When we experience stress, whether it's something difficult, something scary, or something upsetting, a part of our brain called the amygdala becomes activated.
The amygdala is a region that becomes activated when a living organism feels threatened, and once it becomes activated for any reason, it reacts as if it were facing a threat to its body or life.
Stress hormones are secreted and the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated, causing a fight-or-flight response throughout the body.
This stress response is called the 'fight-or-flight response.'
So, when the amygdala is activated due to negative emotions, you become irritable and easily get into fights (fights).
Or you may hide or avoid the problem altogether (escape).
At this time, it's important to examine yourself and ask yourself, "What state am I in right now? What emotions am I feeling? How stressed am I right now?"
This is because when you go through the process of self-reflection, which involves looking into your thoughts and feelings, the prefrontal cortex, which enables rational thinking, is activated.

--- p.19

In our society, self-efficacy in particular seems to have an overly large influence on self-esteem.
I think that I am worthy of respect only if I am useful and useful.
So when I talk about self-esteem, I tend not to emphasize self-efficacy.
Because I think we actually need the attitude of self-compassion I mentioned earlier.
Rather than struggling with low self-esteem and feeling trapped by a sense of inadequacy, I encourage you to start by treating yourself with affection and warmth, accepting and respecting yourself for who you are.

--- p.68

Here, I want to introduce you to the concept of person-envionment fit.
Because each person has different characteristics, tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, there are environments that suit each person better and environments that don't suit each person better.
More specifically, fit can be assessed by personality fit, value fit, skill fit, and interest fit.
Think about the environment you live in or the environment you grew up in: your family, school, work, neighborhood, society, etc.
Is this environment a good fit for me, given my personality, values, skills, and interests? Does your child seem to be in an environment with high person-environment fit?
--- pp.99-100

Earlier, I mentioned that the main elements of self-love are self-compassion, self-acceptance, self-respect, and self-care.
Now, let's look at self-care, which is simply taking good care of yourself mentally and physically.
Haven't I been treating others well and neglecting myself? Now, I need to treat myself as I would a precious person.
To be kind to others, we need to understand what they like and need. The same holds true for being kind to myself.
First, I figure out what I like and what I need.
--- p.150

Elon Musk says “No” to almost all suggestions from others.
Because behind every “No” you say to others, there is a “Yes” you say to yourself.
Conversely, if I say “Yes” to someone else’s request because I can’t refuse it, then I’m saying “No” to myself.
Let's say you're on a day off and someone asks you to help out with some work. You actually want to decline, but you say yes.
If you look at it another way, it's a rejection of my desire to rest.
On the other hand, if I declined the other person's request, I would have said "Yes" to my heart, which wanted to rest after that "No".
Of course, there are many times when we need to ask for help and cooperate with each other when needed.
However, the way to show respect for me is to reject unilateral and unreasonable demands that lack respect for me.

--- p.180

What is happiness?
People want to feel at ease and receive a lot of love.
I believe that if that happens, I will be happy.
But think about it.
Can we remain at peace for 100 years?
So, if my heart is uneasy, does that mean I can't be happy? Do I need to receive a lot of love to be happy? Does my happiness really depend on other people or external conditions?
The answer is completely different from what you might think.
Happiness is about contributing.
A happy life is a life of contribution.
In other words, if you are contributing, you are living a happy life right now.
Many people may be skeptical of the saying that a life of contribution is a happy life.
I have a feeling that I need something more to be happy.
For example, many people think that they need to have a spouse who loves them or that they need to have some money to be happy.
A man was living happily with a spouse who cared for and loved him.
Then one day, my spouse cheated on me and we ended up getting divorced.
So does that mean that person can't be happy?
These conditions can exist and then disappear in an instant.
He made a lot of money and had nothing to lose, but then he was betrayed by his business partner and went bankrupt.
If you think about it, no one would want their happiness to depend on external factors beyond their control.

--- pp.212-213