I appreciated this quote from Oliver Burkeman’s excellent book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. He challenges the idea that high self-esteem is a good thing.

His observation: We needn’t be rating ourselves at all, or at least not thinking of ourselves in a simplistically uniform way. We do some things we feel good about, others less so. Each act is different. Each day is different. We have many parts to who we are and how we act…. and then his final point in this passage is a provocative one: if we turn our focus away from our self, we may find ourselves starting to become less self-absorbed and more selfless.

If you haven’t read Oliver Burkeman’s books yet, or have only read Four Thousand Weeks, read the others as well. All excellent and thought-provoking.