There's another half to this advice: if you have clearly improved yourself, you should consciously add on some self-esteem. I say this as someone who was depre

There's another half to this advice: if you have clearly improved yourself, you should consciously add on some self-esteem. I say this as someone who was depressed about who I was, affected a lot of (positive, by most standards) change in myself over several years, but didn't catch my self-esteem up for several more. The initial painful spark to improve yourself can be good and is I think underrated today, but nurturing it can hurt you even as it makes you strong.