With a Ph.D. psychology and a background in philosophy, Nathaniel Branden is a practicing psychotherapist, a corporate consultant. His many books include THE SIX PILLARS OF SELF ESTEEM, TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: SELF-RELIANCE AND THE ACCOUNTABLE LIFE, and SELF ESTEEM AT WORK: HOW CONFIDENT PEOPLE MAKE POWERFUL COMPANIES.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Living Consciously: First Principles

Acquiring a sense of reality

Awareness: Outer and inner

Reason: The noncontradictory integration of experience

Reason and emotion: Challenging the necessity for conflict

2. Choice and Responsibility

Free will: The choice to turn consciousness brighter or dimmer

Context determines what state of consciousness is appropriate

Strategies of avoidance

Against consciousness: Motives for flight from awareness

To be in love with life on earth

3. A Conscious Life -- 1: Knowing What We Are Doing While We Are Doing It

What mindfulness entails as a way of life: Areas to be considered

The joy of awareness

Choices and actions

Seeking knowledge

Managing avoidance impulses

Self-awareness

4. A Conscious Life -- 2: Bringing To Our Pursuits the Awareness They Require

Conscious relationships

Conscious parenting

Consciousness in the workplace

Consciousness of context

Consciousness of our ideas and their roots

5. Self-Awareness: Examining Our Inner World

Consciousness of the body

Consciousness of our needs and wants

Consciousness of our feelings and emotions

Consciousness of our actions and reactions

Concluding observations

6. Consciousness and Self-Esteem

Misconceptions about self-esteem

Awareness of what affects our self-esteem

7. Consciousness and Spirituality

Definitions: The importance of being clear about meanings

Spirituality: A this-worldly interpretation

God: An all-purpose word referring to -- ?

Self-transcendence: But who is doing the transcending?

Mysticism: What are its claims to legitimacy?

Selflessness: Rethinking our basic assumptions and discovering enlightened selfishness

Afterword

Appendix: A Sentence-Completion

Program to Facilitate Living Consciously

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index