But the way our fears work, if we don't own them and if we don't talk about them, our mind will find other ways of expressing them.

When our self-esteem is low, we are far less likely to attribute slips in willpower to mental and emotional fatigue (which are the more likely culprits) and far more likely to assume they reflect fundamental character deficits.

Higher self esteem is essentially an outcome of doing well in our lives and relationships.

To have an impact on our self-esteem, feelings of personal empowerment must be supported by evidence of having actual influence in the various spheres of our lives, whether in our relationships, in our social or professional contexts, as citizens, or even as consumers.

Viewing slips as simple alerts that our willpower is fatigued and needs to recover (instead as indications of failure) will alliw us to acknowledge the lapse without getting further off track.

Mindfulness involves a form of mediation in which we observe our feelings without judging them, in essence becoming anthropologists in our own minds.