Self Esteem
Fellow Toastmasters and beloved guests.
Yesterday, while I was walking towards the train, I looked around me at the faces going in the same direction. For most of the day I’ve been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, then at that moment while walking a realization struck me. These people that are walking with me in the same direction are not truly happy. They are lacking in self esteem, I could see it on there sagging faces. They where looking like the end of the world is near and that’s alright with them. There shoulders lumped forward with a invisible weight placed on top of them. This is what I would expect in slaves, not free men of the western world. This is also when inspiration for this speech hit me with the proverbial lightning bolt.
In our current society a lot of people lack self esteem, they cover it up with false persona’s and false reasoning. A sure sign of low self esteem is a person who lives in ever lasting misery while telling everyone around them there life is great.
Think of the people that go on compulsory vacation, during which they only long to return home yesterday rather then today. Then when they finally do return home, they are the loudest to claim that there vacation was the best vacation EVER.
It’s a plague right now and the cure is simple but perhaps not easy.
But first what is Self Esteem? Self Esteem as defined by the dictionary is;
Pride in oneself or Self-respect
The simple solution to increase self esteem is to rely on no other judgment than your own. To allow nobody to determine the path you wish to walk. That is where Self Esteem arises from.
That is when you can be proud of your achievements, knowing that you are the only one who made them possible.
The hint is hidden in the dictionary, Pride in oneself. This pride can only ever come if you are the sole person with all the responsibility. In this day and age society takes up responsibility for everything. People must be saved from themselves whenever possible, this seems to imply that they can’t take care of themselves.
Responsibility right now is considered a burden, something to bear and painful. It’s a place where stress arises from. The image that comes to mind is atlas carrying the world on his shoulders, being responsible for everyone. The only time responsibility is a burden is when you are taking responsibility for other people's life’s. When you take responsibility solely for your own life it becomes a source of joy, joy of knowing that YOU are in control of your life. Not society, not your parents, not your peers. YOU are the only one responsible for YOUR life. And from that pride and joy arises because you KNOW that all your achievements are yours alone.
If you wish to be able to respect yourself then you must live by your own code of value’s. You must obey your own Code that you acquired through reasoning. You are not a slave to what others tell you, you are a free person, free to chose whatever you wish.
And from this self respect and pride will come, self esteem will return and your life will take on a new direction.
Low self esteem arises when you compromise your own value’s to please other people. The result in most cases is that both suffer, there self esteem is lowered because you assumed responsibility over there life and your self esteem is lowered because you did not follow the things you value.
Assume responsibility to cure our low self esteem, lets start healing ourselves right now. Lets stop giving away responsibility like it’s a burden, lets accept it fully and enjoy its presence. This is your birthright, nobody can take it away from you unless you allow them to.
At this time and age where we are constantly bombarded with advertising designed to unconsciously take away the responsibility of choosing how to spend your money. In this time and age where society as a whole is more then willing to assume responsibility.
This ability to take responsibility for yourself is more important then ever before.
Assume responsibility and walk with your head held up high. Lets be the ones with a impeccable self esteem. Proud of our abilities. Proud of our minds. Proud of living on this beautiful planet.
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Oh, so you're just a beginner then. Don't worry about making it too perfect
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Haha I don't worry about it and I will most likely botch up some part of it. However I take pride in the fact that I prepared to the best of my ability.
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There are many ways to effectively open a speech. One way is to ask questions like I did, the other ways are to do what Brutha suggested with the quote or short story. However you choose to open it has to be a way that draws your audience into your topic and show them why it's interesting for them to listen. Have fun and experiment with the different ways as you go through your manual so you don't just rely on one method, but have several methods at your disposal by the time you're done with all 10 speeches.
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I'll keep that in mind and open one of my next speeches with either a quote or a question.
Is it a good idea to start the speech with a short quote and then my story or is that to much of the good stuff?