday, strengthening the case for more government stimulus and encouraging rate cuts.



Palestinian youth inspect a destroyed kindergarten following an Israeli air strike overnight in Gaza City. Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon have sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)AFP - Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.



A woman looks at a pressure gauge on a gas pipe in the Ukrainian city of Boyarka. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday said Moscow will resume gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine after it has struck an agreement with Ukraine on the transit, Russian news agencies reported.(AFP/File/Sergei Supinsky)AFP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday said Moscow will resume gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine after it has struck an agreement with Ukraine on the transit, Russian news agencies reported.




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