Self-sufficiency is feeling secure and content with oneself, a deep-rooted sense of inner completeness and stability.

On a superficial level, it’s similar to secure self-esteem — an estimation of oneself as worthy and decent.

But it goes deeper than secure self-esteem in that it’s not just a cognitive but also an affective state — that is, it’s a feeling of fundamental wholeness and well-being.

Rather than thinking in terms of high or low — as with self-esteem — it seems more appropriate to use the words weak and robust for self-sufficiency.

People with solid self-sufficiency aren’t too concerned with other people’s opinions of them.

Slights don’t affect them much because they have a deep-rooted sense of worth.

Conversely, praise and blame don’t affect them much, so they never become too carried away with their good fortune or self-importance.

The same applies to negative or positive life events: people with solid self-sufficiency are less likely to be destabilized by them.

This doesn’t mean they’re inhuman monsters who don’t feel emotion, just that they have a solid internal center of gravity, likely to be stoical and philosophical about adverse events and bounce back quickly.

Their inner sense of well-being and completeness means they’re more resilient to the vicissitudes of life.