“I am the best and deserve the best!” I come across this affirmation almost every day and everywhere. It must be assumed that the idea, the meaning of this statement was meant to be the most positive: everyone will gain self-confidence and will become a happy person. But is this really what happens? Let’s start with the fact that the phrase “I’m the best” seems to me either as a sign of unconditional acceptance of oneself, or as a refusal to look at oneself unbiasedly. Let’s start with the first. In a prosperous situation, the baby first encounters unconditional acceptance of himself by his mother: day and night she takes care of him, trying to satisfy all his needs as much as possible, admires him, which is often joined by other relatives and even random passers-by. As one grows up, the “circle of acquaintances” expands, and the situation with acceptance changes: there is no such person who would be completely accepted for who he is by everyone who surrounds him. Some of his actions, preferences and character traits are approved and supported, some are condemned, and some are simply ignored. And in order to maintain his integrity, the boundaries of his “I” and self-respect, a person learns to love and support himself. However, it is extremely important not to lose a sober view of himself, which is quite difficult. After all, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, a girl who is overweight is aware of the presence of this feature and selects clothes that hide her shortcomings and emphasize her strengths (and perhaps seeks to really improve her figure in other ways). At the same time, such a girl does not go crazy from her reflection in the mirror - yes, she has shortcomings, but she has learned to accept herself with them, competently presenting them, and, if possible, eliminating them. Here’s another example: a girl with a similar problem, who demonstrates to everyone that she doesn’t have such a problem, so she doesn’t need to deny herself excessively revealing or tight-fitting outfits. It is interesting that this type of people noticeably prefers these particular clothing models, as if shouting to everyone: “I have a wonderful figure and I love it. Love you too!” This is akin to aggressive and intrusive advertising. But don’t we, the audience, try to turn it off, because it is completely uninteresting for us, and sometimes even unpleasant, to contemplate it. And here we move on to the second point: objectivity and adequacy of self-esteem. I assume that the position “I am the best because it is me” will not withstand any worthy criticism. And the claim to “I am the best, I am the only one” as an example of a person’s life position and worldview is akin to Raskolnikov’s torment “Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?” Many of us are particularly successful in some area where we have achieved certain heights and, probably, recognition. But it is very arrogant to transfer successes in one field by default to all areas of life, as well as to all of your personal qualities. Not everyone understands and is ready to admit that he can only be the best in a certain rather narrow context, and there will always be someone who will be better. By giving himself such an assessment, a person, firstly, is mistaken, and, secondly, the highest score often leads to the fact that a person stops developing: after all, he is already the best, why should he bother himself further? However, it is important to understand that in order to remain at the achieved level, you need to make efforts again, and to rise a step higher, even more. Freezing with the slogan “I am the best” invariably threatens to fall down. At this stage, not everyone considers it necessary to resist the temptation to transfer others into the “they owe me” category. And what exactly they should depend on the fantasy of such a hero and his, in fact, unfulfilled needs. However, some still understand that this pretentiousness is of an superficial, superficial nature, or rather, it is a cover for internal fears or a feeling of inadequacy. And if for some reason you don’t want to solve the problem, then you can mask it by spending your energy on creating an external