The Big Answer

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Helmstetter, the most famous popularizer of self-talk, has this message for us: that you become what you believe about yourself. If the image you have of yourself has no self-esteem, your mind will try hard to make you fail at whatever you try. He looks at the trend towards teaching self-esteem in schools, because of the acknowledgement of the critical part it plays in not just school success but life success as well.

Helmstetter points to the past programming for failure that most of us have received that explains why most people avoid trying for self-actualization and success

He brings up the point that most people select conformity and stagnation over self-actualization and success. They merely procrastinate about or ridicule the latter. And he points to the past programming for failure that most of us have received that explains why this is so. But the hope, of course, is that many people, including Helmstetter, have proven that self-esteem can be increased—even in adults, and therefore so can happiness, success, etc. See The Adjusted American: Normal Neurosis in the Individual and Society and Helmstetter's The Self-Talk Solution.