confidence
I no longer plumb the depths of despair. My sadness has become a springboard. In the past I used to think that I would always be sad, but now I know that those moments too are part of life’s ebb and flow and that all is well. This is a sign of confidence, of very great confidence, even in myself. I have gradually come to realize that I am going to manage my life properly.
Diary entry dated January 11, 1942, in Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life, the Diaries, 1941-1943 and Letters from Westerbork (New York: Picador, 1996), 83.
If you want your kids to have strong self-esteem and confidence that they can solve hard problems, those qualities won’t magically materialize in high school. You have to design them into your family’s culture—and you have to think about this very early on. Like employees, children build self-esteem by doing things that are hard and learning what works.
“How Will You Measure Your Life?,” Harvard Business Review, July 1, 2010.