Self-esteem and expressing our talents

Our concepts about identity and self-worth, and how we regard and value ourselves, may have more impact than anything else on being able to fully explore and realize our unique abilities.

Wally “Famous” Amos says his personal mission statement “is simply to help people feel better about themselves. I think that self-esteem is at the core of everything. If you feel good about you, then you’re motivated, you’re inspired, you’ve got a good attitude. You’re going to go out and find the things that you need to move your life forward.”

[From Mike Litman's book Conversations with Millionaires.]

Entrepreneur and motivator Wally Amos’ book is Be Positive! Insights on How to Live an Inspiring and Joy-filled Life.

In the book 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Paul Frazer comments, “How do we remove our hesitation, lack of confidence, and procrastination? Hesitation is just that. You need to cultivate a culture of being bold and decisive. This is learned behavior… Confidence comes from self-esteem and knowledge. As your self-esteem and your knowledge of the environment around you grow, so will your ability to act.”

Paul Frazer is author of Stop, Drop & Re-Balance: A Self-Renewal Manual.

Healthy criticism can help refine our talents and creative projects in the pursuit of excellence. But when it is based on excessive perfectionism or an unrealistic or eroded self concept, criticism can be destructive and self-limiting, eroding our creative assurance and vitality.

Many creative people, even when they have achieved recognition for their talents, may experience self-critical thoughts and insecurity.

For example, Irish writer John Banville, just before receiving The Booker Prize, considered the world’s most prestigious award for new fiction, was sure he would not win; “I tend to think all my books are bad,” he said. [From my article Being Creative and Self-critical.]

Related post: Self-esteem and self-limiting

Kate Winslet (nominated for an Oscar for her role in “Little Children”) thinks “acting is fifty percent skill and fifty percent confidence. As an actor, if you don’t believe in yourself and you don’t have the courage to just go out there and do it and do your thing the way you think it should be done… I think it shows if you don’t have that courage.