Neurosurgeon argues self-esteem is disease and elite performers should have no esteem

What was said

"I don't want to have high self-esteem. I don't want to have low self-esteem. I want no esteem. Esteem is a roller coaster that I don't want to ride. Self-esteem is not helpful. Connecting with yourself is. Being who you are, accepting who you are as it is, understanding that you're enough. The disease of self-esteem. I think that if you really talk about elite performers that day in and day out deliver what they need to, they don't have esteem. They have no esteem. Not high esteem, not low esteem, no esteem."

Dr. McLaughlin makes the controversial claim that self-esteem itself is harmful to performance because it creates comparison and judgment. He argues elite performers succeed by accepting themselves as enough rather than riding the roller coaster of high or low self-esteem, distinguishing self-esteem from self-identity and self-connection.