Sara Navarrete: "Habit is what holds us when motivation is gone".

She presents her book "Increase your self-esteem: the 10 keys you need to change your life".

Self-esteem is a psychological phenomenon related to practically every aspect of our day-to-day life that has the capacity to affect us emotionally, either for better or worse.

However, not everyone knows how to examine themselves in search of aspects of their way of living life that may be negatively altering their self-esteem, nor take effective measures to promote self-esteem in an appropriate manner.

This is a reality that psychologists specializing in psychotherapy and couples therapy know very well, and for this reason, professionals in this field must be trained to help people with problems in relating adequately to their own identity and emotions. In this case we will talk about self-esteem with one of the experts on the subject, psychologist Sara Navarrete, who recently published the book "Increase your self-esteem: the 10 keys you need to change your life".who has recently published the book "Aumenta tu autoestima: las 10 claves que necesitas para cambiar tu vida" (Increase your self-esteem: the 10 keys you need to change your life).

Interview with Sara Navarrete: she presents the book "Aumenta tu autoestima: las 10 claves que necesitas para cambiar tu vida" (Increase your self-esteem: the 10 keys you need to change your life).

Sara Navarrete is a psychologist expert in self-esteem problems, relationships and emotional dependence, and this time she presents her first book. "Increase your self-esteem: the 10 keys you need to change your life" is a work designed to bring to the general public the keys to emotional management linked to self-esteem.

How did you come up with the idea of writing this book, and what is the main objective you had in mind when thinking about its contents?

Undoubtedly, my patients inspired me to do so. My goal is to reach more people and help them take responsibility for their happiness. Because while happiness is not free, it doesn't cost that much either. The book is aimed at anyone who likes to keep improving, to keep working on being the best version of themselves and above all to achieve more and more satisfaction in their lives.

Is it complicated to write a book aimed at a general public, taking into account that practically all readers should feel identified with its content?

It is complicated, since each reader has a different level of knowledge related to psychology. Therefore, in my first book I have decided to create content that is as simple as possible, direct and clear. I would emphasize practicality, that is, "increase your self-esteem" is a book in which the reader will find direct and simple keys to apply to their day to day and that will help them change and improve their lives. It is also a book written in very simple language and very quick to read.

What is your understanding of self-esteem?

For me, self-esteem is a set of thoughts, perceptions, evaluations, feelings and behavioral tendencies directed towards oneself, towards our way of being, and towards the features of our body and our character. In other words, it is the way we perceive ourselves.

And what are the most common myths that you think circulate, at a popular level, about what self-esteem is?

The first big myth we encounter is that we always have to be happy and have high self-esteem.

This myth comes from the idea of temporal distortion. When we think of happiness or love we think in absolute terms. If I am not or do not always feel good about myself, then I am not doing well. We cannot speak of emotions in absolute terms but in relative terms, i.e. emotions can vary and must flow over time.

We cannot pretend to always feel good 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Considering that relationships with others influence the way we see ourselves, one of the ways to ensure that we maintain good self-esteem may be to rethink how much time we spend with each person, and why?

We are not immortal and we act as if we are. Many times we think of things we want to do, but it is a world away from us and we see it as impossible. It can also be that we are lazy or we think we are not capable.

Some of the most limiting factors when it comes to challenging ourselves are laziness, lack of self-esteem and lack of patience In the increasingly fast-paced and volatile world we live in, patience is a great virtue. We are becoming accustomed to getting results quickly and with minimal effort in many aspects of our lives, and it is also what our children may be getting from us and our culture.

Generally speaking, we may find it hard to be patient, perhaps because we sit in comfort, which, many times, does not make us feel satisfied over time. And this attitude is directly related to being more careful with the most precious commodity we have in our lives. Time.

Among the ideas that the book presents to the readers, which are those that you have learned through the practice of your years of experience as a psychologist?

The main idea and lesson I have learned is the power of habit. Whether professionally, personally, sentimentally... wherever we propose to go, patience will accompany us to the end, being our great ally.

Harmony, self-esteem, our inner strength... are qualities that will reinforce patience and help us to achieve our goals. Passion, enthusiasm, hard work, perseverance... are all around us again.

It is true that motivation is the great engine that drives all our energy and, if we are going to go for a goal for which we will need effort, it is essential to be deeply motivated, that it is something that we like, that we really want. But habit is what holds us when the motivation goes away. And believe me, it will go away.

From what you have seen in your years of therapy, are there self-esteem problems that, with the necessary information, could be solved in a relatively simple way in a very short period of time?

Correct; in my case, for example, when I work with my patients we observe how in only 8 sessions they radically improve their lives. It is a matter of detecting and acting. In this way, when we improve self-esteem, a series of events occur in cascade that intensely improve the lives of our patients in every way.